Louisville Poised For ACC Success Despite Loss
Before conference play has even begun, the ACC championship race appears to have three heavy favorites. Duke, Louisville, and Virginia have separated themselves from the pack in terms of quality, with North Carolina lurking in the background while they start to pull themselves together after a few early season losses.
Three of the four teams are undefeated, and each features a win over a ranked opponent.
So far, I’ve been particularly impressed by Duke and Virginia, while somewhat overlooking Louisville’s 11-0 start. They were third in the first installment of my ACC power rankings, but they could have easily been in one of the top two spots. Saturday, Louisville took center stage with a chance to steal the spotlight from the rest of college basketball.
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The unbeaten behemoths of college hoops, the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, rolled into Louisville, Ky., to renew one of the best rivalries in sports. This would be the most daunting test of the season for Rick Pitino and company, Kentucky came into the game at 12-0 and has dominated all season.
Kentucky’s most recent game saw them demolish UCLA 83-44. A win over Louisville would give them their fourth win over a ranked team this season.
The Wildcats boast NBA prospects galore, especially in the frontcourt. Going into the game, they led the nation in defensive rating at 72.4 and also in blocked shots with 104. Willie Cauley-Stein averages 1.8 blocks per game, while freshman Karl-Anthony Towns swats a whopping 2.6 per game.
Montrezl Harrell, as well as the Louisville guards, would have their work cut out for them at the rim.
Louisville has an elite defense of their own. Heading into Saturday, they were second in the country in defensive rating at 75.7, and were holding opponents to 34.4 percent shooting. Common sense would suggest buckets would be hard to come by in this one. Would the game turn into the low scoring slugfest most projected?
The game would go exactly as expected.
Fueled by the emotion of an intense rivalry, and support from their home crowd (including actress Jennifer Lawrence), Louisville put up a nice effort but ultimately fell short. Add them to the list of opponents vanquished by Kentucky’s staunch defense.
Kentucky held only a 22-18 lead at halftime, despite Louisville shooting a dismal 21.4 percent from the field and 1-of-7 from outside. Guards Terry Rozier and Chris Jones combined to shoot 2-of-13 in the opening half and struggled to score against Kentucky’s length.
The Louisville defense forced 10 turnovers, which helped offset their offensive struggles.
The second half was more of the same initially, but Kentucky would eventually be too much to handle. Louisville struggled to score, shooting 25.9 percent for the game, while Kentucky heated up in the second half, raising their shooting percentage to 42 percent by the end of the contest.
Tyler Ulis led the way for the Wildcats off the bench, scoring 14 points. Karl-Anthony Towns also added 10 points and nine rebounds. For Louisville, Terry Rozier led the scoring with 15 points, but he struggled to shoot, going 5-of-18 from the floor.
Montrezl Harrell only had nine points and eight rebounds; the 6-foot-8 big man struggled scoring over Kentucky’s massive frontline.
The nation’s two best defenses each showcased why they hold that distinction. Louisville forced 18 turnovers, and each starter had two steals. Kentucky blocked three shots as a team, and dominated on the boards. They outrebounded Louisville 46-33, and held their weak bench to only three points.
Kentucky would end up on top 58-50.
Despite the loss, it still seems obvious that Louisville is a contender for a national championship. They stayed close with the best team in the country, they play some of the best defense in all of college basketball, they start two dynamic guards, and they feature a likely finalist for national player of the year (Harrell).
Shooting only 25.8 percent can be looked at as a giant red flag, but I choose to look at from a more positive perspective. Even in the wake of some disastrous shooting, they managed to stay in a tight game against an elite team thanks to their ever solid defensive play.
That’s something that should inspire confidence moving forward. Despite their offensive shortcomings, their stout defense will always keep them in games and make them a nightmare match-up for opponents. Well, opponents not named Kentucky.
You never enjoy losing to a hated rival, but Louisville should not be discouraged by this outcome. This is a loss that will prepare Louisville for the type of intense games they will face in ACC play and in the postseason. Meetings with Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, and Notre Dame will seem easy by comparison.
If all goes according to plan, they could meet Kentucky again in the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years.