Louisville basketball is coming off a massive win over the weekend as the Cardinals took down the SMU Mustangs. The Cardinals earned this marquee win in gritty fashion, defeating the Mustangs 88-74, but it took a team effort and a dominant second half.
Louisville was down by 12 points in the first half, but inched closer as they gained momentum, cutting the lead to just three entering the locker room. After that, it was all Louisville. The Cardinals were led by Mikel Brown Jr. as he scored a game-high 20 points on 50 percent shooting, and he did it after a rough first half.
The 5-star point guard gave the ball away five times in the first half alone, but in the second half, he made crucial adjustments and led this team to a dominant half. And when he plays as he did in the second half, this Cardinals team all of a sudden has higher expectations, and the Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reinstated just how high Louisville’s ceiling is.
Related: Mikel Brown Jr. makes key adjustment in second half to lead Louisville to massive win
Jeff Goodman reminds Cardinals fans how good this offense can be
Brown is the heart and soul of this team. This team is going as far as he can take them. Louisville has the potential to make a run to the Sweet Sixteen and further with Brown playing as he did in that second half, and it appears Goodman might agree.
"This team is completely different when he plays at the level he did in the second half,” Jeff Goodman stated on Saturday night. “When he doesn’t turn the ball over, makes shots, gets guys like McKneely the ball, he was on fire tonight in the second half. Louisville can again; their offense should be as good as most teams in America.”
Louisville’s offense has the potential to be one of the best in the nation, Goodman isn’t wrong. On paper, Brown, Ryan Conwell, and Isaac McKneely should be a lethal backcourt, but it just hasn’t worked as many expected. However, there have been flashes where it gels together, and it is just beautiful basketball to watch, as seen Saturday afternoon.
While Conwell struggled, shooting 1-of-11 from downtown, Brown led the charge in the second half as Louisville outscored SMU 44-27, scoring 12 points on 50-percent shooting, adding three assists and zero turnovers. Brown, cleaning up his turnovers and taking over the game, allowed McKneely to get much-better shots, and he took full advantage as he went from shooting just 25 percent from downtown and the field to shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
When Brown is sharing the ball and making shots at the rate he is capable of, it sets up McKneely to get open looks and splashes them, as the fans expected entering this season. This offense has the potential to run with anyone. They still need a frontcourt presence and still have to rebound better, but Brown, McKneely, and Conwell have shown some flashes that prove they can take over the game, and Saturday was one of those moments.
It all hinges on Brown. He must play as he did in that second half, where the game was coming to him, and he was clearly out there having fun. His ceiling is incredibly high, and when he plays to that level, the Cardinals’ ceiling rises with him.
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