LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — I’m not trying to cut corners or recycle an old column, but I’m compelled to repeat something I wrote three days ago:
Chucky Hepburn is the best point guard in college basketball.
He defends like a middle linebacker. He passes like Tom Brady. He steals the ball with the poise of a safecracker. He competes like you’re trying to take his lunch money.
And early Saturday evening at the KFC Yum! Center, Chucky Hepburn shot the ball like Steph Curry. Or Larry Bird. Or pick your favorite guy capable of getting on an incredible three-point heat check.
Hepburn shot the ball like a first-team all-American as the Cards defeated Pittsburgh, 79-68. Credit Hepburn with 37 dazzling points, the most points scored by a Cardinal this season as well as a career high for the fourth-year senior.
"It was an incredible performance by Hepburn," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. "That run he went on the in the first half was as good as I've seen, as I've played against or coached against."
And Jeff Capel played and coached on many prime teams at Duke and coached Blake Griffin at Oklahoma.
For his final act, Hepburn passed the ball to J’Vonne Hadley for the game’s final basket, a dunk that sent more Louisville fans home happy because it enabled the Cards to cover the 10 1/2 point spread. He could have had the basket. He could have had 39 points.
"I take more pride in winning the game," Hepburn said. "Whatever my team needs me to do, I'll do it ... whether it's a good game or a bad game individually, we're happy we won because it's a team game."
Hepburn did something I’ve never seen before, making six three-point shots in six attempts in 4 minutes and 6 seconds at the close of the first half.
He made them with a hand in a face. He made them from the right side, the left side and the middle of the floor. He made them off the dribble or after a pass. He made them while standing on his head. Well, not yet, but that’s got to be coming.
"As soon as I felt a couple go in, the rim just feels like it's more open," Hepburn said. "It just feels like the ocean. I was just throwing it up there at that point."
Hepburn shot Louisville to a 39-33 halftime lead. And if that was not enough, consider this:
Pitt got Hepburn in foul trouble midway through the second half. U of L coach Pat Kelsey had to replace Hepburn with Reyne Smith after Hepburn was whistled for his third foul with 14:05 to play. Pitt’s Brandin Cummings made a pair of free throws to put the Panthers ahead, 50-47.
Hepburn did not sit long. Couldn’t. Kelsey sent Hepburn back into the game at 12:18. And the first thing Hepburn did was slash to the rim and convert a contested layup to bump the Cards ahead, 51-50.
Need more? OK. Hepburn made two free throws to put Louisville ahead, 63-62, and then connected with center James Scott for one of their alley-oop dunks to make the lead, 65-62. Another Hepburn free throw grew the lead to, 66-62.
Then Hepburn took on two Pitt defenders for a driving layup and a 68-62 lead.
"The main goal is to win," Hepburn said about not taking a three-pointer in the second half. "Just finding other ways. That's what we really want to do, especially if we want to make a run in March. We're going to have to find ways to win games."
His complete stat line reads like a misprint: 9 for 11 from the field, including 6 for 6 from three. He made 13 of 17 free throws, drew 10 fouls, grabbed four rebounds, earned four assists and added two steals. It was the most points scored by a Cardinal since Jordan Nwora had 37 against Boston College on Jan. 29, 2020. Russ Smith scored 42 against Houston in the 2014 American Athletic Conference tournament.
"He's the best guard we've played against because of his ability to play both sides," Capel said. "He's a willing passer. He's a willing defender.
"He gets after it on that side of the basketball, gets big steals late in the game. He seems like a big-time leader. He's not a pig, where I'm just going to shoot. He makes the right play."
"Chucky was magical," Kelsey said. "It was as amazing a shooting performance as I've seen in my whole life."
The win gave the Cards’ a two-game sweep over Capel and Pitt, a program that had won five straight against U of L by an average of more than 21 points.
Hey, in January, Ken Pomeroy’s analytics formula projected Louisville to finish 13-7 in the ACC, a game behind Pittsburgh. That’s not the forecast today. The Cards improved to 23-6 overall and 16-2 in the league.
They’re tied for second place with Clemson (a team U of L defeated), a game behind Duke.
The Cards have a pair of home game before they depart for the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. California visits Wednesday at 9 p.m., and the Senior Day game is booked for Saturday at 2 p.m. against Stanford.
That will provide two more chances to add to the season best crowd of 18,459 that turned out to celebrate the Pitt win.
"The fan base was great tonight," U of L forward Terrence Edwards said. "We felt that energy ... we're going to need love and support because we plan on playing a long in March and going into April."
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