LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) — Navy beat Virginia, the last Atlantic Coast Conference team to win the national championship.
Louisville lost to Furman, the team picked to finish second to Chattanooga in the Southern Conference this season.
That’s the dynamic that kept churning through my mind as Louisville and Navy moved up and down the court during the Cardinals’ 77-60 victory over the Midshipmen at the KFC Yum! Center Monday night.
This team beat Virginia, the program that has ruled the ACC for much of the last decade for Tony Bennett?
Made 11 threes. That can happen in today’s college game. Often does.
Heck it happened on Friday night when Furman dropped a dozen on the Cardinals.
The Louisville-Navy game stayed between the lines. Absurdity did not rule. Form held. Louisville refused to allow Navy to lead for a single second.
"I think everybody kind of looked in the mirror (after the Furman loss) and said, 'What can I do better?' " U of L forward Samuell Williamson said. "I think it was night and day from Friday night (defensively). We wanted to keep them under 60 and they were right at 60."
Assistant coach Mike Pegues directed the Cards in the absence of Chris Mack, who has now served half of his six-game suspension. Pegues said the players watched film of the Furman folly Saturday and then delivered their best practice of the season Sunday.
Pegues said that after the game he reminded his players they had just defeated a team that won at Virginia -- and there is not a player in the Louisville locker room who can say he has done that.
"And Malik (Williams) has been here like 10 years," Pegues said, with a laugh.
Louisville forward Matt Cross reminded the world that he can shoot from distance — and that he has a competitive edge.
Cross entered the game after 4 1/2 minutes. He made his first three. He also made his second. Before Cross could make a third he was whistled for an offensive foul as well as a technical foul.
Cross admitted that he has the reputation of a trash talker. In fact, he embraces that. He wears No. 33 because he is a Boston kid who believes Larry Bird is the alpha and omega of hoops.
"It's probably something I shouldn't say but his trash talking highlights are probably my favorite part," Cross said.
Cross sat for the remainder of the first half. When the Cards returned for the second half, official A.J. Desai waited by the U of L bench. Desai told Cross and Pegues that he erred with a quick whistle while assessing the technical on Cross.
When he finally returned in the second half, Cross brought his three-point stroke with him, making another pair of threes in a 3-minute outburst.
Credit Cross with 14 points in 15 minutes. That was one more point than his practice partner Williamson. Cross said several teammates encouraged him to take more shots. He said that he preferred working the ball to a teammate for a great shot instead of launching a good one.
"I'm not really thinking about let me get this heat check," Cross said. "Swing the ball. Find the open man. Don't hunt for points."
Roosevelt Wheeler showed the hands, footwork and athleticism of a guy with the skills to get more significant minutes. It seemed as if Wheeler had more than 3 points and 3 rebounds in his nine minutes. Jae'Lyn Withers also made all four of his field goal attempts, although only one was from distance.
Virginia huffed and puffed to 58 points against Navy. Louisville cracked the 58-point barrier with 13 minutes and 43 seconds to play.
Louisville did not cleanse all the issues that dogged the Cardinals against the Paladins. But they were never at risk of suffering the way Virginia suffered against Navy.
Here are two things that were not as impressive about Louisville’s performance: rebounding and defense.
The Cards were beaten on the glass for the second consecutive game. Navy does not recruit from the 5-star aisle. Or the 3- or 4-star aisle.
The Midshipmen have one player listed at 6 feet, 8 inches. Nobody taller. Everybody else smaller. Still, Navy out-rebounded Louisville, 32-27. The Cards had 4 offensive rebounds. Nobody had more than one.
"The rebounding thing is an issue," Pegues said. "It is. We've got to fix that."
Navy was making better than 50% of its attempts until the final six minutes when the Midshipmen missed 10 of their final 12 attempts. Louisville did force 19 turnovers.
Louisville will return downtown Saturday at 2 p.m. to play Detroit. The Titans are coached by Mike Davis, who directed Indiana to the 2022 NCAA Final Four. Detroit’s best player is Davis’ son, Antoine, a senior guard who has averaged 18.5 points in the Titans’ first two games.
Both those games were Detroit losses, including a 38-point thumping by Wyoming last Tuesday. But this season has already reminded us that strange results are unlikely to carry over.
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