The No. 6 Louisville Cardinals continued their struggles against Virginia with a 61-53 loss to the No. 12 ranked Cavaliers tonight inside the Yum! Center. Like all Louisville vs Virginia games, Louisville looked lost and then appeared to find their groove but not before it was too late.
The Cards entered halftime down 15 points, outscored Virginia 32-25 in the second half and looked better but it wasn’t enough to overcome the first half deficit. No Cardinals scored in double-figures tonight, Snider 8, Adel 8, Hicks 8, Mitchell 7, King 6.
Thankfully for Louisville, they won’t face Virginia again until February 6th, which will hopefully allow for Rick Pitino to find some answers against the patented pack-line Virginia defense. Up next, the Cards face Indiana (also lost their conference home opener tonight to Nebraska) in Indianapolis on Saturday the 31st. That game will not be anything like the one we saw tonight.
Minor setback, Virginia may have lost some scoring off last year’s team, but they clearly did not lose their defensive edge, which has been the staple of all great Virginia teams. Coming off a win like last Wednesday’s, a letdown is possible but hopefully avoided. It was not avoided tonight. Look for the Cards to bounce back on Saturday against the Hoosiers.
Go Cards!
