LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Handling adversity is one thing. This group of University of Louisville basketball players has demonstrated itself equal to that challenge multiple times. Handling success is something else entirely.
Coming off a 21-point win at No. 12 North Carolina and four days of back-slapping and persistent praise, the Cardinals faced a Boston College team they were expected to dispatch on Wednesday night in the KFC Yum! Center.
Consider the test passed. Kind of. Maybe.
After a slow start, Dwayne Sutton got Louisville out of a 12-point hole with nine straight points. Then Jordan Nwora caught the heat, scoring 11 of the Cards’ next 13 to stake them to a 10-point lead. They ran away, opening a 23-point lead midway through the second half. Then, trouble with success.
"I thought we were rolling," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "But give Boston College credit for changing their defense. . . . They gave us a look that we hadn't really seen, and we didn't handle it very well. . . . I'm just happy we were able to keep our heads and stay calm and make a few shots and get a few stops."
Boston College, after going to a three-quarter court trapping defense, outscored Louisville 18-0 over a four-minute stretch and 20-2 over a five-minute span. Louisville saw its lead shrink to seven, before Malik Williams drew a key offensive foul, the Cards regrouped, and walked away with an 80-70 victory.
While it was ugly both early and late, for a 15-minute stretch, the Cards couldn’t be touched.
The Cards couldn’t buy a basket early and were just 5-21 from the field and down by a dozen when Sutton went to work. He made a free-throw, a shot through traffic in the lane and then back-to-back threes to pull the Cards within three, then Nwora picked up. The Cards made 9 out of 10 in the final 6 ½ minutes of the first half, and were off and running.
"Wayne heating up got our whole team going," Nwora said. "He made a few and the rest of us fed off that momentum. He's just a guy who is constant effort. He makes plays, and we feed off that."
In 15-minute stretch, they made 19 of 24 shots, including 8 of 10 three-pointers, blowing out to a 23-point lead.
And then as quickly as they got hot, they began to misfire again. They missed six straight shots and began turning the ball over against trapping Boston College pressure.
IMAGES | Louisville's 80-70 win over Boston College
Photos from Louisville's 80-70 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Boston College.
The Eagles actually had a chance to cut their deficit to five, but committed an offensive foul with 3:44 left. Coming out of the final media timeout, however, Louisville couldn’t get it past midcourt, committing a 10-second violation and BC’s Ky Bowman drove for a layup to make it 73-68.
It fell to graduate transfer Christen Cunningham to score in a pressure situation. He drove the lane and was fouled, making a pair of free-throws with 2:56 left, then the Cards got a stop, but couldn't add to their lead. A Nik Popovic layup again pulled the Eagles within five.
Sutton missed a three on the other end, but rebounded the miss, and Louisville was able to get another shot, which Nwora buried with 52 seconds left to put Louisville up 78-70, and Boston College wouldn't score again.
Louisville was led by Nwora with 32 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Sutton finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Cards shot 46.8 percent from the field and outrebounded Boston College 41-30.
"Jordan played as good an offensive game as I've seen from a guy," Mack said. "And I've had some pretty good ones."
Next up, they'll visit Georgia Tech on Saturday.
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