Cards Score Huge Road Win, Defeat Huskies 78-76

Recap

On senior day in Storrs, Louisville looked like a team about to get run over. Connecticut jumped out to a 11-2 lead early and extended the score to 36-23 with under four minutes to play in the first half. The Cards hung tough and thanks to some big minutes from their bench, the Cards found themselves only down 45-40 at halftime.

After the break, Slick Rick’s squad came out scorching. They started the half on a 7-0 run to take the lead at 47-45. With just over eight minutes to play, the Cards held a 66-59 advantage, but UConn still had a run in them. The Huskies made their run and took back the lead at 69-68 with four minutes left.

The final four minutes featured some of the most exciting stretches of the season. The teams traded the lead and with a minute remaining, the score was dead even at 76-76. UConn had possession, but Louisville’s Kyle Kuric made an enormous steal and gave the Cards the possession with forty seconds.

After a Pitino timeout, Louisville gave Edgar Sosa the ball. Sosa sliced through the lane and connected on a driving lay-up to put the Cards up by two with eight seconds left. UConn quickly drove down the court, but could not convert. As the final horn sounded, Louisville had a big, big road victory and put dent in UConn’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Samardo Samuels led the Cards with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Edgar Sosa did not have a big offensive game, game-winning shot aside, but he played well. Sosa was hampered with foul trouble and only played 22 minutes, but he did have 6 points and 6 assists, with only one turnover. Jerry Smith had a good game and finished with 12 points, all in the first half.

My Take

In many ways, this was a game Louisville had no business winning. Connecticut outrebounded Louisville 49-21, yes a 28 rebound advantage. UConn also had a nine point advantage from the foul line as they made 21-27 while Louisville only connected on 12-16. It was also senior day and UConn pretty much needed to win out to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.

Having to face all that, the Cards manned up and battled. They fought through the emotion in the building, getting pounded on the boards, and foul trouble to get the win.

Rick Pitino deserves a lot of credit. He coached a brilliant game, perhaps his best of the year. Louisville looked like they would get run out of the gym in the first half, but the Slickster kept his squad poised. They weathered the UConn storm and despite being down, the Cards controlled the tempo of the game.

The Slickster called off the full-court pressure in favor of a modified half-court press. It worked as Connecticut turned the ball over 22 times and had trouble dealing with the Cards’ active hands. Every time UConn had possession of the ball, a Louisville player was slapping at it. The Huskies did not keep their poise and the Cards took advantage.

As great as Pitino coached, Louisville won this game because of their bench. The play of reserves Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva, Preston Knowles, and Jared Swopshire kept the Cards in the game in the first half. In the second half, those three were main factors in the Cards taking the lead. For the game, Louisville had a 40-21 edge in bench points.

Kuric had by far his best game ever at Louisville. The sophomore from Evansville knocked down a pair of threes, including one to end the first half which cut the UConn lead to 45-40 and prompted the fantastic Bill Raftery to exclaim, “a lil kiss!!!”. Kuric played 24 minutes and finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Likewise, Peyton Siva was phenomenal. After Edgar Sosa got himself into early foul trouble, Siva was called upon to manage the game and keep the Cards within reach. Siva did more than that; he led the Cards to taking back the lead.

As soon as he entered the game, Peyton drained two threes. His game management was great as he showed the poise which will make him a potential All-American caliber point guard in the future. With the Cards down by double digits, Siva did not panic and finished with no turnovers in his 18 minutes of action. He finished with 8 points, 5 asssists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

As good as Peyton was offensively, I thought his defense was just as good. He did make a couple careless, freshmen type fouls, but I thought he played his smartest defensive game. He moved his feet very well and took a huge charge late in the first half while the Cards made their run. He also got in the passing lanes and harrassed the UConn guards with active hands.

Preston Knowles, primarily known as a defensive specialist, kept Louisville alive offensively late in the game. With the offense stalling and three minutes to play, Preston scored 7 strait points to keep the Cards in the game. Quite simply, if Preston does not hit those shots, the game is over because at that point, UConn was in a groove offensively. Preston had 12 points, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

Jared Swopshire just continues to do whatever is needed to help his team. Today, Swop hit two big threes in the second half which kept the Cards in front. While he only grabbed 5 rebounds in 32 minutes of action, he was far from the lone Louisville player guilty of a lack of rebounding. Swop is a fine passer, probably the best on the team in terms of entry passes, and the offense just has more rhythm when he’s in the game. Swop had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Big Picture

Today’s win puts Louisville in a very good spot. The Cards now sit at 19-10 and 10-6 in the Big East. Going into the game against UConn, Louisville had a RPI of 41. That ranking will improve many spots as the Cards secured a road win against a RPI Top 50 team and we know how much the RPI and Selection Committee value road wins.

Moreover, this gives the Cards a sweep of UConn, which could be big if UConn makes a run in the Big East tournament and places themselves in a competing position for a big with Louisville.

The Cards now enter the final stretch. On Tuesday night, Louisville travels to Milwaukee to take on Marquette, ranked 55th in the RPI. Then on Saturday, the Cards face potentially #1 Syracuse in the final home game at Freedom Hall. Winning one of the last two games should nearly lock Louisville into the tournament.

If the Cards get just one win this next week, they would have 20 wins with a top 5 strength of schedule, including 11 Big East wins. With those credentials, barring some nationwide craziness in conference tournaments, I find it hard to believe Louisville would be left out.

However, that is what makes college basketball great, particularly in March. So much can still happen and win or lose, it should be an exciting week.