LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Let's put it this way. We've seen a lot better Louisville teams play a lot worse against Virginia. Though, I should add, we probably haven't seen many worse Virginia teams lately than the one that beat Louisville 51-50 on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Let this be noted now that Louisville's Worst. Season. Ever (modern edition) has come to an end. The team finished with effort. If it had played down the stretch the way it played in the ACC Tournament, the story of this season would've been significantly different.
Louisville's defensive effort alone was on another level from what it had turned in the past six weeks.
But in Virginia, it was facing a program that knows how to win. A program that is used to winning. And a program that made just enough plays late to advance.
"All I ever wanted when the transition happened was for our guys to run through the tape to finish strong and give it everything they had," Louisville interim coach Mike Pegues said. "And that's exactly what they did, evidenced by our performance tonight. . . . We had some rocky times, no doubt. But I won't remember that as much as I remember these guys standing tall and fighting and persevering."
Louisville finishes 13-19, largely because it settled for too many three-pointers, and couldn't get more clean looks around the basket. It isn't alone in that experience against Virginia, even a Virginia team that is not on a par with its past clubs.
The Cardinals finished 5-22 from 3-point range, which is far too many missed opportunities in a game where Virginia simply didn't take threes. It took only 2 in the second half, and was 0-for-6 in the game.
Through it all, Louisville hung tough, playing for the second straight night against a Virginia team playing its tournament opener. The game was tied with 90 seconds to play. Then Jayden Gardner hit a 10-footer from the right baseline with 1:25 left to put UVA up 47-45. Jarrod West missed a three, and the rebound was knocked out of bounds, giving the ball back to UVA with just under a minute to play.
Out of a timeout, Reece Beekman took it straight down the middle for a layup, putting UVA up 49-45. On its next possession, Noah Locke was trying to execute a shot fake, and wound up traveling. But the Cards got a reprieve with 20 seconds left when a ball bounced off Gardner's leg and they got possession back on a video review.
Virginia, though, had its customary fouls to give, two of them, and West, feeling as if he was about to receive one of them, flung up a wild 3-pointer that didn't draw iron. Sydney Curry grabbed the rebound and missed a layup, then Malik Williams went up and scored on a put-back, bringing Louisville within 49-47 with 4.7 seconds left.
Louisville fouled Gardner with 4.2 seconds left. He made both. And that was that. El Ellis made a shot one step inside of midcourt to account for the Cardinals' final points of the season. Louisville put one player in double figures – Samuell Williamson with 11 points. They went 5-22 from 3-point range, and wound up 15 of 34 from 2-point range.
The game concludes the on-court service for Pegues, and he deserves thanks. No, things didn't go the way anyone hoped when he stepped back in for Chris Mack in late January. But he shouldn't have had to step in for Mack.
"I know I wasn't always perfect but I gave it my all and I'm just grateful to the guys that they hung with me and the staff," Pegues said. "I've learned so much from our players and our staff and I can only hope to be an even better coach going forward because of this this transition in this season."
Regardless, as soon as the clock hit 0:00, another clock began – this one a countdown to Louisville's next basketball coach.
For Louisville, the page will turn quickly. But for this team, which lost its coach twice, the chapter of program history in which it played has been a dark one, and at the end of the season's final game, there just wasn't enough light.
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