Cards Takeover on ACCN -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Owns ACCN Today   

As happens regularly during the offseason, the ACC Network has program "takeover" days scheduled this summer. Louisville takes a prime spot with the day heading into a holiday weekend, so if you're missing Cardinal sports, today is a great day to get your fix. 

Unfortunately, two of the women's replays have already come and gone. WBB vs Florida State aired at 2am eastern time and softball vs Notre Dame immediately followed it at 4. The other overnight games were football vs SMU (midnight) and MBB vs Clemson at 6. Wrapping up the morning will be a replay of one of the Miami vs Louisville super regional baseball games, which got underway at 8am. 

There will be a midday break before another baseball replay, this one the win over Oregon State in Omaha, gets started at 2PM. A big volleyball match takes the first evening slot with a replay of #3 Wisconsin vs #6 Louisville starting at 5. That was a fun one, and it's the last opportunity for a women's replay on the day. Nothing But Net with Pat Kelsey as a guest will air at 7 and 7:30 before the final game of the day is football vs Clemson at 8pm. 

It should be a fun stroll down memory lane, but it won't do much to hold us over. Only about six weeks left until fall sports get underway!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Golf Makes NCAAs; Winning Programs -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Golf in Lexington Regional

Louisville women's golf was named to the Lexington regional as the number 8 seed in the NCAA selection process this week. The team is making their first regional appearance since 2022, with individuals having advanced to this point in prior seasons. Louisville will be joined by Florida State, USC, TCU, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Georgia Southern, Pepperdine, Miami, WKU, Morehead State, and Fairleigh Dickinson in the three-day event at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville. 

The regional event is a 54-hole tournament that will take place from May 5th to May 7th. Five teams will advance and the top individual outside of the top five teams will also advance. Carmen Griffiths is playing in her fourth regional in as many seasons, making the Albuquerque Regional with the team in 2022 and being selected as an individual in the last two seasons. Griffiths was one of Louisville's top performers at the ACC Championships last week, finishing tied for 25th at +5. Griffiths was joined by freshman Veronika Exposito at that score in Greensboro.

The Cards have stiff competition in their quest to move on to the NCAA Championships which will be in Carlsbad, California May 16-21. FSU, USC, TCU, and Vandy are all ranked in the Top 25 nationally and the top eight seeds in the regional are all top-50 (Louisville is 46th). With only five spots available for advancement, Louisville will need a strong performance across the board. Playing close to home should help, if for no other reason than being accustomed to the weather. 

We'll have more on this team as the event gets underway just after Derby. 

UofL Tops Among Power 4 Fall/Winter Sports

The University of Louisville athletic program is getting close to firing on all cylinders again. They're at least close enough to be the winningest program among Power 4 schools for the 2024-25 season in the primary four fall/winter sports. Louisville's football, volleyball, and men's/women's basketball teams finished the year with a combined 75.2% winning percentage, better than all others. Those marks came over significant teams you may have heard of in all of those sports, as the Cards bested Texas (74.4), Oregon (72.5), TCU (71.7), and Florida (71.1) to round out the top five. 

Despite what felt like a year where more was possible in women's basketball, the Cards still finished with a 22-11 record overall. They were 13-5 in conference and advanced in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Walz's squad was only narrowly outperformed by the surprise resurgence of the men's team, which finished 27-8 on the year. The volleyball performance was certainly a major driver in Louisville's overall program success, as Dani Busboom Kelly led the team to a 30-6 record and an NCAA runner-up finish in her final season at the helm. As we've mentioned on the site and the show, Dan Meske looks to have another strong group on his hands in spring play as the Cards move into a new phase as a team. 

As a college sports town, Louisville just feels more vibrant when UofL is doing well. The energy in the city is better and that was apparent in the fall. As Louisville baseball makes its return to the national ranks, vibes are good on one end of UofL's campus, while softball works to find consistency on the other. A rising tide lifts all ships, as they say, so here's hoping the success among the teams doing very well continues to buoy those that could be doing better. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Fall in Round of 32 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Curry's Career High Not Enough in 85-70 Loss

Jayda Curry did her best to will the Cards to a victory over TCU in the second round of the NCAA tournament, scoring a career high 41 points, but Louisville wasn't able to recover from a nightmare run by the Horned Frogs in the second quarter. In the end, Louisville outscored TCU by six in the second half, but a 21-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome. TCU advanced to their first Sweet Sixteen in program history (men's and women's), while Louisville missed out on its chance for a 13th under Jeff Walz. 

Curry scored the first basket of the game, which was an auspicious start to her day. She would go on to score 15 of Louisville's 17 first quarter points, which was incredible, while also becoming incredibly alarming as the game wore on. Louisville held TCU at bay for much of the first quarter, and a Curry three with 4:34 to go in the quarter gave Louisville its largest lead of the game at 13-7. TCU answered with a three of their own (far from the last) and hit another after a Louisville layup to make it 15-13. The Cards responded with another basket with 2:57 remaining in the first to go up 17-13, but then the wheels fell off. TCU went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter up 20-17. 

The quarter break didn't help Louisville at all. They continued to be unable to score, not making a basket in the second quarter until there was only 4:10 remaining in the quarter. That's almost a full quarter's worth of scoreless basketball. In that time, TCU had scored ten points to stretch their lead to 30-19. Louisville's shooting woes continued, while TCU kept taking shots on a kiddie goal. When all was said and done, the second quarter was a 27-9 bloodbath, TCU was on a 34-9 extended run, and it looked like it might all be over but the crying. 

This was a matchup long awaited by those that created the packages about Hailey Van Lith taking on her former school and coach, and the former Louisville guard didn't disappoint. Van Lith played all 40 minutes and finished with a double-double, totaling 16 points and 10 assists. She was a big part of that second quarter. While she only scored four points in the quarter, she tallied four of her assists (for 11 points), three of her five rebounds, and her only steal and block each in the second. When Louisville was on the mat, HVL and TCU didn't let up. 

If the first quarter was bad for Louisville from a defensive perspective, the second was a disaster. TCU went 8-13 in the first, with a 4-6 effort from beyond the arc. In the second, they improved, shooting 11-14 overall and 5-7 from three. The Horned Frogs were shooting 70.4% overall and 69.2% from deep. As the Cards watched them run away, they managed to find the bottom of the net on just 9 of 35 shots, going 2-7 from three. That's 25.7%. With a -44.7% disadvantage in shooting, almost no other stats matter. 

Jeff Walz must have lit a fire under Louisville at half time, or at least stirred some embers, because the Cards didn't fold coming out of the locker room. Olivia Cochran scored the first points of the half on a couple of free throws, and Louisville cut the lead to 15 with 7:28 to go. Unfortunately, the third quarter was a lot of "Louisville might get some momentum... oh never mind." The Cards were unable to claw back much closer, and the lead stretched back to 20 on two occasions. Even when Imari Berry hit threes on back-to-back possessions, TCU was able to respond with an and-1 on a layup to halt any progress. With 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Louisville's luck in the game was summarized pretty well by the final sequence. Berry drew a foul and responded by missing a pair of free throws. On the ensuing possession, Curry forced the ball away from Van Lith, again giving the Cards a chance at the last shot. Louisville worked the ball around to find an open Elif Istanbulluoglu, who missed a three as time ran out. 

Trailing by 18 entering the fourth, things weren't looking good. The Cards opened with a quick score by Elif, though, and TCU missed a three on their first possession. A Cochran three probably isn't what I'd recommend to get back into the game, and it missed, but Louisville weathered another offensive possession by forcing a miss from HVL. Curry was fouled on a three attempt and hit all three free throws to make it a 13-point game with 8:37 remaining. Another miss meant Louisville finding Berry for a three would have made it a 10-point game, but the shot was off the mark, as was the follow-up layup (not for lack of help by some contact, but the game was pretty loosely called). 

A couple of TCU free throws pushed the lead back to 15, but Curry dropped in a three to make it 12. Right on cue, the momentum killer came on a free layup and a Louisville miss. Another turnover meant that the Cards weren't out just yet, and a nice jumper by Cochran kept it at 12. A missed three fell to Curry, who brought it up court, kept it herself, and fired up a wild three that managed to hit almost all of the rim and the backboard before falling in. Louisville was down by just nine points with 5:26 to go. Consider by eyebrows raised. 

It wasn't meant to be, though. The Cards weren't able to keep up the pressure or go on a sustained run, and they never got closer than eight points with 2:47 remaining. TCU pushed it back to a 15-point deficit in the end, even without Louisville playing the foul game. Curry continued to do everything in her power to get Louisville across the finish line but she needed help. She got some from Cochran and Berry, who scored 15 and 8, respectively, but if you do the math on that, you're going to be disappointed. Allow me to help. 41+15+8=64 from three players. Louisville scored 70 total. Curry made 13 of Louisville's 24 baskets. She was 6-12 from 3 and Berry was 2-4. Louisville attempted 8 others and made none. The Cards got six points out of 113 player minutes. If you take Curry's 13-28 away, Louisville went 11-43 (25.6%) from the floor. The offense just wasn't there.

The FRED Report

Free Throws: The Cards had a good day at the line, making the most of their chances by going 14-16 from the stripe. Curry was her typical 9-9, but Cochran added a surprising 5-5. The super senior gave it a good run in her final game for Louisville, adding six rebounds, one assist, and three steals to her 15 points without turning the ball over. That was a bit beside the point, though. 87.5% is a capital 'F'.

Rebounds: There isn't a much more stark indication of Louisville's shooting woes (and TCU's hot hand) than the rebounding stats. The Cards and Frogs tied with 31 rebounds apiece. Louisville had 15 offensive boards. TCU had 29 defensive. That's right - 44 of the 62 rebounds came at Louisville's end of the floor. Woof. TCU scored on both of its offensive rebounds. Louisville managed fewer second-chance points than they had offensive rebounds. TCU was a decent rebounding team, averaging a margin of +7.8 this season. I'll go lowercase 'r' but I'm reluctant about it. 

Effort/Execution: I was ready to throw in the towel at the half, but I'll go ahead and tell you I'm awarding a capital 'E'. I know Louisville lost by 15, but they never gave up. Maybe there was a stretch in the second where they looked a little defeated, but they could have lost this game by 40 and they chose to fight back, cutting it to single digits. They also only had seven turnovers. Their problem was that they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. Sometimes that's the way it goes. 

Defense: This one is a bit of an enigma. The Cards forced 14 turnovers, six from HVL, and they had a good strategy to keep her off balance. They came away with 10 steals and picked up a block. They only gave up nine fast break points. All that said, they gave up 85 points overall on 63% shooting. TCU was better than 50% in every quarter. Their worst shooting quarter was the third, where they went just 4-8, but they made up for it by going 13-15 from the line in that period. Louisville was a bit late on help defense, and they overcommitted on traps on a few occasions. It is what it is. No letter.

That's a final score of F-r-E-_. A bit of a surprising score, given the way the game turned out, but stats don't always tell the story. We'll have plenty more to say on this team, but for now, let's be proud of the fact that the Cards made it to the NCAA tournament, despite some shakiness during the season, and they managed to get back into the second round. It was a tough loss to end the season, but we got a pair of pretty nice swan songs from Cochran and Curry, who I feel like I couldn't have given enough words to in this column. 

Walz showed that he could win games with the transfer portal last season, but he showed he still knew how to run a program this year. The Cards are set up for the future with the players set to return, so we'll see what there is to come. Louisville won't be dancing any more this season, but you can be sure that there are plenty of tournament wins yet to come for the program. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Survive Husker Rally; Softball Wins Game 1 -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Advances with 63-58 Victory

Like the men's team a day earlier, Louisville women's basketball faced a team from Nebraska that had a strong post player and kept hitting threes when Louisville attempted to break the game open. Unlike the men, the women kept their cool and never let the game get out of reach. The Cards and Huskers played a game marred by long scoring droughts, sometimes by both sides at the same time (such as a three-and-a-half minute stretch in the first quarter), but ultimately, Louisville's defense stepped up to force Nebraska into the most important drought of all: not scoring for the final minute of the game. 

The Cards and Huskers traded blows in the first quarter, but it was Nebraska's inability to hold onto the ball that really kept Louisville in it early. The Cards shot just 30% from the floor in the first quarter, compared to 46.7% from Nebraska, but they trailed by only two at the break. That was largely due to a 6-3 Louisville advantage in turnovers, which resulted in a 6-0 advantage in points off of those turnovers. 

Louisville would ride that turnover advantage wave throughout the game, with the biggest difference coming in the second quarter. The second saw Louisville take its first real lead of the game (6-5 was immediately erased by a Nebraska 3 in the first quarter) when they went on a 9-0 run to close the half. The Cards had the same 6-3 turnover margin in the second quarter as they did in the first, but they scored 11 points off of those six turnovers while Nebraska could manage just two. The Huskers looked like they'd hold on to the lead throughout the quarter, as each time Louisville got close, they'd hit a three to stretch the advantage. Nebraska led by about five for the entire quarter until that Louisville run over the final two-and-a-half minutes. In the second, Nebraska shot an identical 7-15 from the floor, but Louisville brought their average up to 38.5% with a 9-19 quarter. The Cards also made two threes, matching Nebraska, and led 36-32 at halftime. 

Olivia Cochran picked up two fouls in the second quarter, but both came as a result of playing hard against Alexis Markowski, and it was paying off. Louisville had a strong post presence in the game, despite the potential Nebraska advantage in that area, and the Cards limited Markowski overall. In the end, she finished with a double-double, but she scored only 12 points, and her 10 rebounds came primarily on the defensive end. She was just 5-12 from the floor (1-2 from three) and had two turnovers. The Cards outscored Nebraska by 12 in the paint. One place Louisville struggled in this area was second chance points. The Cards had 18 offensive rebounds, compared to just 9 for Nebraska, but it was the Huskers that won the second chance points battle 8-7. 

Taj Roberts scored a layup on the first possession of the second half to push the Cards lead to six, and both teams decided scoring was optional for a bit. Olivia Cochran broke a four-minute scoring drought with a free throw to make it 39-32. Nebraska matched that with 5:07 remaining in the quarter, and a three by Jayda Curry, over five minutes after the last made field goal in the game, pushed the Louisville lead to nine. The Cards looked like they'd be in control from that point on, but the Huskers held on, cutting the lead to 46-44 with 1:10 to go in the quarter. A pair of layups by Elif Istanbulluoglu in the final minute pushed Louisville's lead to 50-44 going into the final stanza. 

Not so fast, my friend as Lee Corso would say. After Elif's layup in the final second, a bit of chaos ensued. The refs convened for a chat about whether a technical foul should be assessed for Louisville players coming onto the court before the quarter was over. Ultimately, the right decision was made, and no foul was given. The clock operator had mistakenly stopped the clock with 0.1s remaining after the field goal, meaning the bench did come out on the floor to celebrate before the quarter ended. However, the clock shouldn't have stopped for a made basket in the third quarter. The conversation ended with the refs correctly determining that the quarter would have been over if the clock hadn't stopped, and that was that. A whole lot of stress for nothing. 

As if the teams felt Louisville fans relax from afar going into the fourth quarter, things turned on a dime. Louisville decided that the beginning of the quarter would be a great time for a scoring drought, but Nebraska didn't agree. The Huskers opened the fourth on a 10-0 run over 3:30 that flipped Louisville from +6 to -4. The Cards would finally score in the fourth with 5:28 remaining, lucky to not trail by more. The Louisville basket made it 54-52 in favor of Nebraska, and given the final score, you can probably guess that the end was tense. Neither team scored for two minutes, and Louisville finally tied it at 56 with 2:20 remaining. Jayda Curry's second tough jumper in a row, coming after the second offensive rebound of the possession, gave Louisville a 58-56 lead with 1:16 remaining. 

Britt Prince (one of two Prince's Louisville needed to be very aware of entering the weekend) hit a layup to tie the game with 59 seconds remaining, and Jeff Walz called a timeout to draw up a go-ahead play on what could be Louisville's final possession. As the shot clock wound down, Curry put up a three that rimmed out. Cochran was there for yet another offensive rebound for the Cards, and she was fouled on her put back attempt. Olivia missed the first but buried the second to give Louisville a one-point lead. After a timeout to advance the ball, Nebraska looked to run the clock down and take a final shot to win. That is, until Prince saw what she thought was an open lane for a layup. (Side note, this was ill advised, in my opinion, in a one-point game. If you make it, Louisville has the ball down one and gets to hold for the last shot. Are you leading? Yes. Have you just subjected yourself to potential heartbreak? Also, yes.) As it was, Louisville stepped in to draw a charge on Prince, voiding the basket and fouling her out of the game. It was a bit of a late move to pick up the charge, but Louisville had just been called for the same thing a couple of minutes earlier, so if it was a bad call, at least it was consistent. 

From there, the Cards knew they were playing the foul game, and they wisely got it in to Curry, who tried to kill time but was fouled with 21 seconds remaining. She did what everyone hoped she would and calmly sunk both to give Louisville a three-point cushion. Nebraska advanced the ball with a timeout again, but the three-point attempt they drew up missed and Mackenly Randolph pulled down the rebound. She got the ball to Cochran, but Olivia couldn't get it away before being fouled. Cochran hit one of two at the line to stretch the lead to four. Another timeout (taking three into the final minute is a choice...) advanced the ball, but this time, Nebraska threw the ball away. Cochran was sent to the line for free throws that were largely academic and made one of two to set the final score of 63-58. 

Survive and advance. 

The FRED Report

Free Throws: The Cards weren't great at the stripe, going just 9-15. Cochran had a good game (14 points, 5 boards, just three fouls, and a block), but she was a big part of the lower percentage, going 4-8 from the line. Roberts missed her only attempt to convert a three-point play and Ja'leah Williams was 1-2. Curry led the way at 4-4. No letter.

Rebounds: Louisville held a huge advantage on the offensive glass, but they managed to outrebound Nebraska by just four overall. They also didn't convert those O'boards into second chance points consistently, though they did have some second (and third) opportunities that were clutch down the stretch. Nebraska had a height advantage in the post, so I'll award a lowercase 'r'.

Effort/Execution: Louisville never gave up, even when the shots weren't falling and Nebraska went on a late run. The Cards could have caved but they didn't. Jayda Curry played through getting hurt what felt like seven times, but hopefully she'll be ok going into tomorrow. Louisville got at least five minutes from everyone that played (11 players) and everyone that got on the floor contributed at least one positive stat. The Cards had just 13 turnovers, and only 14 fouls, and they had 14 assists on 25 made baskets. That kind of performance in a tournament game where momentum is everything gets a capital 'E' from me. 

Defense: Nebraska shot the ball well, but not really for lack of Louisville's defensive pressure. The Huskers were ultimately 23-52 from the floor, making fewer shots than Louisville. They took only eight free throws, and Louisville turned them over 24 times (scoring 27 points). Williams led Louisville with four of their ten steals, and she pulled down nine rebounds, seven defensive. She struggled offensively but she was a huge force on defense. The Cards also had three blocks. To put a bow on it, Louisville gave up just 58 points to a team that averaged 75.5 throughout the year. Capital 'D'.

That's a final tally of _-r-E-D, which is certainly nothing to slouch at. We'll need the Cards to get to the line more tomorrow and to take advantage of those opportunities, but this was a good showing from Louisville, who return to their winning ways in the NCAA tournament. 

Louisville will move on to face TCU in the matchup the selection committee was going for when they set the bracket last season. After Louisville was upset and didn't get to face LSU and Hailey Van Lith, the committee set the stage again. The Cards will face the Horned Frogs, led by Van Lith and Sedona Prince, on their ugly home floor tomorrow. The game will tip at 6PM. 

Softball Beats UNC 7-4

Louisville softball won their first game of a three-game set in Chapel Hill yesterday by a final score of 7-4. The Cards rallied twice in this one, powered by a pair of three-run homers. UNC took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and Char Lorenz sent a three-run shot down the left field line to take the lead in the fourth. UNC responded immediately with another two runs to regain the lead in the bottom half, but Bri Despines put Louisville back in front with a homer to right in the fifth. Camryn Lookadoo hit a pinch-hit double in the sixth to set the final score at 7-4.

The Cards didn't have a great hitting day, but they got hits when it mattered. Louisville left just three players on base, scoring seven runs on just eight hits and two walks. The long ball will do that for you. UNC managed 13 hits and two walks, but Alyssa Zabala (8-3) and Sam Booe combined to strand 11 runners. Zabala got the start and gave up all four runs on ten hits and one walk in four full innings, striking out two. Booe came in after Louisville retook the lead and earned the long save. Booe pitched three full and gave up three hits and one walk, while also picking up two strikeouts. Booe is listed in the pitching summary as giving up an HBP, but none is listed in her stats or the batting stats for UNC. 

The Cards and Heels will get together for game two of the series at 2PM today. 

CC NCAA Tournament Pick 'Em Update

After day one of our NCAA Pick 'Em, here's the scoreboard as it stands midway through the round of 64. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We've got hosts scrambled all over the place today, so we aren't able to get together for the show this week. We'll be back next week, hopefully to discuss a continued tournament run for the Cards.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Fall Flat in ACC Quarters -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Offense Struggles in 61-48 Loss to Duke

Louisville women's basketball played its second consecutive game without Jayda Curry and Merissah Russell last night and let's hope it's the last time they have to do that this season. After surviving in overtime against Clemson on Thursday, Louisville's offense looked lost against a suffocating defense, leading to the worst scoring half of the season when they headed to the locker room with just 18 points. Louisville tried to make a game of it late, but their momentum was halted and they'll now await their fate on Selection Sunday. 

The Cards' shooting woes started early, as they managed just 5-16 from the floor in the first quarter, a mark of 31.3%. Duke shot 50% from the floor in the first, but they turned the ball over a handful of times and Louisville was able to stay close. The Cards trailed just 15-11 at the end of one, and it looked like they might be able to keep the game in hand. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't make it out of the quarter without Nyla Harris, Ja'Leah Williams, and Olivia Cochran all picking up their first fouls. Even more concerningly, Taj Roberts started the game just 1-6 from the floor. With Curry out, Roberts is Louisville's leading scorer, so the team will go as she does without Curry.

Louisville's hopes of keeping the game close fell apart in the second quarter, as their shooting woes continued. The Cards were 3-10 from the floor in the second, and while Taj Roberts hit her second three of the game, Duke stretched their lead from 4 to 13 at the break. Duke opened the second with a three, and Louisville made their first basket of the quarter with a Mackenly Randolph jumper but failed to score for the next six and a half minutes. Fortunately for the Cards, Duke went on a long scoring drought as well. Unfortunately for the Cards, Duke's ended with a scoring run, rather than a single basket. The Blue Devils finished the quarter on an 11-5 run. Louisville had six turnovers in the quarter. They trailed 31-18 at halftime. 

If you're doing the math on the final score, you know how the second half went, but it started with a third quarter that looked as though Louisville might lose the game by 30. Louisville remained largely unable to score, mustering their first basket over two minutes into the half and sitting on 20 points for four minutes after that. Isla Juffermans made 1-2 free throws to go to the under 5 timeout, pushing Louisville to 21 points with just 14 minutes left in the game. Duke went to the line with 3:31 remaining to extend their lead to its peak at 22 points. At that point, Louisville's offense finally found a bit of rhythm. Louisville closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run to move into the final stanza down by 15 with some momentum. While it isn't great to be optimistic about a 15-point deficit, it was, as I mentioned, threatening to be much worse.

The Cards continued their comeback bid to open the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of the fourth to cut the lead to eight at 45-37 and force a Kara Lawson timeout with 8:18 remaining. Briefly, it looked like game on... and then it didn't. Louisville had a chance to cut the lead to six, but a missed jumper in the paint and a missed put-back (both of which had decent shouts for fouls, in my opinion), gave the ball back to Duke, who got a layup and drew the foul to complete the three-point play. A five-point swing meant that instead of 39-47 it was 37-48. After that point, Louisville struggled avoid turnovers, and Duke started to make threes, quelling any further comeback efforts. The Cards didn't see a single-digit deficit for the remainder of the game. A desperate attempt to play the foul game late pushed the lead back to it's final mark at 13 and the Cards' run in the ACC Tournament ended with a 61-48 loss. 

For the second game in a row, Ja'Leah Williams struggled to stay out of foul trouble when she was depended on to be the floor general. After fouling out of the Clemson game, Williams picked up only two fouls in the first half against Duke but got a quick one in the third and was called for her fourth foul just four minutes into the third quarter. Williams was able to avoid fouling out, but she was off the floor for key minutes, and Louisville's offensive fate was in the hands of true freshmen in a hostile environment and a tournament setting. It didn't go great. Roberts, Izela Arenas, and Imari Berry combined for nine of Louisville's 21 turnovers. While a couple of Williams' fouls were suspect (one was whistled while she had both hands on the ball for a jump ball attempt), she will need to find a way to avoid ticky-tack situations if she is going to be depended on to run the floor. 

Despite Louisville's struggles, Mackenly Randolph somewhat quietly had her best game of the season. Randolph played 34 minutes and scored a personal-best (and tied for game-high) 13 points. She was 5-7 from the floor, including 1-1 from three, and made both her free throw attempts (each of which were and-ones). She did commit two fouls and two turnovers, but she had a pair of rebounds and another pair of assists (a lot of twos in the box score). Randolph has shown flashes so far this season, and last night's game (Robert's woeful shooting aside) was another indicator that this could be a very strong core group of players moving forward. 

We have given Olivia Cochran some flak this season, but she played hard in last night's loss. She was only 4-10 from the floor, but she made all three of her free throw attempts and finished with a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds). She only had two fouls and her three turnovers were unfortunate, but not game-breaking. As Louisville's spiritual leader, her efforts in helping prevent the blowout were considerable, and I hope for a celebratory end to her illustrious UofL career in the NCAA tournament. 

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: Louisville didn't take their first free throw until well into the third quarter, but they managed to do well at the line, despite the season averages of those that took the shots. The Cards finished 9-11 from the line, just under 82%. I can never quite remember the difference between a capital f and a lowercase f, but I'm crediting Cochran, Randolph, and Juffermans for their 7-8 performance. Capital 'F'.

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) models my facial 
expression for much of last night's game.

R-Rebounds: Louisville didn't get run off the boards, despite how it felt at times last night. Each team had 34 total rebounds, and Louisville had 17 each of offensive/defensive rebounds compared to Duke's 16-18. Louisville lost the second-chance points battle, but not by much (12-8). Duke outrebounds opponents by 6.7 per game on average, compared to just 3.3 for the Cards, so I'm going to award a capital 'R'. Again, I'm rewarding an individual effort here, as Cochran was the only player with double-digit rebounds. 

E-Effort/Execution: Ok, here is where my generosity runs a bit thin. Louisville shot just 32% from the floor, which isn't solely down to Duke's defense. They also had 21 turnovers, 11 of which were Duke steals. The Cards had only 9 assists on their 18 made baskets, and had multiple scoring droughts over five minutes. I'd like to reward the fact that they never gave up, but it's hard to ignore their worst offensive output in a single half (18) and their second worst scoring performance of the season. In retrospect, it's kind of crazy that they scored more than 18 in both halves when they managed just 42 points against NC State. No letter. 

D-Defense: Hmm. This one is a bit of a stumper. The Cards forced 18 turnovers, but just three of those were steals. A couple were turnovers in which they gave the ball right back. They were a bit slow on closeouts, and while Duke was just 41.5% from the floor overall, they were 6-18 from three. Louisville gave up 24 points in the paint, 13 fast break points, and it could have been worse if Duke hadn't shot 58% from the free throw line. I don't think Louisville's defense kept them in the game in the second half so much as Duke couldn't quite run away with it. No letter. 

In a weird game like last night's, it's hard to expect much more than the weird final score of F-R-_-_.

Louisville's fate is now in the hands of the committee. With conference tournaments going largely as expected, the Cards' resume won't be dramatically improved or harmed by outcomes across the country, so we just wait and see. After last night, Louisville's NET ranking remains in the mid-30s (35) and Charlie Creme still has them as a 7-seed in the Spokane region. NET rankings and bracketology will go out the window in eight days, but they're all we have for now. 

2025 Cardinal Couple ACC Pick'Em Update

Despite a couple of potential upsets, the day was largely chalky yesterday. After dropping his perfect bracket in the first quarterfinal matchup, Nick O saw his lead slip away in the last QF of the night. Five entries now sit on 9 points (Nick O, Curtis, Karen J, Kenny S, and Case) with three (Thomas, Jeff, and Daryl) close behind at 8. 

Nick O and Karen J will each drop another game having both picked FSU over NC State today, but they join the other six entries with Notre Dame as their champion. Paulie and Blue Lou (both with 7) will be rooting for Duke upset, which would upend the standings. Paulie needs Duke to win the championship for it to come down to tiebreakers, while Blue Lou could win outright with NC State over Duke in the final. 

Softball Soars in ACC Opening 9-2 Win

Louisville very nearly walked off Notre Dame in the sixth inning, but the Irish got one more attempt in the seventh. Sam Booe, who took the win from Alyssa Zabala, closed it out, though, and Louisville opened their ACC season with a big win over a middling Notre Dame squad. The Cards will get the Irish twice more this weekend, including a 1:00 PM matchup today. 

Louisville and Notre Dame each had ten hits in this one, but the Cards were able to do more damage with runners in scoring position, as Louisville pitching and defense stranded 11 on base for the Irish. The Cards left just five on base. Coach Holly Aprile manipulated the lineup slightly again, with Bri Despines batting fifth in this one and Madison Pickens taking the cleanup spot. Pickens made good use of it, sending her first career home-run to right field in the first inning to score Chelsea Mack and give the Cards a 2-0 lead. Pickens had a two-run single in the sixth inning to set up the potential walk-off, giving her four RBI in the game. 

Joining Pickens with two hits in the game were Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, and Taylor Monroe, with Lotus and Mack also each scoring two runs. Lotus had a timely RBI triple in the fifth, kicking off a four-run inning after Notre Dame trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Louisville's offense, unsurprisingly, wreaked havoc on the base paths, as they had infield singles, a forced error (for runs), and finished with seven steals (two for Mack). A small-ball delight on a team that also has some pop. Can't be mad about it. 

Alyssa Zabala had a bit of trouble in the cool evening weather, but she was serviceable and in line for the victory. Zabala pitched 3.2 innings and gave up seven hits, three walks, and two runs (both earned) while striking out a pair. Sam Booe came on to relieve her in the fourth with the tying run on base. Since Zabala was on the hook for the potential game-tying run upon her departure, the win ultimately went to Booe, who is now 4-1. Booe had another great outing in the circle, as she gave up just three hits and one walk in 3.1 innings and struck out five. She also did well to keep the ball out of danger as just two of her batted balls in play were in the air. All three hits were short outfield singles and she gave up just two fly ball outs. 

Louisville's win moves them to 15-6 and pushes Notre Dame below .500 at 10-11. I would expect Brooke Gray to get the start this afternoon, but Booe and Zabala are both capable on short rest if Gray struggles. The Cards took down the Notre Dame ace yesterday, giving Micaela Kastor just her second loss of the young season. If Louisville's offense can continue to build confidence, especially among the freshmen, this could be a fun year. 

Postgame with Madison Pickens

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four (with a potential showing from the fifth) in the booth today to recap the past week. There has been some bad, but a lot of good, so we'll do our best not to dwell on the negatives as we advance the mission of bringing you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Beats CMU; Big Game for WBB -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Hangs on to Beat CMU 13-9

After it looked like a run-rule was in order early in yesterday's game against Central Michigan, Louisville ultimately had to buckle down and defend a much closer than expected lead against the Chips. In the end, the Cards never trailed, and put the game away with a 3-run sixth to deflate CMU's comeback hopes. 

Lindsey Mullen got the start yesterday afternoon and put herself in a bit of a jam early. After a leadoff flyout, Mullen split a pair of singles with a strikeout. A steal put runners on second and third with two outs, but Lindsey was able to coax a full count infield pop-up to end the inning. Louisville's offense immediately went to work to protect her. Easton Lotus opened with a single, and Chelsea Mack followed with a bunt single, again proving why even a sacrifice bunt isn't safe for the defense against her. Bri Despines punished the Chips right away with a first pitch double to score Lotus. Char Lorenz then singled straight up the middle to score the pair, and moved to second as the defense tried to throw out Despines at home. A steal put Lorenz at third, and CMU finally got an out by striking out Madison Pickens. Taylor Monroe had an RBI single to score Lorenz but was thrown out trying to stretch for second. Katie Thatcher stepped in, determined she didn't need anyone on base to pick up an RBI, and dumped her first home run of the season over the fence in left-center. A flyout ended the inning and the Cards led 5-0.

Mullen flirted with danger again in the top of the second, as she and Pickens (starting at catcher) struggled to get on the same page. A leadoff single turned into a runner in scoring position on a passed ball. Another single put runners on the corners and another passed ball put two in scoring position. Mullen got the first out with a weak grounder straight back to the circle that held the runners. She then walked the younger Lotus sister to load the bases with one out. Mullen was able to dig deep and find the outs, though, putting up a pair of Ks to strand the bases loaded. 

Ally Alexander opened the bottom half with a single and moved to second on an error. She got a bit greedy, though, and the catcher got her revenge for the error, when Alexander was picked off by a throw behind. The pickoff was costly, as Lotus then doubled to left-center. A productive ground out from Mack moved Lots to third, and Despines singled her home. Another Char Lorenz single put two in scoring position as Lorenz advanced on the throw, and Pickens made up for her out in the first with a two-run double. Pickens, unfortunately, overran the bag at second expecting a throw home, but the cut off went to second instead and she was too late to retreat. Louisville added three to their lead and held an 8-0 advantage.

Lindsey Mullen's luck ran out in the third. Though she picked up her fourth strikeout of the game on the second batter of the inning, it followed a leadoff double. A bunt single put runners on the corners, and a one-out single scored a run and left two on. Izzy Harrison came on in relief, but her outing was short lived. After nine pitches walked the bases loaded and a run in, Ryann Sanders took the circle to face Emma Lotus. Lotus walked for the second time, this time intentionally after a wild pitch scored a run and opened a base. Sanders then got a pop out and a flyout to end the inning. As Mullen put all three runners that scored on base, she inherited the runs, giving her a final line of 2.1 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. It wasn't terrible given that we haven't seen much of her this season, but it does potentially speak to why the circle has largely been limited to Alyssa Zabala, Sam Booe, and Brooke Gray. 

As CMU's offense warmed up, Louisville's cooled off. The Cards saw a new pitcher in the third and went three up, three down on just seven pitches. Sanders came back out for the fourth and got a good start, picking up a pair of fly outs to open the inning. Back to back two-strike singles were followed by a full-count single to score a run, and Holly Aprile called on Sam Booe in relief. Booe gave up a single to allow a second run to come in, but picked up a ground out to end the inning. 

The Cards added two more in the bottom of the fourth, with the top of the order leading the way again. Lotus got her third hit in as many at-bats, and Mack had another bunt single to advance her. Despines moved both up with a ground out, and Lorenz matched Lotus's continuation of the perfect day by doubling in the pair. Pickens at bat is listed as "out at first 1b to 2b" so I have to assume it was a bunt attempt. Why they left off the "grounded out" part is unclear, but oh well. Louisville extended their lead back to 10-5. 

With Booe in the circle, Aprile shuffled the defensive lineup to get Despines behind the plate. Pickens was moved to right and Thatcher stepped off the field into the DP slot. The move didn't appear to help a ton, as Booe gave up a pair of singles to open the inning anyway. She settled in, though, as the Cards used three straight ground balls to end the inning, never throwing it to first (FC to third, FC to second, FC at second unassisted). The offense faced another three up, three down in the bottom half. 

Sam Booe became the next victim of CMU's resilient offense. A leadoff single was followed by a full-count walk and a four-pitch walk, and Aprile pulled the plug again. In a five-run game with the bases loaded and nobody out, Aprile turned to Brooke Gray as her fifth pitcher of the day. It looked like a great decision, as Gray struck out the first two batters she faced to quickly flip the script of the inning for CMU. Unfortunately, it took one swing of the bat to flip it right back. On the eighth pitch of a full-count at-bat, Carly Sleeman sent one over the fence in left-center for a grand slam. Another full count drew a walk, but Gray got the flyout to end the inning. Booe was credited with three of the runs, and Louisville's lead was just 10-9. 

The Cards responded one more time, with Alexander opening the inning with a double. Lotus followed with a ground ball to third that was ruled a single and an error, as the throw missed the mark but was late anyway. Alexander scored and Lotus moved to second. Mack singled up the middle and moved to second on the throw home, where Easton was beaten to the plate by the throw from her sister Emma in center field. Despines tripled to score Mack, and Lorenz's perfect day ended on a pop up. Pickens singled to score Despines, and Ava Venturelli had a pinch-hit double. Pickens held at third, though, and a foul out ended the inning with no more runs. Louisville pushed the lead back to 13-9, which is where it stayed. Gray pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and the Cards celebrated the victory. 

Louisville's top of the order showed why the offense can be so dangerous today. The first four hitters in the lineup all hit at least .750, with Lotus going a perfect 4-4. Among their 13 (!) hits, those four accounted for 18 total bases. They scored 11 of Louisville's runs and had eight of the RBIs. Preeeeeetty good. They also didn't leave any runners on base. Louisville, as a team, finished with 20 hits for 31 total bases and only left three runners on base. The Cards saw the ball well, striking out just once as a team and drawing no walks. That's right. They had 20 hits on 34 at bats and had just one strikeout. They didn't reach base via walk or error, as both CMU throwing errors were ruled hits before the errors. 

On the pitching side, it was a weird day. There's a strong chance that the cold and wind played a part, but nine earned runs on fifteen hits and seven walks is a yikes. Louisville matched the seven walks with seven strikeouts, but those seven Ks came from pitchers who threw just two of the walks. They'll want to clean that up. 

Louisville made the decision, as the wind stayed strong and the temperature dropped, to cancel yesterday evening's game against Northwestern. The Cards will face the Wildcats in the final game of the Cardinal Classic today at 1:30. Louisville moved to 14-5 with the win yesterday, and they'll see if they can continue what has been a good showing against Big Ten schools so far this year. If you don't feel like heading out to sit in the 30 degree weather at Ulmer, the game will be available on ACCNX. 

WBB Closes Regular Season at Notre Dame

Today is a big one. College Gameday is in South Bend for #25 Louisville and #3 Notre Dame for what is a huge game for both teams. After the win on Sunday against UNC slipped through Louisville's fingers, the Cards find themselves on the wrong side of the double-bye cut line entering the final day. Everything went wrong for Louisville Thursday, despite the victory over Clemson, as Duke beat the Tar out of the Heels, and FSU upset Notre Dame in South Bend to set up a four-way tie for third in the conference. 

This game has been big for Notre Dame since last Sunday, when they lost in double-overtime in Raleigh. The loss put ND and NC State on a collision course for a tie atop the league, with NC State holding the tiebreaker. Notre Dame's loss on Thursday made today's game even more dire. The Irish must win and have NC State lose at SMU to take the top spot. They'd also like to avoid a three game losing streak to close the season, and a Louisville win would give ND back-to-back home losses. Things aren't looking good for Louisville in the "Notre Dame motivation" department. 

On the Louisville side, the Cards are in a pickle. Four teams are vying for two spots among the double-byes. On decision day, UNC plays Virginia in Chapel Hill, and Duke and FSU play each other in Tallahassee. Let's look at the scenarios. One of Duke and FSU will go to 14-4. Louisville holds the two-way tiebreaker over both teams, so the two-way scenarios are simple. If Louisville wins and UNC loses, the Cards will be the 3-seed. If Louisville loses and UNC wins, Louisville will be the 5-seed. 

Now here's where things get a bit tricky, as Louisville and UNC getting the same result triggers a three-way tie. The first three-way tiebreaker is the record amongst the teams in the tie. Louisville has played each team just once, which puts them at a minor disadvantage. Louisville will be 1-1 in this category regardless of who wins the Duke/FSU game. UNC played Duke twice, going 1-1, and FSU once, going 0-1. That means a three-way tie with Duke would be UNC (2-1),  Louisville (1-1), and Duke (1-2). A three-way tie with FSU would see all three teams at 1-1, which triggers tiebreaker 2: record against highest rated teams. Now the battle for first comes back into play. UNC beat NC State, so if the Wolfpack are first in the league, UNC wins the three-way tie and Louisville then holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over FSU. If the Irish are first, FSU takes the three-way tie and UNC holds the head-to-head over Louisville.

Because UNC holds both three-way tiebreakers over Louisville, the Cards cannot get the 4-seed with a loss. Louisville and UNC both losing would mean Duke/FSU winner takes the 3-seed and UNC takes the 4-seed. However, this also means that Louisville can guarantee themselves a double-bye with a win. If Louisville beats Notre Dame, the Irish will be second in the league, regardless of the result of the NC State game against SMU. That means that UNC will win either three-way tiebreaker, and Louisville holds the head-to-head over Duke and FSU.

So, despite all the convoluted tiebreaker scenarios, Louisville's fate is actually pretty simple: win and you get a double-bye; lose and you don't. No pressure, Cards.

Today's game tips at noon on ESPN. 

ACC Tournament Pick 'Em 

Later today, we we ill know the seedings for the ACC Tournament. We will have our annual Pick 'Em...and you can enter in pour comments sections..up to tip off Wednesday. We will also have Sonya's pick in  the comments later today...winner hets their choice between a Cracker Barrel Gift Card or a Wagner's Restaaurant ( a UofL favorite...) Gift Card...a $25  card!  The tournament is free, just make sure to enter a total score for the final game guess, in case of ties. closest to wins... 

Fire away in the comments section when we have an offiicial finish...

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Stun Blue Devils in Cameron -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Beats #11 Duke 70-62

Louisville women's basketball weathered a third quarter comeback to hang on and become the first team not named Duke to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season. Coming into the game, the Blue Devils' men's and women's teams were a combined 26-0 at home, with Kara Lawson's squad sporting an 11-0 record. The Cards got clutch minutes from Merissah Russell late in the game and saw Jayda Curry score a season-high 24 points as they moved to 12-3 in conference and hold the tiebreaker over FSU, Duke, and Cal for the fourth seed in the ACC tournament with three games to play.

Louisville got off to an inauspicious start in this one, opening the game with a shotclock violation. The offense didn't get much better for the Cards in the first quarter, as they made just one of their first nine shots. Coupled with a pair of free throws, Louisville had four points in the first seven minutes of the game. They returned to equilibrium a bit over the last three minutes of the quarter by making four of six, including a three from Elif Istanbulluoglu (the first of the game for either team) to finish the quarter with 13. Duke, who shot 44% from the floor in the quarter, had just 14, as they made only two-point baskets, didn't get to the line, and matched Louisville's three turnovers.

The second quarter was a comedy of errors, and I mean that literally. Louisville finished with seven turnovers in the quarter, which actually paled in comparison to Duke's 10. The Cards found a bit more rhythm offensively, shooting 8/16 from the floor and picking up two more free throws. Where they really did their damage was the three point line. Louisville was 4/6 from beyond the arc in the quarter, while Duke was just 1/4. Those makes included a pair by Jayda Curry, with one coming off balance as the shot clock wound down, and one from Mackenly Randolph to improve her season mark to 2/17 from three. Duke, to their credit, was 7/10 from the floor, going 100% from two, but the turnovers and inability to get to the free throw line allowed Louisville to take a six-point lead into the locker room at 35-29.

The Cards came out of the break determined to continue the sloppy basketball on display in the second quarter, but the Blue Devils appeared to have gotten their yips out of the way. Louisville committed eight more turnovers in the third, while Duke had just four. The wheels came off a bit for the referee crew (which had Louisville favorites Dee Kanter and Billy Smith as part of it)  in this quarter, if you ask me, with both teams getting away with various fouls and violations while simultaneously falling victim to ghost calls. To add to their troubles, Louisville was just 4/9 from the floor with another strong mark from Duke, who went 8/17. The Blue Devils last shot fell through the net as time expired to tie the game and reset the board going into the fourth. 45-all.

Pam Ward (who is committed to saying Louisville incorrectly and as frequently as possible) and Stephanie White continually spoke on the broadcast about Louisville being able to push the defense and make Duke commit fouls. While this was anticipated to be a strongly contested defensive battle, Duke is susceptible to foul trouble. That began to roost early in the fourth. Louisville's first four points in the quarter came at the line, keeping them in a game where their field goal shooting threatened to abandon them. Jayda Curry made the Cards' first basket of the fourth three minutes in with a three-pointer to make it 52-47.

After Duke collected back-to-back offensive rebounds on their next possession, Olivia Cochran committed her third foul and Delaney Thomas stepped to the line for free throws. She made them both, giving Duke their first free throw makes on their first free throw attempts of the game with just 6:30 remaining. The Blue Devil's second made three of the game would tie it at 52. Cochran earned her fourth foul and the game went to its final media timeout. A Curry foul sent Duke to the line to give the Blue Devils their first lead since the score was 18-16 in the second quarter, but Louisville was undeterred. Jeff Walz left Cochran in the game with four fouls and she delivered, scoring to tie the game, while drawing a foul on Reigan Richardson. Cochran would miss the and-one free throw, but Merissah Russell made her first huge offensive rebound play to lead to a Curry jumper to give the Cards the lead once more.

After that, the Cards continued to trade a pair of free throws for a Duke made two pointer. Remember how we talked about Duke being susceptible to fouling? Yeah, that remained true. After Curry's jumper made it 56-54 in favor of Louisville, the Cards would score just one more field goal for the remainder of the game. And in a close game like this, it wasn't because Duke was fouling aggressively to send Louisville to the line. Louisville just ran their offense, played their game, and happened to earn freebies. In fact, Duke was so committed to not fouling that when the Cards inherited the ball with 58 seconds remaining and a four-point lead, they were able to milk 42 seconds off the clock before Curry was sent to the line. I mentioned Russell's first huge O-board already, but her second came when Curry ran the shot clock all the way down before firing a three. Russell fought hard for the rebound, then wisely pulled it away, helping tick those extra 14 seconds away.

Curry made two to give the Cards a six-point lead, and a Duke turnover on a missed offensive rebound attempt appeared to seal the game. But wait! Is that Dee Kanter's music? Despite the ball pretty clearly going out off of Duke in real time, Kanter called it Duke ball. To her credit, she immediately went to the monitor. Once again, the ball was shown to clearly bounce off the Duke player's arm last, but a minute later, Kanter announced the call was confirmed. Ok, sure. As they say, though, "Ball don't lie." The Blue Devils threw the inbound pass away and Curry corralled it. She was fouled immediately, and she sunk two more to set the final: 70-62.

This was an extremely chaotic game. Both teams went on runs that looked like they'd ice the game early, and both also looked completely out of sorts at different times. Sometimes, they looked out of sorts at the same time, resulting in certified "ugly basketball" at multiple points in the game. Curry was the biggest bright spot in this one, with her season high also being the highest point total in the game. She added three assists and five steals to two offensive boards and she was 9-9 from the free throw line. Toss in her three "oh please no" injury scares and that's a full stat line.

The Cards also got strong performances from the other two players to match Curry's 37 minutes. Taj Roberts and Ja'Leah Williams were both in double figures. Williams had four rebounds, three assists, and two steals to go along with her 13 points, and Roberts had three rebounds and a steal while going 6-6 from the free throw line to score 11. Merissah Russell scored two points on her only shot attempt (a critical basket at the end of the shot clock) and matched the team high with four rebounds.

Let's have a FRED Report, shall we?

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: This one is pretty straightforward. Louisville was 22-25 from the line, scoring more points from the free-throw line than the three-point line (which is saying something; they had six threes!). 88% is really good, and it's twice as nice when the opponent scores just four points from the stripe. Capital 'F'.

R - Rebounding: Rebounding was a strange one. Louisville had just 28 rebounds, but their boards were much more distributed than Duke's 30, as the Blue Devils had two players with seven apiece. Louisville made hay with their offensive rebounds, though. The two teams matched with 11 each, but the Cards outscored Duke 14-8 on second chance points. I'm going to go with a lowercase 'r'.

Marvel's Fred Duke
AKA 'Blob'

E - Effort/Execution: Boy, you thought rebounding was tough to judge? The Cards were beaten in points in the paint, largely due to defensive lapses, and bench points, but they scored more points off turnovers and on the fast break. They also had more second chance points, as I just noted, so clearly hustle was on the table. They only shot 43% from the floor but that came with 50% from three point range (Louisville really struggled with missed layups). The Cards had 19 turnovers, but that was fewer than Duke (albeit by one), and Duke is a really good defensive team. Because this was a game that Louisville had every chance to give up in the second half and instead they showed their mettle by hanging in for a tough road win, I'm granting a capital 'E'. Sue me.

D - Defense: So... Duke shot the ball pretty well. They ended up going 50% from the floor, with a whopping 60.5% from two-point land. However, they turned the ball over a ton and Louisville defended without sending the Blue Devils to the line. Duke was averaging 74 points coming into the game and Louisville held them way below that. The Cards defense had some mistakes, to be sure, but they kept themselves in the game early and closed it out late. Capital 'D'.

You may not love a final tally of F-r-E-D in a game that was as choppy as that one, but I'm not going to let a somewhat ugly game overshadow the fact that the Cards picked up their second Quad 1 win with a huge road win over a top-15 opponent. Louisville has an incredibly difficult road ahead to close out this season, so getting it started with a win like tonight is great for confidence. Up next is another matchup with a team tied with Louisville in the standings. The Cards bring #9 UNC to town on Sunday for the penultimate home game of the season. A win would go a long way toward cementing Louisville's double-bye and improving their NCAA seed line. Hopefully this team is peaking at the right time of year.

POST GAME JEFF WALZ HERE

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case