One could sense a comeback was in the making, those big early leads rarely holding up at Rutgers or anywhere else in the Big East.

Louisville going over nine minutes in the second half without scoring, allowing the home team to stay close. Another of those wild finishes coming, the rowdies in the student section starting to get involved, ready to pounce.

Only in their imagination would they get closer than nine points, however.

One of the things that sets this U of L team apart is its collective ability to comprehend Rick Pitino’s almost fanatical emphasis on defense, taking precedence over offense, no exceptions. Keep the opponent in check, good things will happen, whether the shots are there or not.

Mike Marra’s shot, for example, looking good for a change with those three-point efforts. Picking up the pace, getting in the mix under the basket, grabbing three steals to go with those three three-pointers. Focusing, chasing loose balls, thinking less, making half of them, the bad one a mulligan when he’s active on defense.

Terrence Jennings making it difficult for Rutgers to take advantage of the space in the middle of the zone with his five blocked shots.

Preston Knowles coming up with five steals against a team that commits an average of only 12 turnovers per game. Nice to see those off-balanced, tightly-contested shots going in again, and how about those eight rebounds?

Every stop big. Rutgers managing only 37 points, Louisville 55.

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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.

3 thoughts on “Louisville gets defensive”
  1. I was really surprised with the win. The team and the coach seem to have their second win again.Go Cards….

  2. An expected win against a woeful opponent in a equally woeful facility. Rutgers has made no bones about the fact that they want out of the BIG EAST and in the BIG TEN…but Piscataway isn’t on any BIG TEN GPS screens and probably won’t be if expansion rolls around again. There is a arrogant sense of “holier than thou” present in several programs at Rutgers, especially football and women’s basketball, but with the less than stellar performances by each lately, the rest of the conference seems to be responding with a “go chop your wood in silence…” retort.

  3. That was an impressive performance, to give RU their biggest loss at home. The second half was borderline abysmal though. Good thing they were on fire in the first.

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