In a game that had the feel of 90 percent of the 100 series games that had come before it, Louisville outlasted Cincinnati, 74-64, in front of a pro-Cardinal crowd at Heritage Bank Center in Cincy Friday
night.
Pat Kelsey’s high-scoring team faced its first major adversity of the young season in the game’s opening minutes. The Cards misfired on their first 10 field goal attempts and didn’t see a non-free-throw go through the new until Mikel Brown Jr.‘s layup with 12:27 to play in the first half. By that point, Cincinnati had already built a 15-4 advantage.
The teams then exchanged runs … and body blows … and shots to the head … and missed shots from the outside … until the Bearcats carried a 32-28 lead with them into the locker room.
Louisville came out as the aggressor in the second half, scoring 12 points in the opening segment to take a 40-37 lead they would not surrender.
The team’s primary catalyst in the game’s most crucial stretch was the one most familiar with Cincinnati. Ryan Conwell — who had faced the Bearcats at least once in each of his past three seasons (twice at South Florida, once at Indiana State and once last season at hated arch-rival Xavier) — scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to hand UC its 20th consecutive loss in games against top 10 opponents.
Brown Jr. had a rough shooting night, but still scored 22 points to go along with six assists and three steals. He also provided a magical flurry late in the game where he scored five points in a matter of seconds to help put the Bearcats away for good.
Still, it was Louisville’s defense, rebounding and enhanced physicality in the second half that won the night.
The Cards out-rebounded the larger Bearcats by nine after the break, outscored them 18-14 in the paint, and shored up their on-ball defense behind the strong play of Conwell, Adrian Wooley, Khani Rooths and Sananda Fru.
This was a night where you knew U of L was going to get hit in the face (figuratively and literally) by a UC team that entered the night ranked second in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. The question was how they were going to respond.
Figuring out a way to win by 10 without relying on absurd shot making from the outside — Louisville hit just 8-of-28 from deep — might be the largest step forward this group has taken yet.
A very good night to be a Cardinal basketball fan.
