LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It was supposed to be a get-well game for the University of Louisville basketball team, and it was. Kind of.
Malik Williams is still in a boot and didn’t play in the Cardinals' 68-52 victory over struggling Virginia Tech. Steven Enoch played well on a gimpy ankle but is clearly still recovering.
The game didn't really feel like it had a charge — until the final seconds. That's when David Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound, fired it out to rarely used walk-on transfer senior Keith Oddo, and he swished a 3-pointer from the corner that brought for the afternoon's biggest eruption, and the biggest burst of emotion from the Louisville team.
Nearly a week off helped lead to a stone-cold shooting start for Louisville, and the Cardinals had to warm up to their task after being tied 27-27 at the half against a team that had lost eight of nine coming in, its last a 3-point loss to Virginia.
"Told our team I was proud of their fight," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "There was a lid on the basket at the start of the game … but we continued to battle. In the second half we started to warm up a little bit."
Let it be recorded that in its last home game of the 2020 season, Louisville got itself going and did what it was supposed to do, giving itself a chance to do no one would have figured it could do when Chris Mack took over a devastated program two years ago – compete for an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.
That will be the opportunity for Louisville when it travels to Charlottesville, Virginia, to face its familiar ACC nemesis, defending national champion Virginia, next Saturday.
But on Sunday, it was a chance to say goodbye to a group of seniors who stayed through the hard times – the scandals, the coaching changes, the meltdown against Virginia, the crushing comeback of Duke, last season’s late-season struggles – to emerge on the other side in position to play for an ACC championship.
A group of seniors who persevered – and one junior, Jordan Nwora, without whom this successful storyline would not have been possible, and without whom Sunday’s victory over Virginia Tech wouldn’t have happened.
Nwora scored 20 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and was the difference for the Cardinals in what was likely his final game at the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville made just 2 of its first 10 shots but never fell behind by more than 5 points. Virginia Tech made five 3s in the first half but couldn’t get separation.
The Cardinals dominated the glass, outrebounding Virginia Tech 40-26, and taking a 10-2 edge in second-chance points. They outscored the Hokies 32-12 in the paint.
Dwayne Sutton finished his final home game with 8 points and nine rebounds. Steve Enoch had 8 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan McMahon finished with 10 points, and Johnson 8.
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