Louisville wins
For twenty minutes the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals looked as if they had finally figured out the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cardinals have beaten the Cavaliers only once since joining the ACC, but tonight seemed different early on for U of L, even without four key players. Quentin Snider and Tony Hicks were out due to injuries. It was announce early Monday morning that Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang were suspended for the game because of a curfew violation.
The Cards fell behind early 10 – 3. It looked as if this would be the same old story of falling behind early and trying to come back against one of the best defensive teams in the country. However, the Cards came back, eventually taking their own seven point lead with 3:04 left in the first half thanks to a V. J. King jumper. Virginia closed the half on a 7 – 2 run to trail 34 – 32.
The Cavaliers outscored the Cardinals by 18 in the second half to run away with a 71 – 55 win.
The Cards committed only five turnovers, but made only 37 percent of their shots and were outrebounded 38 – 19.
- J. King led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 8 – 14 shooting. Donovan Mitchell scored 16 points and had four steals, but failed to hit a 3-pointer, going 0 – 5. No other player finished with more than four points.
The loss puts them at 19 – 5 on the season and 7 – 4 in the ACC. They return to the Yum Center to face Miami on Saturday.
