Nobody was expecting a masterpiece or backed in the corner mentality from the University of Louisville basketball team. The Cardinals were still missing freshman sensation Mickel Brown and their leading scorer, Ryan Conwell, was out with a leg injury.
Fortunately, the opponent was only Boston College, which had won only seven games in 15 outings and was winless in its first two games in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But the visitors saw this as a golden opportunity to surprise the 14,585 people in attendance at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday. Scrappy Boston College would lead 12-8 at the first media timeout and extend it to 34-24 over the next minutes, owning a 34-30 lead at half time.
Resembled a lot what happened to Louisville against Duke earlier in the week. One team dominating the first half, only to be owned by the other team in the final 20 minutes. UofL would score nine straight points in the second half. The Cardinals finally gained their first lead of the game 45-43 after an Aly Khalifa shot from the behind the three-point line. From that point on it would just a matter of time. Final score was Louisville 75-62.
Louisville actually had a rare big man presence in this game that sometimes resembled efforts from a couple of seasons ago. Senanda Fru, the 6-foot-11 European, provided the Cardinals with an absolutely necessary force beneath the basket, leading all scorers with 19 points while pulling down 13 rebounds.
The Cardinals outscored the Eagles 38-18 in paint points. Louisville had four players in double figures: Fru (19), Adrian Wooley (16), Isaac McKneely (13) and J’Vonne Hadley (11). McNeeley scored all 13 of his points during the second half.
“Early on we got off to a tough start,” said UofL Coach Pat Kelsey, who earned his 300th career coaching victory. “I thought we were generating some pretty good shots, they just weren’t going in. They were making some shots that usually we’re okay with. I think they made four of their first five middy pull-ups, which, as you guys know, to us isn’t the highest percentage, most valuable shot, they made some of them. I just think our guys fought through. Gritty, play hard, play tough, found a way. I was really, really proud of them.”
A more severe test awaits Louisville on Tuesday with the arrival of a Virginia team with a 14-2 won-loss record overall and 3-1 in ACC competition.
