^^ Jordan Nwora gets emotional – Cindy Rice Shelton photo ^^
That’s more like it, a University of Louisville basketball team looking like a world beater. Fresh from a players-only meeting, some new faces in the starting lineup, a team looking for a new start after two straight losses.
Nobody keeps any records but players-only meetings have had mixed results over the decades, unpredictable, some making things worse, others making little if any difference, and a few actually leading to significant improvement. Card Nation held its collective breath at tip off for the Syracuse game.
Always good when the first shot, especially a 3-point attempt, goes in, this one from Dwayne Sutton, the Cardinals jumping off to a 17-8 lead before the Syracuse players knew what hit them. Louisville would be coasting at the end in a 90-66 win, improving its record to 22-5 overall before a crowd of 16,428 at the KFC Yum! Center.
David Johnson, one of those new faces in the lineup, a one-man wrecking crew for the Syracuse zone. Finding open shooters almost at will from the free throw line, he would wind up with seven assists for the night. Could have had at least five to six more if his teammates had been able to finish on dunk attempts. Johnson would score only three points but he had done the damage.
The other face, in and out of the starting lineup this season, was Ryan McMahon. Finding the 3-point shooting touch that eluded him last week, he would make four of 10 attempts and wind up with 13 points. Equally important, he would be credited with four assists. Louisville would, in fact, have 23 assists, compared to only 11 for the visitors.
Jordan Nwora not getting off to a great start, missing his first two shots, but not allowing it to affect his overall game. One of his best all-around games maybe, actually making seven rebounds and three assists while making only one turnover. He would lead all scorers with 17 points.
Sutton all in with the fresh team approach, never out from the start. He would be good for eight rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal to go with his 16 points. Malik Williams unable to finish on numerous dunk attempts but pulling down 13 rebounds and adding 14 points.
One team meeting obviously yielding some positive results, at least for one game. Four more games would be nice, that’s all that’s left in the regular season.
