A special night for another University of Louisville basketball player, yes another UofL player stepping into the limelight, putting the team on his shoulders. For the fourth time this season, a different player scoring more than 30 points in a game.
This time it was Terrence Edwards, Jr., breaking out early with his team’s first nine points on three 3-pointers and 17 of the first 22 points. Just the player UofL needed against another rugged Atlantic Coast Conference team. Edwards, in fact, seemed to be the only player California could couldn’t contain for the first few minutes. He would go on to score a career high total of 35 points in an 85-68 win over the Bears.
Edwards doesn’t have the most artistic shots but his shots somehow wind up in the bottom of the basket. At times, it seems he just wills the ball into the basketball, leaving the ball with no other options. They don’t always look good, but a high percentage of them will find their way.
Edwards joined Chucky Hepburn, Reyne Smith and Y’vonne Hadley in this season’s 30-point club. Hepburn had 37 points against Pittsburgh 32 against West Virginia. Hadley had 32 points against Clemson and Reyne Smith had 30 points against SMU.
These remarkable numbers reflect not only the talent and versatility but the unselfishness of the collection of players Coach Pat Kelsey has assembled during his first season at Louisville. Rarely have UofL fans witnessed a team that shares the ball so easily and with the patience to find the open man. It’s an attribute that seems to be ingrained in this team’s collective psyche, an attribute that could take them a long way in a post-season tournament action. This season or next or the one after that.
Defensive intensity is also ever present. Louisville took control of the game late in the first half, closing on a 25-7 run while holding the Bears without a field goal over the final 8:06 for a 15-point advantage at the break. The Bears would missing their last 14 shots in the half. For the game, UofL would hold California to 21 of 71 shots from the field.
“It was a very physical, tough game,” said Kelsey. “We knew that was the type of game we would get from Cal. They take on the personality of their coach. They’re tough. They play gritty. We had three guys with cuts on their nose and swollen ankles. It was a hard-fought game, but I thought our guys played hard.”
The Cards will close the regular season against Stanford on Saturday with a 2 p.m. tip at the KFC Yum! Center.
