| Game Preview: Hawaii | Date: Nov. 18, 2000 |
| Site: Honolulu, HA | Records: U of L: 0-0, Hawaii: 0-0 |
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| The Cards open a new season, and there is a lot that is new to the Louisville Cardinals this year. Only two starters return, Marques Maybin and Reece Gaines in the backcourt. They are the ones who will have to carry the scoring and leadership roles for the team. Senior Rashad Brooks could add to what is all accounts a solid backcourt. The frontcourt is of course another issue altogether. |
| If Muhammed Lasege does really become eligible and can suit up for the Cards, then maybe the team will at least be able to bang around a little bit, because Ellis Myles and Mac Wilkinson, along with Simeon Naydenov and Joseph N'Sima, can at least be aggressive. Without Lasege's presence, U of L could be mince meat under the boards. Inexperience and greeness is a better trait to have than laziness; at playing games experience will come, and a team that tries its hardest under Denny Crum can usually find a way to win a big game or two. |
This may very well be a rebuilding year, with promise of better things to come in the future. Of course, new recruits, like Lasege, will eventually need to become eligible and suit up in uniform. If not, the Cards current mini-crisis will only fall back into a further glut.  |
| Game Summary: Hawaii | Score: Louisville 86, Hawaii 71 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (25) Hawaii: Troy Ostler (22) |
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| It was strange to enter a U of L season with really no expectations: going into the Hawaii game, no one knew what to expect. The sting and sadness of Muhhamed Lasege's ineligibility has really affected the U of L players and coaches. In Honolulu, the Cards opened the 2000-2001 campaign with a win, erasing the memories of the terrible opening night loss vs. VCU last year. Fueled by torrid shooting by Marques Maybin, who hit 5-8 from three-point range and led all scorers with 25 points, the Cards were able to open up a surprisingly delightful 13-point halftime lead at 47-34. The Cards had fallen behind 28-21 in what was a back-and-forth first half until U of L went on a 21-2 run over an eight-minute span. Maybin hit an off-balance three at the buzzer to seal the opening period. |
| Then of course the possibilities of a repeat, as in a repeat of the VCU game. Hawaii, led by Troy Ostler's 22 points and 13 rebounds and Pedrag Savovic's 20 points, cut the lead down to 11 midway through the second period, but the Cards, behind some key defense and free throw shooting from Joseph N'Sima, stood tough. Although U of L did endure an eight-minute stretch without a field goal, U of L hung on for the win. The Cards placed five players in double-figures: Maybin, Ellis Myles (10), Reece Gaines (11), Rashad Brooks (12) and Luke Whitehead (13). The Cards were wallopped on the boards 41-30, a theme that will proabably play out regularly over the season. Still, the Cards did have 18 assists compared to 11 turnovers, and also wound up 9-18 from three-point range. |
| Game Summary: California All-Stars | Score: Louisville 95, Cal All Stars 87 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (24) California All-Stars: ? |
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| Former University of Michigan star Rumeal Robinson scored the game's first five points, and U of L fell behind early 15-5. In the opening six minutes, the Cards committed four turnovers. Marques Maybin hit a three-pointer, and freshman Luke Whitehead had two baskets to help pull U of L to within one, and behind Maybin's 15 first half points, the Cardinals led at the half 42-41. Reece Gaines, who did not play the first half due to disciplinary reasons, entered the game with 2:15 gone in the second half. He helped light an 18-2 spurt, with Mabyin (7) and Gaines (5) leading the run that gave U of L a 62-51 lead at the 13-minute mark. U of L then opened an 82-66 lead behind six straight points from freshman Mac Wilkinson, who finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. |
| U of L was unable to put the game away, though. Turnovers and quick shots allowed the California All-Stars to pull within six with 2:15 left. Gaines and freshman Ellis Myles hit back-to-back field goals, which sealed things up for the Cards. On the night, Maybin led all scorers with 24 points, Gaines finished with 15 and freshman Myles had U of L's other double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. |
| Game Preview: Maryland | Date: Nov. 20, 2000 |
| Site: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui, HA | Records: U of L: 1-0, UM: 0-0 |
| U of L enters its match-up with sixth-ranked Maryland off a bit of a confidence boost; they really shone and came out tough and strong against Hawaii. We think everyone on the U of L bench knows what they are up against when facing the Terrapins--and the rookies who don't will find out an awful lot real quick. Maryland returns all starters from last season, and have three potential All-Americans in their starting lineup including Terence Morris, who passed on being a lottery pick in last year's NBA draft. |
| What U of L needs most of this game is experience and exposure. A win would be a real longshot, but that doesn't mean the U of L players have to give up. They may as well try to keep up with a team as talented as Maryland, and see how far they have to go to catch up. U of L probably doesn't have the tools to be as good as Maryland is this year, but next year, with some development, those tools might be in place. |
| Game Summary: Maryland | Score: Maryland 95, Louisville 73 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (22) Maryland: Terence Morris (24) |
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| The Cards were simply overmatched against the sixth-ranked Maryland Terrapins, who return all five starters from last season. Terence Morris led all scorers with 24 points and pitched in nine rebounds as the Terps shot a blistering 61% from the field in rolling over U of L 95-73. Maryland shot 20-33 in the first half, and behind 16 points from Morris U of M led 52-38 at halftime. Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Terrapins had built the lead to 20; with 3:37 left in the game the margin had ballooned to 92-63. |
| For Maryland, Lonny Baxter had 16, while Juan Dixon and Tulane transfer Byron Mouton had 15; each of the three of them shot 6-10 from the field. Reece Gaines led the Cards with 22 points, though he suffered from leg cramps in the game. Luke Whitehead had 14 points and six boards; Ellis Myles put up 11 with six rebounds as well. |
| Game Summary: UNLV | Score: Louisville 86, UNLV 85 (ot) |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (21) UNLV: Kaspars Kambala (37) |
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| What an amazing win for the U of L Cardinals. In a game that in all honesty could have gone either way, the Cards hung tough in overtime, got the bounce they needed at the buzzer and kept alive their now 24-game winning streak when scoring at least 80 points. It seems to be a magical formula for U of L. At any rate, the Cards blew a late lead, but Marques Maybin performed well very late in the game. |
| Marques Maybin led U of L with 21 points, scoring 10 of them in overtime. The Cards held a nine-point lead at 70-61 with 5:06 to play. UNLV then went on a 13-4 run, including the final seven points of the game, to push the contest to an extra period. Maybin had all but two of U of L's points in the overtime. UNLV's Kaspars Kambala, who lit up the Cards for a career-high 37 points, scored the first four points in OT to give UNLV a 78-74 lead. Maybin then had a four-point play to tie the game, then went on to give U of L leads of 82-80 and 84-83, then gave Louisville the lead for good at 86-85 on two free throws with 54 seconds left. Each team then committed a turnover, and UNLV missed a three-point shot with four seconds left to seal the game. |
| In stats, Maybin was 7-13 from the field in getting his 21, Reece Gaines finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Luke Whitehead had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Ellis Myles picked up 10 rebounds with 8 points. Surprisingly, U of L won on the boards 41-28. For UNLV it was all Kaspars Kambala. Sir Kaspars made an amazing 21-22 from the free throw line. He was also 8-10 from the field and had five rebounds. |
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| Game Preview: Connecticut | Date: Nov. 22, 2000 |
| Site: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui, HA | Records: U of L: 2-1, UConn: 1-1 |
| The Cards face No. 12 UConn in what will most assuredly be another very tough test for the Cards. Not only are the Cards coming off an exhilirating win over UNLV, and also probably feeling a bit wobbly after two straight games, but UConn is very talented and kind of ticked off. Still seething from their upset to Dayton, the Huskies dispatched Chaminade to reach Louisville. |
| The Huskies are led by 6-7 forward Johnnie Selvie, senior guard Albert Mouring and return starting center Souleymane Wane, who like U of L's Simeon Naydenov will be making his first game appearance this season. With the confidence the Cards picked up against UNLV, it will be nice to see the Cards not get that shattered with another blowout loss. Truth be told, UConn is just as likely as Maryland to tack one on U of L. |
| Game Summary: Connecticut | Score: Connecticut 83, Louisville 71 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (25) UConn: Albert Mouring (23) |
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| Although the Cards did not pull this one out, they can gain tremendous confidence in the effort they put up against the Huskies. The Cards ran out of gas and UConn was eventually too much to overcome. But in the course of three days, U of L went from being demolished by a Top 15 team to being competitive with one. Not bad. Hopefully the season will also progress so nicely. |
| The Huskies were led by Albert Mouring, who had 23 points, and Caron Butler, who in his first college game scored 20. U of L actually led at the half 39-36, but Connecticut took the lead for good with two free throws at the 16:15 mark of the second half. UConn used those points to go on a 9-0 run to open a 62-49 lead, but the Cards climbed back to trail only 71-68. UConn then took over the rest of the way. The Huskies won out on the boards, getting 45 rebounds to Louisville's 31. |
| Marques Maybin led the Cards with 25 points, though he played only nine minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. Also for U of L was Luke Whitehead with 12 points and five rebounds, his fourth straight games reaching double-figures. Reece Gaines had 13 points, but was only 6-18 from the field and had 5 turnovers. |
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| Game Summary: Alabama | Score: Alabama 100, Louisville 71 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (20) Alabama: Rod Grizzard (25) |
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| The Cards' match-up vs. Alabama was a complete disaster. Maybe the Cards were still suffering from jet lag, maybe Alabama has a better team than they did last year (freshman Gerald Wallace leads much credance to that theory). Whatever the theory, the Crimson Tide handled the Cards their lunch in the worst way. Wallace predicted earlier in the week that the Tide would win by 20-30 points. A prediction that should have lit a fire under U of L only proved to be even more embarrassing when it turned out to be true. |
| It didn't even take a full game for the Tide to meet Wallace's prediction. By the time the game was 13 minutes old, Alabama had already opened up a 30-point lead. For only the sixth time in Denny Crum's career, an opponent scored at least 100 points. It was U of L's worst loss since last year's 76-46 debacle at UK. Although not even starting, Wallace had 17 points in the first half, finishing with 22. Alabama set a school record with 18 steals, leading to 25 Cardinal turnovers. U of L managed only three field goals in the first 16 minutes of the first half, and trailed 41-11 with seven minutes until halftime. The Cards had four turnovers in their first six possessions. |
| U of L then moved into a zone defense, which helped stop the bleeding. U of L gave up only field goal in the final 4:38 of the first half, going on an 8-2 run to trail 51-31 at the break. The Cards cut the lead to 60-45 at the 14:17 mark in the second half, but Alabama made seven three-pointers in the second half to keep the margin near 20 for the bulk of the second half. A 10-4 run in the final minutes led to the final margin. Center Erwin Dudley had 17 points on 8-12 shooting for Alabama, while Marques Maybin led U of L with 20, though he shot only 4-12 from the field. Reece Gaines was the only other Card in double figures, finishing with 18 points. The Cards shot only 37% from the field, but somehow outrebounded the Tide 39-32. |
