LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Mike James started the game shooting the ball like an NBA lottery pick. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. He made his first four shots from distance -- in less than 7 minutes.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield played like the most determined post player on the court, driving, pivoting, dominating, against Norchad Omier, a burly, blue collar center who gave everybody fits while helping Miami make the NCAA Final Four last season. Left, right. Right, left. He showed all the footwork he's been working on this season.
Ty-Laur Johnson lost his starting spot but instead of pouting, he played like he wanted his minutes back. Curtis Williams showed his three-point stroke has considerable promise.
Skyy Clark made three nifty steals and several clutch baskets. Kaleb Glenn filled in the gaps for a team still missing too many players.
And what did that get the University of Louisville men’s basketball team against the University of Miami (Fla.) in the quiet of the Watsco Center Wednesday night?
An improbable 80-71 Louisville victory in the finest start-to-finish performance.of the Kenny Payne Era against an 11-win team that started the season ranked in the Top 25.
"For me the statement is, 'What did it feel like?' " Payne said.
"What did that feel like to play that hard and come out with a win? Now, imagine the teams that never lose. No matter the sport.
"What are they doing to never lose? ... this is a big program with a lot of history. We're trying to build it back, brick by brick. And it's hard. We've got people that will jump on and off the bandwagon, and that's OK.
"My job is to lock in on who these kids are and get them to be the players they need to be."
It was the kind of basketball performance that Payne has talked about creating but been unable to develop for nearly 1 1/2 seasons. The Cards got the lead. They lost the lead. They closed the gap. They let the gap expand to as much as nine points in the second half.
They took the lead again. They lost the lead again, trailing by a point with about 9 minutes to play.
But this time there was no surrender. Or string of misfires or absurd plays. Louisville was the team that got to the finish line with poise. Miami coach Jim Larranaga was the guy with the blank expression, trying to understand what happened to his team.
"To go out and play as hard as they did, as together as they did, through adversity and all the doubt, and come out and play the way they did, I'm proud of them," Payne said. "Against a team that's very good."
It ended a 22-game U of L road losing streak, that stretched back to Jan. 2, 2022. It ended a 7-game Atlantic Coast Conference losing streak. It ended a 3-game losing streak this month. It improved the Cards to 6-9 and 1-3 in the league.
Never mind Nick Saban's retirement at Alabama or the opening of the first Publix grocery store in Louisville. This was the news of the day -- certainly the most unlikely, considering the Cards were 16.5-point underdogs. The Cards jumped 33 spots, to No. 188 in Ken Pomeroy's computer power ratings.
When Louisville athletic director Josh Heird said he needed Payne and his team to make major deposits in the bank of good performances, he was talking about nights like this.
Credit James (26 points) and Huntley-Hatfield (22) with career highs. Williams had 13, making three shots from distance.
Tied at 71 with less than 2 1/2 minutes to play, the Cards outscored the home team 9-0 to secure the victory. James, fittingly, made the free throws that put Louisville ahead to stay with 2:17 to play.
It was meaningful to James because he grew up in central Florida and never received a scholarship offer from the Hurricanes. His parents and six other friends and family members made the drive south from Orlando.
"I had this game marked on my schedule and stuff," James said. "I came out and wanted to have a good game. Shots were falling."
Clark made a layup and then two free throws. Williams also converted two free throws. Huntley-Hatfield scored the final point as the Hurricanes missed their last seven shots.
"The most important thing to me is that it just shows me and our team that we can compete with the best in the ACC," James said. "So we have no excuses to play down from this level. We've got to carry it on through the rest of the ACC games and see what happens."
The Cards return home to play North Carolina State Saturday at noon in the KFC Yum! Center. The Wolfpack (11-4) carried a four-game winning streak into a rivalry game with North Carolina Wednesday night but were beaten by the Tar Heels, 67-54.
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