Louisville basketball was on an absolute tear in their 10 game win streak before their lost to Georgia Tech. The Cardinals not only became an ACC threat, but also put the national media on notice too.
The Cardinals are led by two transfers, Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. Hepburn and Smith combined for 48 of the Cardinals 70 points in their first loss in 49 days. Despite Louisville having an alarming red flag in their shooting splits in the second half, UofL win streak is something to not overlook.
After a disappointing 6-5 start, Pat Kelsey and his squad have been lighting the floor up and dominating their opponents, specifically the ACC. Cardinals are now in third place in the ACC standings right now and are just two games behind the Cooper Flagg and his Duke Blue Devils.
The red and black are on pace to be a top five seed most likely in March madness and continue to climb in all rankings. A big reason these Cardinals are rising was because of this dominant win streak that has them in the top 10 of all of College Basketball in this major stat.
Louisville basketball glaring stat set them up for March glory
The Cardinals may have fell to 16-6 on the year and 9-2 in ACC conference play, but they set themselves up for March success and a deep postseason run. UofL suffered their first loss in 49 days and 11 games, since their 93-85 loss to Kentucky back on Dec. 14., and they beat impressive teams along the way and even before their win streak.
Louisville basketball currently is ranked no. 9 in Quality wins according to ESPN FPI rankings. The Cardinals have five quality wins, which puts them at 11 for strength of schedule rankings according to this metric scale.
The only teams with more quality wins than the Cardinals include; Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Marquette, Purdue, Tennessee and UCLA. All teams except UCLA are ranked in the top 13 and considered championship contenders. Louisville is puting themselves right in that conversation with this stat and is now entering elite conversations and maybe even championship contenders.
Louisville basketball beat many March Madness contender teams in their dominant win streak. The Cardinals beat North Carolina, Clemson, and SMU and convincingly as it was by 10 points or more. The Cardinals currently are third in the ACC, and are a game behind Clemson, which makes that head-to-head win so vital.
Pat Kelsey has this UofL team averaging 79 points a game and only giving up 69 points per game. During their 10 game win streak the Cardinals won by an average of 14 points per game and scored an average of 81 points.
This was the longest win streak for the Cardinals in over five years and they did it in a dominant fashion. Their best wins of the season came against Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Clemson and SMU.
The Cardinals top five wins haven’t been just snuck by wins, they have blown these elite teams out the water. UofL beat Indiana by 28, West Virginia by nine, North Carolina by 13, Clemson by 10 and SMU by 25. Which means the Cardinals five quality wins, which ranks ninth in the nation, is by an average score of 17 points.
This Pat Kelsey Cardinals squad is peaking at the right time, and they are passing the eye test, and their dominant win streak is a testament for that. Louisville is positioning themselves for a historic season and have a path to win out with their easy schedule remaining.
UofL next game will be Feb. 5 at Boston College at 5 p.m. local time on ACC Network.