Another night, another L added to the loss column for Louisville basketball. The Cards lost another tight game last night at home to the Miami Hurricanes 70-63. They now sit at (11-14) and have loss ten of their last eleven games. If this were Facebook, let’s just say, “The Louisville fanbase has left the chat”.
In front of a half-full Yum! Center crowd the Louisville Cardinals once again could not find the recipe for a home cooked win. Dre Davis was the leading scorer for the Cards on 7/13 shooting with 18 points. He and El Ellis were essentially the only scoring threats for the duration of the night. The score doesn’t indicate the true story of the fact that Miami was in firm control from the opening tip.
Miami guards Isaiah Wong and Charlie Moore each had 15 points, but were able to play solid defense that limited the Cardinals scoring efforts. The Louisville bench was led by Noah Locke who had 11 of only 14 points scored in total. Of the starters, not one player was able to manage double figures in any statistical category except for Davis and Ellis. In big time college basketball, that’s not going to win you any real big games that can impress any tournament committee. Quite frankly, that ship sailed a few weeks ago.
To date, this is Louisville basketball’s longest losing steak since the 1940’s! They were dancing in church shoes and stockings at the “juke joints” back then! Coach Pegues can preach all he wants to about guys playing hard. Hard is simply not getting the job done. The current state of Louisville basketball is what many feared could happen when the NCAA imposed their harsh penalties that stripped the Cardinals of their 2013 championship banner. Maybe now Cards fans are finally seeing the effects that ruling has had on the core infrastructure of Louisville basketball.
The effects of this season will more than likely bleed into the recruiting efforts of the new staff for the next couple of years. For that reason alone, Louisville must make a sound decision when choosing the next head coach to lead this basketball program. The Cards are currently on the precipice of being a middle of the road conference team. In a state that loves some good basketball, no one wants to witness those dark days. Louisville administrators, you’re on the clock!