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LOUIVILLE, Kentucky – Against a surprisingly competitive team in the pits, a victory in ACC play continues to elude Louisville’s men’s basketball program. center.
The Cardinals are 2-16 overall and 0-8 in the ACC, continuing their winless start in the league. Their overall losing streak now stands at eight games, and their last win came against Florida A&M on December 17, their eighth 20-point loss of the season. This is the highest number in program history.
As for Pitt, who was selected in the preseason and finished 14th in the ACC, he has improved to 13-6 and 6-2 in the conference. They also scored their first win at KFC Yum! Center, and second win in the City of Louisville.
The UofL shot only 33.9 percent from the field and shot 5 of 20 on three-point attempts, while Pitt shot 49.1 percent and shot 14 of 34 on threes.
Again, sales were the primary driver. Louisville committed 17 to the game and Pitt was able to score 25 points from them, while the Panthers committed 13 while the Cardinals scored only 9 points. They also produced only 6 assists to Pitt’s 21.
Guard El Ellis led the card with 19 points, and forward JJ Trainor was the only Louisville player to break double digits with 14 points. Starter Brandon Huntley Hatfield also missed two games in a row with a foot injury.
The first half followed a script similar to most Louisville games up to this point in the season. The Cardinals were active on both ends of the floor right out of the gate, leading Pitt 14–10 in the first seven minutes of the game. But then the Panthers switched on and he drained his five consecutive 3-pointers en route to a 19-2 run to control the game. During this run, Pitt shot 7 of 8, while Louisville was 1 of 12.
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To the Cardinals’ credit, they were able to show some resilience in the stretch before halftime. They kept pace with Pit in five minutes after a long run and were able to cut the deficit to seven in the final minute before the Panthers took a 37-28 lead.
Unfortunately for Louisville, the second half was also eerily similar to most of this season’s second half. The Cardinals even saw him down to six in his first three minutes of the second half, but he was able to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half. However, he was unable to piece together the possessions necessary to truly threaten Pitt with a comeback.
The closest Louisville came to a comeback was when they were just nine seconds behind with 10:22 remaining. For the remainder of the game, the Pitts outscored them 21-9. During this time, the Cardinals only shot 15-for-3 from the field.
Louisville then has a week off and resumes play as they leave for their matchup at Boston College. Tip-off for the Eagles is set for Wednesday, January 25 at 9:00 PM EST.
(Photo by Jae’Lyn Withers: Jamie Rhodes – USA TODAY Sports)
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