LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A week ago Louisville went to Virginia Tech and played as poorly as any Louisville men’s basketball team has played in decades.
The Cards scored 43. They lost by 32. Reasonable people agreed this group looked like a team that would not win another game until next season. Interim coach Mike Pegues was asked if his team had quit.
On Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, for most of the night, reasonable people wondered something else:
Who are these guys?
Louisville 84, Georgia Tech 74.
"Our guys did an incredible job of staying with it," Pegues said. "We could have easily caved and said it was a good ride. But we didn't do that. We chose to fight and compete and hang in and hold on. I couldn't be more excited for my guys."
The Cards found their offense, their mojo and a disjointed foe in the Yellow Jackets. Seven days after Louisville scored 43 points in 40 minutes against the Hokies, the Cards scored 45 in the first half to win their opening game in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at the Barclays Center.
Louisville made 11 (of 28) three-point field goal attempts. That was their third highest total this season and the most they have made since the first North Carolina game Feb. 1.
The Cards (13-18) made it interesting. They usually have. They led 67-40 before the Yellow Jackets scored 19 straight points. Louisville missed seven straight shots before a basket by Malik Williams ended a scoreless stretch of nearly six minutes.
"Things like that can make a team tight or crumble," guard Jarrod West said. "It reminded us that we can do it. We can push through those tough moments."
Louisville still could not exhale. Georgia Tech cut the lead to 73-68 with about three minutes to play. West saved the Cards. He ended a stretch of seven consecutive missed three-point field goals by making back-to-back shots from distance, the second several feet behind the line.
"I was feeling good," West said. "I'm not going to lie. The game got tight, a lot tighter than we wanted it to be."
"I'm thrilled for (West)," Pegues said. "He made some big shots for us ... I'm so thrilled that he doesn't care about the numbers. He just understands who he is as a player."
West led Louisville with 20 points while Noah Locke scored 16 and Williams had 14. The 20 points were a season high for West, who had not scored in double figures in Louisville's last 10 games. His four shots from distance also tied a season high.
The Cards’ reward will be a second-round game against Virginia Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. Louisville lost twice to the Cavaliers this season. But, the Cards outscored Virginia 44-35 in the second half of a game the Cavaliers won, 71-61, at the KFC Yum! Center last Saturday.
Pegues stuck with the same starting lineup he used against Virginia — seniors Locke, West, Williams and Mason Faulkner along with Sydney Curry. He also tightened his rotation, using only two reserves — Samuell Williamson and El Ellis.
Georgia Tech also contributed to its demise. Josh Pastner did not start Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher for disciplinary reasons. Devoe, the league’s third-leading scorer, was a force when the Yellow Jackets won the ACC Tournament last season.
"It's a new start," Locke said. "We've got to continue to play that way."
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