Louisville basketball defeated SMU 62-58 in thrilling fashion, as the Cardinals' Ryan Conwell came up clutch when they needed him the most. The Cards will now advance to face the Miami Hurricanes, whom Louisville saw five days ago on Saturday, March 7, when the Cardinals won 92-89.
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Louisville will look to advance to its second ACC Tournament semifinal in two years, but if Louisville wants that to happen, it must improve its 3-point shooting. It is never easy to beat a team twice in one season, and with the Hurricanes getting the extra day off, they will be well rested and looking to get revenge for the Cards' win on Saturday. But if Louisville wants to beat Miami again, they have to shoot better than it did on Wednesday afternoon.
Louisville basketball must shoot better from 3-point range against Miami
Not many would have predicted the Cardinals to beat the Mustangs if they knew they were going to shoot 23 percent from beyond the arc, but Louisville earned another gritty win and survived and advanced. However, this Miami team is better than SMU, but it has a glaring weakness in defending the 3-point shot.
Miami has lost seven times this season, and in those seven games, the Hurricanes' opponents are shooting around 46 percent from downtown, including Louisville, which shot 50 percent from the 3-point range in Saturday's win. The Cardinals are known to live and die from downtown as they shoot around 32 3's per game, and after Louisville shot 6-of-26 from beyond the arc on Wednesday, it is clear that is a glaring area they must be better on Thursday if they want to move on to the semifinals.
The blueprint to beat Miami is to shoot it well from downtown, and with Miami trying to avenge their crushing loss on Saturday, Louisville can expect a physical and emotional game. On Saturday, Ryan Conwell came up big, shooting 4-of-9, while J’Vonne Hadley went 2-of 3, Isaac McKneely went 2-of-6, and Adrian Wooley went 1-of-3 including his game-winning stepback with 18 seconds remaining.
It won’t be an easy game this afternoon, but if Louisville shoots similarly to its 12-of-24 from downtown from Saturday’s win, that is a recipe for success; if it shoots similarly to its 6-of-26 from yesterday's loss, that is a recipe for disaster.
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