| Game Summary: Memphis | Score: Memphis 62, Louisville 58 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon (26) Memphis: Rodney Carney (19) |
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| With their injuries hobbling them against Marquette, Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean did not even make the trip to Memphis to take on the Tigers. Also, Nouha Diakite sprained his ankle, and likewise did not go to Memphis. To offset their shorthandedness, the Cards relied mostly on switching zone defenses and a deliberate offensive attack, with little pressing and few fast breaks. It almost worked, but the Cards suffered a scoring drought in the last six minutes that cost them the game. U of L was up 37-33 at halftime, mostly due to 14 first-half points from Larry O'Bannon, who was 6-8 from the field in the opening frame, led all scorers with a career-high 26 points and was the only Cardinal to scorer in double-figures. |
The Cards held their biggest lead of the game at 46-37 with 13:00 left in the game. But the Tigers scored back-to-back threes to climb within three. The Cards then went up by seven off an Otis George hoop and a drive from O'Bannon. A three from O'Bannon put the Cards up 55-53 with 5:41 left, but the Cards did not hit a field goal the rest of the way, and their only points were on O'Bannon free throws with 3.9 seconds left. U of L scored only six points in the final nine minutes, while Memphis scored nine straight after O'Bannon's three to take the lead and win the game. A 15-3 Memphis run gave the Tigers a 62-55 lead with 30 seconds left. Unlike the game against Marquette, in which U of L made only 5-34 three-point attempts, the Cards were 7-9 from three-point range. U of L shot 45% from the field, a refreshing improvement seeing as how they've shot under 40% from the field in five of their last six games. Rodney Carney led Memphis with 19 points on 5-10 three-point shooting. The Tigers shot only 39% from the field (including 10-27 from behind the arc), but placed four players in double-figures. Memphis scored 22 points off of 18 U of L turnovers, another sign that the Cards miss their point guard.  |
| Game Summary: UAB | Score: Louisville 73, UAB 55 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon (15) UAB: Gabe Kennedy (16) |
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| The Cards snapped a two-game losing streak by handing the UAB Blazers their worst loss of the season. Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia both played for U of L, but neither started. Garcia finished with seven points and five rebounds before spraining his right ankle early in the second half and sitting out the rest of the game. Dean played 20 minutes and scored 11 points, but was only 2-8 from the field, though he was perfect from the line (6-6), hitting key free throws late in the game. The difference in the game was U of L limiting UAB to only five steals, as the Blazers came into the game second in the nation in steals per game. Instead, U of L had 11 steals, and held UAB to only 6-29 shooting in the second half. The Cards also had a tremendous advantage on the glass, outrebounding UAB 55-39, and 21-10 on the offensive boards. A big positive for U of L was the fact they had only 12 turnovers, fewer than in their last few games. The Cards set the tone by getting three offensive rebounds in the first three minutes to open up an 8-0 lead. But the Blazers then scored on five straight possessions, and a 6-0 run put UAB up 18-15 with 12:50 to go. UAB led 20-19 when the Cards forced four quick turnovers, leading to seven points, and U of L held UAB without a field goal for the final 6:11 of the first half. The Cards led 40-33 at halftime. |
| A dunk by Gabe Kennedy, who led UAB with 16 points and 15 rebounds, ended the nine-minute field goal drought for the Blazers. But U of L hit 5-6 from the line early in the second frame to build a 47-36 lead. Garcia sprained his right ankle and left for good at the 15:26 mark. Two free throws and a three-pointer from Larry O'Bannon put the Cards up 61-46 with less than six minutes remaining. UAB scored only two field goals in the final 12 minutes of the second half to help U of L put the game out of reach. The Cards overcame their worst shooting night of the season, making a paltry 31.9% from the field. O'Bannon led the Cards with 15 points, and he also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds. Luke Whitehead recorded another double-double, scoring 13 points to go along with 18 rebounds. He also brought the ball up the floor several times, and was 7-8 from the line. Kendall Dartez had nine points and five rebounds. For the game, U of L's bench outscored UAB's bench 22-7, and the Cards outscored the Blazers 14-9 off turnovers. UAB shot only 31.5% for the game and had 18 total turnovers. The Cards made only 6-21 from three-point range. |
| Game Summary: Charlotte | Score: Charlotte 77, Louisville 71 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon (17) Charlotte: Curtis Withers (23) |
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| It looked like the Cards were going to win a pivotal road C-USA game, but instead they collapsed down the stretch to a team playing without its starting point guard. And now, losers of three of their last four games, the Cards are reenacting last season's late-season collapse. It was frustration, fouls, poor shooting and untimely turnovers that did the Cards in at Charlotte, who were without Demon Brown, who was serving a one-game suspension. Reserve guard Mitchell Baldwin played the whole game, scored 13 points, had six assists and committed only a single turnover. Meanwhile, Curtis Withers had game-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds, and continues to lead C-USA in double-doubles. The Cards were the third Top 10 team to fall to Charlotte this season. In the final 2:21, the Cards gave up three three-pointers to the 49ers, who had struggled from behind the arc for most of the game. In that span, Charlotte went 4-4 from the field and 4-5 from the line, and outscored the Cards 13-5. Charlotte had been only 3-21 from three-point range up to that point. U of L had only two field goals in the final 3:29. The Cards had led 59-47 with about nine minutes remaining. |
| The game was even early, but a three-pointer from Taquan Dean, who started, put U of L up 18-15. Back-to-back threes from Nate Daniels, who finished with 11 points, gave the Cards a nine-point edge. Another three from Larry O'Bannon at the 9:44 mark capped a 12-2 U of L run that put the Cards up 27-17. U of L was up 12 with 4:15 left in the half, but led only 42-35 at halftime. Then, instead of opening up the second half with a run, it was Charlotte who forced a pair of turnovers and scored the first five points of the half to pull within 42-40. An unlikely three from Kendall Dartez, after the Cards had missed three threes in a row, gave the Cards some breathing room, but two consecutive goal-tending calls against Dartez allowed the 49ers to trail only 49-46 with 14:04 left. Charlotte then went 5:41 without a field goal, and U of L used a 10-1 run to take its 59-47 lead. But foul trouble plagued the Cards. Luke Whitehead, Daniels and Francisco Garcia all spent a lot of time on the bench, and Garcia eventually fouled out. The foul trouble made U of L hesitant on the defensive end. |
| The Cards missed three easy shots from inside, and Charlotte scored 11 straight points to make it 59-58 with 5:34 left. A jumper by Withers gave Charlotte its first lead of the second half at 67-66 with 1:42 remaining, but the Cards regained the lead on a hoop by Garcia. Charlotte's best three-point shooter, Brendan Plavich, then buried a three to put the 49ers up 70-68 with 56 seconds left, but Garcia came back and drilled a three to give U of L its final lead. But Baldwin then drove the entire floor for a lay-up and was fouled on the shot. Baldwin missed the free throw, but Withers got the rebound, who after being fouled himself made both free throws to put the 49ers up 74-71. The Cards then committed turnovers on their two remaining possessions. O'Bannon led the Cards with 17 points, but did not score in the final 10:21. U of L shot only 37.9% for the game, and were only 3-17 from three-point range in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cards cooled off defensively as well. Charlotte shot only 34% in the first half, but was 15-26 from the field in the second half. |
| Game Summary: TCU | Score: TCU 71, Louisville 46 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon (9) TCU: Corey Santee (20) |
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| In continuing their recent slide, the Cards lost on the road to an unranked team with a losing record on national TV in an embarrassing and humiliating manner. Technically the third-worst loss of the Pitino-era, in terms of losing face, this defeat at the hands of the Horned Frogs was one of the hardest losses to swallow for U of L fans since Pitino took over the helm. The entire game was pretty much a lifeless effort, as the Cards showed little enthusiasm, less confidence and not even a hint of basketball ability or the means to score. The game's stats paint an even uglier picture. |
| U of L shot only 18.5% in the first half (finishing at 28.6% for the game), and trailed by 15 at halftime - their biggest halftime deficit of the season. TCU pulled even further away in the second half to hand the Cards their worst drubbing of the year, 71-46. It was U of L's fourth loss in five games, and was the lowest point total for a Pitino-coached team since 1982. U of L was crushed on the boards 44-28. It was the third straight loss in which a U of L opponent shot 50% or better in the second half. After falling behind by 20 with six minutes left, Pitino played the rest of the game with U of L's starting line-up on the bench. U of L had 17 turnovers, with Kendall Dartez and Otis George combining for seven of them. |
| For the first time in the Pitino-era, the Cards had no players score in double-figures, with Larry O'Bannon leading the way with only nine points while Dartez had eight. A three-pointer from Francisco Garcia pulled U of L to within 9-7 with 14:11 left in the first half. But the Cards scored only one more field goal in the next 11 minutes, while getting outrebounded in the first half 30-16, and 11-3 on the offensive end. TCU went to the line on seven of their last eight first half possessions, while the Cards went scoreless in the last 3:52 to trail at the break 33-18, the Cards' lowest-scoring half of the year. The Cards twice pulled within nine points in the second half, the last time at 40-31, but were not able to capitalize on opportunities, and eventually just collapsed. U of L was down 47-37 with 9:24 left, but TCU then scored 14 points in a row to seal the game. |
| Game Summary: Cincinnati | Score: Cincinnati 66, Louisville 61 (OT) |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia (27) Cincinnati: Field Williams (18) |
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| The Cards rebounded from their humiliating loss at TCU by dropping an overtime heartbreaker at Cincinnati to split the season-series with the Bearcats. Although the Cards have now lost three in a row and five of their last six, at least they know they have a healthy Francisco Garcia, who scored a career-high 27 points and had seven assists, and some confidence going into the last four games of the regular season. The loss ends any hopes of a C-USA regular season title, and may have cost the Cards a chance of getting a bye in the C-USA tourney. Although Garcia was back to form, starting forward Luke Whitehead sat out the game with a sprained ankle, and his absence hurt U of L on the glass. U of L followed up its worst first half of the year at TCU with an even worse one against UC: the Cards scored only 15 points in the first half and were down 20-15 at the break. |
| U of L trailed 28-20 when Garcia caught fire and returned to his former self. He scored U of L's next 10 points, then had back-to-back assists. Taquan Dean also helped keep U of L close, scoring 11 points and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds on the defensive end. But his injured groin was bothering him, and at the end of the game Dean was used only on offense. Otis George started in place of Whithead, and had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Larry O'Bannon, who led U of L in scoring in its last four games, had only six points plus six rebounds while shooting only 1-10, and he and Dean combined for no assists and eight turnovers. Kendall Dartez had only two points and one rebound before fouling out with four minutes left in regulation. |
| Nate Daniels hit a long three-pointer to put the Cards up 54-52 with 16.7 seconds left. After a UC timeout, the Bearcats swung the ball to Field Williams, who led UC with 18 points. He drained a shot with his foot on the three-point line that tied the game with only .2 seconds left to send the contest into overtime. In the extra period, both teams struggled in the first few minutes; the Cards then took a 58-56 lead with 2:24 left. But UC took over on the glass. Jason Maxiell scored on a putback and was fouled. He missed the shot, but the Bearcats' Eric Hicks got the rebound and was fouled as well, and he made one of his two shots. A missed three-pointer by Daniels was followed by a long three by Cincinnati's Tony Bobbitt to put UC up 62-58, and the Cards never responded. The Bearcats scored on each of their last five final possessions. For Cincinnati, Hicks had 10 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots. The Cards held UC to only 35% shooting, and rebounded from their poor first half to shoot 54% after halftime. It was only the second time in the 83-game series that UC and U of L went into overtime. |
| Game Summary: DePaul | Score: DePaul 60, Louisville 58 (OT) |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia (19) DePaul: Quemont Greer (19) |
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| The wheels continue to fall off as the Cards drop a must-win game at home against DePaul, the first time they’ve lost to the Blue Demons in Freedom Hall since 1986. The Cards fail to score at least 60 points in regulation for the third straight game, and show complete ineptness on the offensive end, committing key turnovers in game-winning situations. The Cards show a worrisome tendency to get weak at the end of games, and to give leads away. A pre-game gimmick by Coach Pitino, in which his locker room speech was shown to the entire Freedom Hall crowd, backfired, as the Cards lacked a spark and motivation to play their best game. Now, for the first time under Pitino, U of L has lost four straight games, and six of their last seven. Worse, their inclusion in the NCAA Tournament is now very much in question. The game was lost on the boards, where the Cards were outrebounded 47-29, including 16-3 on the offensive end, and were outscored 16-1 in second-chance points. It was their worst rebounding deficit of the year, and the fourth game in a row in which the Cards were outrebounded. |
| The Blue Demons keyed on U of L’s perimeter players, forcing the Cards to score inside, and as a result, U of L couldn’t score from anywhere. Their lack of a real inside game is no secret, and it’s costing U of L its season. The Cards led 31-25 at halftime, and were in control when DePaul’s Andre Brown picked up his fourth foul with 16:38 left. A field goal from Larry O'Bannon with 9:35 left put the Cards up 42-38, but U of L then went six minutes without a field goal. O"Bannon ended the drought with a field goal at the 3:05 mark which gave U of L a 50-46 lead. Andre Brown caught fire late, though, scoring nine points in the game's final six minutes; he gave the Blue Demons their first lead since the 13-minute mark of the first half when he converted a three-point play to put DePaul up 53-52 with 19.8 seconds left. On U of L’s next possession, Francisco Garcia, who led the Cards with 19 points, was fouled and made both shots to give U of L the lead at 54-53 with 12.2 seconds remaining. After a DePaul timeout, the Blue Demons’ Quemont Greer missed a driving shot but was fouled by Alhaji Mohammed with 2.5 seconds left. Greer was only 2-7 from the line on the night at that point, and he missed his first shot as Freedom Hall got raucous. He made the second free throw, though, and U of L never got off a desperation shot and headed to overtime for the second straight game. |
| But U of L got its one and only field goal of the extra period on an Otis George dunk 12 seconds into overtime. Greer converted a three-point play, which was matched by two more free throws from Garcia. Greer, who led DePaul with 19 points, then hit a 16-footer to give DePaul the lead again. On DePaul’s next possession, Greer was fouled but missed both shots, keeping U of L to within one. But Larry O’Bannon committed a turnover, then the Blue Demons got an offensive rebound after a miss on a pressured shot. But the Cards got the ball back after a five-second violation, which was caused by good defense from Taquan Dean. When Garcia then drove the lane, he was stripped of the ball with 39 seconds left. DePaul then missed a shot, but when U of L’s Brandon Jenkins rebounded, he landed out of bounds, giving DePaul the ball back with 16.5 seconds left. DePaul’s Drake Diener then made one of two free throws to put DePaul up two. Larry O’Bannon then committed yet another turnover when he was stripped of the ball, and the game was over. It was terrible last-minute execution on U of L’s part. Garcia had five turnovers to go with his 19 points, while O’Bannon scored 12. U of L has now shot 40% or less in eight of their last nine games. DePaul won despite shooting 1-12 from three-point range and 11-25 from the line. |
| Game Summary: Memphis | Score: Louisville 66, Memphis 60 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia (18) Memphis: Sean Banks (26) |
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| What a relief. Even though it always feels good to beat Memphis, this win felt even better because it avenged an earlier loss to the Tigers this season, and snapped a four-game losing streak. And even though the Cards let a 14-point lead slip to just three in the final minute, and almost let yet another game slip through their fingers, the Cards did just enough to hang on and possibly secure an NCAA tourney invite. It was practically a war of attrition; on top of U of L's nagging injuries, which include a severe ankle sprain for Luke Whithead, Memphis also has had injuries knock players out for the season. Plus, in the first half, Rodney Carney, who led Memphis in scoring in the first meeting earlier this year, suffered his own ankle sprain and did not return to the contest. U of L won for only the second time in eight games in what was its final 2004 game in Freedom Hall. U of L's win snapped an 11-game winning streak for Memphis. |
| The Cards made seven of their first eight shots to build a 15-6 lead in the first six minutes. Francisco Garcia, who led U of L with 18 points, made four straight shots and had nine points during the Cardinal run. But three straight turnovers allowed Memphis to close the gap at 17-15. A Memphis three-point play at the 7:13 mark gave Memphis its first lead at 22-21. But U of L went on an 11-0 run that was caused by a slew of Memphis turnovers. The Cards shot 54% in the first half, which allowed them to set up their full-court press, which forced Memphis into 15 first half turnovers and 21 for the game. U of L led 36-28 at the break, and then scored the first five points of the second half. The Cards then went seven straight possessions without scoring, but the Tigers scored only point during that stretch. A jumper from Antonio Burks ended a nine-minute field goal drought by Memphis, then two free throws from Burks trimmed U of L's lead to 45-35 at the 12:05 mark. A three-pointer and then another field goal by Larry O'Bannon put U of L up 50-38 with 10:38 left. But when Garcia left the game with his fourth foul at the nine-minute mark, Memphis made its move. Three-pointers by Burks and Sean Banks fueled a 10-2 Memphis run to pull the Tigers within 60-56. |
| Burks, who had 22 points, hit a three-pointer to cut the Cards' lead to four with 3:23 left, but the Cards held Memphis to only one more field goal the rest of the way, and kept them scoreless on six of their final eight possessions. A steal by Brandon Jenkins, who played more minutes than Taquan Dean and did a good job defensively on Burks, led to an assist by Garcia for an Otis George dunk with 33.5 seconds left that put the Cards up six. George finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, his best C-USA game of the year. Banks, who led all scorers with 26 points, then banked in an off-balance three-pointer to cut the Cardinal lead to three. On the ensuing inbounds play, Nate Daniels, who had just checked into the game, was fouled, and he made both shots. Burks then missed a three-point attempt, and Jenkins got the rebound, then made one of two free throws with 13.8 seconds left. Jenkins did not commit a single turnover during the game. The Cards scored 20 points off of the 21 Memphis turnovers, but were outrebounded 35-29. The Cards finished at 41% for the field, the first time they shot better than 40% in six games. Memphis gave the game away at the free throw line, where they shot only 14-25, their worst performance from the line in a C-USA game this season. |
