Walz and team

Jeff Walz talks to his team during Louisville's 73-66 victory over Notre Dame in the KFC Yum! Center.

 ERIC CRAWFORD

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Five of No. 20 Louisville's past six games have been against ranked conference opponents. Three of those teams sit ahead of the Cardinals in the ACC standings.

After going 2-3 in that stretch, UofL head coach Jeff Walz has kept the same message ahead of almost every game: The league is tough and there is not a night where you can afford to be unprepared. 

"You've got to figure out a way to toughen up," Walz said. "You're going to have your bumps and bruises. You're going to be sore. Who's going to put that behind them and keep going forward knowing we've got four regular season games left?

"But, right now, it's a mental game. If you think that you're tired, then you're beat. So, whoever is going to come out here and put forth that effort, and just push through that wall, is going to be the team that has the most success."

For the Cardinals, who travel to Atlanta for a Thursday night game against Georgia Tech, the focal point of achieving that is on the defensive end of the floor. Their last outing, a tall task of a challenge in slowing down No. 8 Virginia Tech, ended up being Louisville's worst defensive performance of the season.

Led by the star duo of Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley, the Hokies torched the Cards in an 86-70 loss for the home team. They shot 65% from the floor, which is the best mark for any UofL opponent this season. And the 86 points tie No. 15 Connecticut for the most scored against the Cardinals this year.

Walz thinks his group has responded well to that defensive disappointment in practice to try and fix some of the breakdowns. 

"You just have to come mentally prepared," Walz said. "You just can't show up physically. And I thought, for a lot of us, we just showed up physically. Our physical effort was good. But you have to have a mental effort as well when you're playing teams in this league."

Louisville women's basketball

Louisville's women's basketball team huddles during a loss to Virginia Tech in the KFC Yum! Center.

Defensive consistency is something the 21-6 Cardinals are trying to find at the right time as the postseason approaches. In conference play, Louisville ranks sixth in the ACC in scoring defense, giving up about 66 points per game. ACC opponents have shot 42% from the field against UofL, good for ninth-best in the league.

With an offense that ranks first in ACC play in field-goal percentage and third in points per game, Walz thinks there are still ample opportunities for the defense to catch up some. 

"There's plenty of time for growth," Walz said. "I mean, you're looking at a month and a half left in the season if you play all the way out. There's plenty of time. Each day is an opportunity for us to get better.

"And I thought we got a little better in yesterday's practice. Now, we have to get better today. Because I still believe we're scoring enough points to win. Now, we've got to get to the point where we're only giving up maybe 60 to 63 points and hopefully continue to score 70."

While we have focused on Louisville's balanced approach on offense and the lack of a dominant scorer, a bigger issue for the Cards has been the absence of a true lockdown defender. Mykasa Robinson was that and now helps coach as a graduate assistant.

That turns more of the attention to UofL's back court to improve on-ball defense. Walz has mentioned seeing Nina Rickards make some strides as a defender. But it will take everyone making some for Louisville to take a larger step forward.

Nina Rickards

Nina Rickards drives for two in Louisville's 73-66 victory over Notre Dame in the KFC Yum! Center.

"Everybody's just got to get a little bit better," Walz said. "And if everybody can get a little bit better, then we don't have to help as much. When you play a team like Virginia Tech, if your guards get beat off the bounce, and then you're supposed to have to come over to help, well then there's nobody to keep Kitley off the glass. And that happened several times.

"So, I'm challenging our guards to just keep people in front of them. Make people take shots over you. But you also have to have some ball pressure. You can't just back off four feet and allow them to take wide open shots. So, it's a little bit of both: You've got to be able to pressure. But at the same time, you can't just give straight-line drives to the basket."

Georgia Tech obviously does not present the star power of Amoore and Kitley. But as he has been adamant about all season, Walz will not overlook a group who is 15-12 on the year. The Yellow Jackets have two players in Kara Dunn and Tonie Morgan who rank in the top 12 players for scoring in conference play. 

This is also a Georgia Tech team looking to bolster its NCAA Tournament credentials. ESPN's Charlie Creme has the Yellow Jackets among his second group of bubble teams missing the tournament in his latest Bracketology. And UofL is still hoping to host the first two rounds of the tournament, as Creme has the Cardinals currently as a No. 5 seed traveling to Manhattan, Kansas.

"I think they're a ballclub they can make the NCAA Tournament easily," Walz said. "So, they're playing for a lot. And we're playing for a lot as well, I think we have to minimum win three of our last four to have a chance to host the first two rounds. So, there's a lot at stake for both teams."

The mental focus will be need to be sharp if Louisville wants a strong finish to come back home to open the NCAA Tournament.

"We know what's at stake, but I do like for them to understand, 'Hey, here's what you're playing for, in my opinion, these next four games," Walz said. "And heck, if you win all four, it'll be interesting to see where we finish in league play.

"But it's not like we're looking past anyone. There's nobody that you can sit here in our league and say, 'Okay, here's a win.' That's just not possible right now with how tough our league is top to bottom. So, we do look at the big picture. But at the same time, our kids are focused on Georgia Tech tomorrow for sure."

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