Just over a week after many University of Louisville basketball fans were celebrating that the program was back, possibly back on to the glory days, the situation has take n a turn for the worst. Critical injury after critical injury has left UofL with only eight scholarship players for the the immediate future. Sappy days may be here again.
The University of Mississippi is suddenly a basketball power, the 22nd-ranked team in the nation skating to an 86-63 win over Louisville in front of 12,729 fans on Wednesday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals were sitting ducks for the Rebels, playing without 6-foot-10 Kasean Pryor for the first time this season after he was sidelined with an ACL tear. This on top of the news that Koren Johnson will be undergoing shoulder surgery. The 6-foot-2 starting guard is also out indefinitely. Two major setbacks for a program that just starting to get back on its feet after years of torment.
Ole Miss arrived with a hot hand, making seven of its first nine field goal attempts. Meanwhile, UofL was unable to buy a field during the first four minutes. The Revels used a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 23-11 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Cards scored four straight quick between 5:52 and 5:16 to cut the Ole Miss lead to just eight points. At halftime, Ole Miss led 40-31.
Mississippi was never seriously threatened by the Cardinals. Two minutes into the second half, UofL cut the Rebel lead to just five points, but Ole Miss quickly responded with a 7-0 run in just 36 seconds to extend its advantage back to 47-39. The Rebels pushed their lead as high as 27 points with a 18-7 run.
One never had the impression that Ole Miss was all that great during the debacle, or worse, that UofL had any chance with the current configuration.
