The Cardinals edged out UNC Wilmington on Sunday evening 68-57 in what was a very lackluster performance. It might have been the most uninspired basketball that the Cardinals have played all season. The positives are that the Cardinals are 9-0, have won 34 consecutive games at home against non-conference opponents, and coach Pitino got his 350th win as head coach. His record at Louisville is now 350-117. With the win over coach Keatts he is also 38-10 over his former assistant coaches.
Coach Pitino was interested in any silver lining tonight and his disgust with his team was very evident in his post game press conference. It was his shortest one of the season. In his post game radio interview with Paul Rodgers he said the team “would pay tomorrow”
Montrezl Harrell had his 5th straight double-double in this game and was really the only guy in a Louisville uniform that went all out from tip to the final horn. He had 17 rebounds, 19 points, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. He is putting up all-American type numbers and the Cardinals needed them in this one. As the leader of this team he was also very upset in his post game interview.
Terry Rozier hit some big shots to break up that late 15-0 run by UNC Wilmington and also grabbed a few big rebounds in the game. He helped Montrezl carry the load tonight scoring 19 points but did have a few turnovers and not a single assist. He was not happy in his post game either.
Wayne Blackshear has been playing like a battle tested senior this season, and in the first half of this game he was resembling that player a little. He grabbed 8 rebounds and scored 11 points most coming in that first half. Then he disappeared in the second half. He had 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 rebounds in the second half.
The big win in MSG against Indiana had this team and the fans feeling pretty good, but they and the fans were quickly reminded on Sunday night that there’s always work to be done. The silver lining in this game may be the fact that coach Pitino now has the full attention of his team again. He is going to have them for one full week before they head to WKU next Saturday. It’s not going to be a fun week at that practice facility.
One of coach Pitino’s former players and current Samford Coach Scott Padgett tweeted out the hash tag #DeadMenWalking knowing what is in store for the Cardinals.
If our guys were going to throw a clunker I’m just glad it was against a team where they were still able to get an 11 point victory. The game against WKU will be the first true road game of the season and our guys will need the focus they will gain this week. And UK is right around the corner. So the timing of this wake up call couldn’t have come at a better time really.
Looking forward to some of the big games ahead and think our guys will be fine. Go Cards!