Louisville basketball is on its second-longest win streak of the season, as the Cardinals have won four games in a row. This stretch has been imperative for Louisville, which is now 8-4 in ACC play and inching closer to the top of the conference.
Mikel Brown Jr. capped off the last game of this stretch with a 45-point performance that set the record for points in a game by an ACC freshman. Brown Jr. and other Louisville players have had great individual performances, but this stretch hasn’t been because of a singular player, but how the Cardinals have changed up their gameplay.
Louisville basketball makes one key adjustment
This winning trend seems to have been spurred by another Cardinal trend, shooting shots inside the three-point line. Louisville is second in the nation in attempted three-pointers per game, as the Cardinals shoot 33.3 shots from beyond the arc per game. However, over the past four games, the Cards have taken about 30 shots from beyond the arc per game, and even as few as 25 three-pointers against Wake Forest.
This has spurred Louisville to get its points from inside, as over the past three games, the Cards' points from two have jumped to about 40 per game, up from their 34.8 on average. Paint presence is crucial in basketball, especially for Louisville, as it opens up their shooters from outside the arc.
In the Cardinals' last loss to Duke, the last thing they did was score inside. Louisville scored only 10 points in the paint against Duke, and it showed in the Final score, as the Cards put up only 52 points and lost by 31 points.
A key reason for the Cards' production from inside the arc is the rise of Khani Rooths. Since he returned to action, he is averaging 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds and has been a massive spark on the Cardinals' frontcourt. Sananda Fru has also increased his production, as he scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting against Wake Forest.
Louisville has completely flipped the script these past four games. In this winning stretch, the Cardinals have averaged 39 points in the paint per game. This strategy has shaped up well for the Cards, and they hope to continue this trend all the way to the postseason.
In the latest ESPN Bracketology, the Cardinals are slotted as a six seed and are looking to improve this seeding. Louisville hopes this new style of play can put them in a better position when the official NCAA Tournament bracket is released and could even lead to a Final Four appearance.
Louisville is known to take the majority of its shots from beyond the arc, but the Cardinals' production inside the arc shows this team is much more than just a 3-point team. If this team wants to go on a run, they have to make 3-point shots, that is just how the roster is built. However, the more production inside the arc, the more open looks Louisville gets from beyond the arc.