Nothing was gong right for the University of Louisville basketball team. Virginia had jumped out to a 29-14 lead at half time.

Damian Lee, Trey Lewis, Chinanu Onuaku, Donovan Mitchell, Anas Mahmoud and Jaylen Johnson had been held scoreless. Not even close to making a basket.

Quentin Snider had scored UofL’s first five points, one of them a 3-pointer, but except for four free throws, he was done for the day.

No chance. Virginia an easy 63-47 winner in a game that was nowhere near as close as the final score.

Quentin Snider takes on four Virginia defenders to no avail.
Quentin Snider takes on four Virginia defenders to no avail.

Louisville would somehow manage to score 33 points in the second half but never seriously threaten. Embarrassed and rendered helpless in front of a crowd of 21,714 fans on a White Out Day.

Ray Spalding and Deng Adel would lead UofL in scoring with 12 points piece, Spaulding cleaning up miscues around the rim and Adel a couple of three’s after the game had been decided.

Poor Rick Pitino had nowhere to hide in his latest white suit, failing to motivate his team, no danger of a comeback, never a hint of a rally. True to form, totally predictable, the coach would complain about his team’s lack of intensity on defense.

What was missing on Saturday, however, was any semblance of an offense. Largely because Virginia was beating Louisville at its own game, providing serious challenges to every shot attempted by UofL players.

Lee and Lewis looking lost, taking completely out of the equation, managing only six and four points, respectively. Onuaku, who had been sick during the week, failed to get a rebound and scored only one point.

Pitino said he saw it coming because his team hadn’t been playing good defense in recent games.

One has to respect his opinion but Virginia wasn’t exactly a scoring machine. What was painfully obvious was that UofL had no answers on either offense or defense on Saturday.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

2 thoughts on “Louisville fails litmus test against Virginia”
  1. A letdown is not that unusual and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. I remember UofL getting beat 99-59 by Xavier in 1955-56 and they went on to win the prestigious NIT that year. But not before beating Xavier 93-80 in a return match. Similar things happened in 1986 and 2013 when we won national championships. Like I always say, Pitino could make a bunch of church ladies competitive at the top level of college basketball.

  2. UL’s players were too hesitant in taking shots. Many open opportunities were passed up. It was like Virginia had so intimidated them that they didn’t know how to play even the fundamentals of basketball. Maybe UL will at least get to the NIT.

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