Louisville basketball is taking on the Miami Hurricanes in a huge ACC Tournament quarterfinals showdown, and Pat Kelsey just made something very clear and it will have Louisville fans feeling extra confident heading into today's showdown.
Louisville basketball's ACC Tournament run has major NCAA seeding implications
Louisville picked up another gritty win on Wednesday as the Cardinals defeated SMU 62-58 thanks to a huge Ryan Conwell 3-pointer, and now Louisville matches up with Miami for the second time in six days and will try and punch its ticket to its second straight ACC Tournament semifinals.
The Cards and Hurricanes came down to the wire on Saturday as Adrian Wooley splashed a 3-pointer to go up two with 18 seconds remaining, and yesterday Conwell hit a 3-pointer to go up just under 90 seconds. One area that flies under the radar with the team Pat Kelsey built is that they are a bunch of veterans, and when he was asked about yesterday’s win, his confident message should be something Miami fans should worry about heading into today’s game.
Pat Kelsey is confident in Louisville basketball late in the game
There is no question that Louisville didn’t have the regular season it had hoped for, but with the Cardinals winning three straight and once again matched up with Miami, they have a chance to catch fire heading into the NCAA Tournament. One reason the Cards have won three straight, including their last two games, is because of their veteran leadership.
When asked how he felt about his team's response late in the game, Kelsey showed how much confidence he has in his team.
“We got a bunch of vets,” Kelsey stated after Louisville’s win over SMU. “We got one of the oldest and one of the most mature teams in the country. They’ve been through so many situations throughout the course of their career. They’ve logged so many minutes. They’ve played in big games.”
The Cardinals were gut-wrenched when they found out Mikel Brown Jr. was going to be out the entire ACC Tournament, but the Cards have won three straight without Brown, and one glaring reason why is the veteran leadership of this team. Kelsey gave an example of Conwell and J’Vonne Hadley stepping up and taking over a team’s huddle, and he stated that when it is player-led, it is “something special.”
The Cards have a roster full of veteran players with March Madness experience, as Conwell and McKneely both played in the NCAA Tournament, and Hadley, of course, played in the NCAA Tournament with Louisville last season, but with Colorado, he helped them get to the Sweet 16. Games are expected to be closer this time of the season, and if you want to go on a deep run, you have to know how to win close games, and that is something Miami has already experienced from this Louisville team.
Louisville's experience and veteran leadership has stepped up big time this season and Kelsey is making it clear he is confident in his team in these end-of-game close situations.
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