Tough loss today Cardinal fans and this one has a lot of us singing the blues. It’s ok to feel frustrated and ok to vent those frustrations. Only a true fan lets a loss ruin their whole day and just maybe the whole weekend. With the 77-62 win Memphis sweeps our beloved Cards this season, but we still got the overall lead 53-36. If that helps you any. Louisville could have taken the lead in the AAC today with the win, but they are now tied with Cincy for 1st with a 13-3 conference record and are now 24-5 overall.

The Cards were scrappy today and did hold their own against a very good team in a hostile environment. They played a decent defensive game, out rebounded them but they just didn’t execute down the stretch. The problem for our Cardinals in this game today wasn’t what happened between the lines as much as it was what happened between the ears. This group has got to learn how to be more mentally tough at the end of big games. Coach Pitino was really disappointed in the way his Team acted down the stretch saying: “I knew we were in trouble when we went up seven and our guys acted like a junior high kids (celebrating),” “We weren’t focused to put the team away.”

Montrezl Harrell scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He was unstoppable yet never touched the ball in the final four minutes. Russ Smith scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half and fouled out in the final minute. He was a one man show in the first half and without his effort Louisville wouldn’t have come close to Memphis. Luke Hancock had 11. Luke has got to get that shot going in. Gonna be hard to make a run if he doesn’t. Both Russ and Luke have to step up at the end of games and be leaders.

It’s on to the next.., and our guys are going to have to shake this loss off fast and not let it snowball. Another big game and another hostile crowd awaits on Wednesday at #23 SMU. It’s bye-bye to the beards, but hopefully we can still make a run at Dallas. The Cards just have to get tougher at the end of tough games and on the free-throw line. The talent and effort are there.

U of L coach Rick Pitino after loss to Memphis:

Terry Rozier reacts to Louisville loss at Memphis:

U of L senior Like Hancock after a loss to Memphis:

Russ Smith talks to media following Louisville’s loss to Memphis:

Montrezl Harrell after Louisville’s 72-66 loss to Memphis: