| Date: Jan. 28, 2004 | Score: Louisville 64, Houston 48 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon, Nate Daniels (17) Houston: Andre Owens (15) |
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| The days in between Sunday's win over Tennessee and Wednesday's game against Houston have been some of the most emotional in recent Cardinal basketball history. Coach Rick Pitino announced on Monday he was taking an immediate indefinite leave of absence due to medical reasons. Assistant Coach Kevin Willard was to coach U of L in its match-up against the Cougars. Pitino was to check himself in at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday for testing. Needless to say, it was a national story, with concern and speculation running rampant. To top it all off, it was announced that guard Taquan Dean (groin) and forward Francisco Garcia (ankle) would also both miss the Houston game. |
| Tuesday afternoon, Pitino announced that he would return to Louisville in time to resume his coaching duties on Friday, and that he would be on the sidelines for Saturday's game against Marquette. Pitino said that he did not have cancer or any other life-threatening ailment, but he refused to go into more specifics on the pain that he said had been bothering him for months. By the time the Cards took the floor against Houston, the U of L basketball community was emotionally drained. Nevertheless, the Cardinals were able to come together enough to overcome an overmatched Cougar squad that has struggled on the road all season. The Cards used a 23-5 run in the first half to build an 18-point lead, then held on to keep their 16-game winning streak alive. Making up for the absence of Dean and Garcia, and especially their ability to score from the outside, were Larry O'Bannon and Nate Daniels. They co-led all scorers with 17 points, with Daniels shooting 5-10 from three-point range and O'Bannon going 3-3 from behind the arc. |
| It was an ugly start for the Cardinals. U of L missed eight of its first 11 shots and had five early turnovers. But Houston was no better, committing five turnovers themselves in the first nine minutes. The game was tied at 11 when Houston started a drought of 7:25 without a field goal. This allowed U of L to build a 26-16 lead, which was constructed by two threes from O'Bannon and three from Daniels. A Houston field goal was followed by eight straight Cardinal points, which led to a 34-16 Cardinal lead with 2:15 left. Two three-pointers from Houston made the score 34-22 at halftime. |
U of L opened a 15-point lead to open the second half, but a 7-0 Cougar run made it 41-33. After a Cardinal timeout, U of L responded with six straight points. While U of L then endured a five-minute stretch without a field goal, four Houston turnovers prevented the Cougars from capitalizing. A Dainels three following an incredible save and then assist by Kendall Dartez put the Cards up 54-38. Two more Houston threes, though, pulled Houston to within 57-46 with 2:30 remaining. Another Daniels three made it a 60-46 game with 2:12 left. Alhaji Mohammed made his second start of the season for the Cards, and finished with 13 points on 4-5 shooting. Otis George had nine rebounds, and four steals, while O'Bannon matched a career-high with five assists. For the game, U of L shot a season-low 33.3% from the field, and committed 15 turnovers, though they did score 20 points off of 22 Houston turnovers.  |
| Date: Feb. 8, 2003 | Score: Louisville 81, Houston 55 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marvin Stone (17) Houston: Cedric Hensley (14) |
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| The Cards used a dominating first half, fueled by Taquan Dean, Francisco Garcia and Marvin Stone, and played almost even in the second half to push their winning streak to 17 games (currently the nation's longest and the second-longest if U of L history) and to remain undefeated in C-USA play at 8-0. The game was held in front of the largest Houston home crowd since 1999. Garcia, making his first start in three games, had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists in the game's first 10 minutes. For the game, he wound up with 14 points and seven rebounds. With 11:13 to go in the first half, Dean took over, making four straight three-pointers to help give U of L a 36-12 lead. Dean finished the first half with 12 points, and had 15 for the game. Stone had 13 points and five rebounds in the opening period, and finished with a game-high 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Coach Pitino was able to use his bench liberally; 13 players saw action in the first half, while 11 Cardinal players scored. |
| For the game, U of L outscored Houston 30-3 from three-point range, and the Cardinals also held Houston below the 40% mark from the field at 38.3%. Reece Gaines, who finished with 16 points and five assists, had eight points in the first three minutes of the second half as the Cards opened up a 59-29 lead with 15:41 to play. The Cougars than scored six staight points, and pulled to within 61-40 before U of L responded with five straight points of its own. A three-pointer by Dean at the 4:50 mark made U of L's lead 75-47. The Cards outrebounded Houston 42-33. |
| Game Summary: Houston | Score: Louisville 79, Houston 67 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (20) Houston: Dominic Smith (22) |
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| The 4-10 Houston Cougars provided a great way for the U of L Cardinals to break their four-game losing streak in Freedom Hall. After missing its opening two shots, the Cards went out to make eight of their next nine. Rashad Brooks, who had his second straight game in double figures with 15 points, hit two three-pointers to lead an 11-0 run that gave U of L a 27-16 lead. Dominic Smith, who led all scorers with 22 points on four three-pointers, had 12 points in the first half to pull Houston closer, and at the half U of L's lead was down to 41-36. The Cards, uncharacterstically to say the least, shot 60% from the field in the opening period, and made 6-11 three-pointers. |
| In a Cardinal-like run, Houston went the first five minutes of the second half without scoring a field goal. But six three throws, and one of Smith's threes pulled Houston to within 46-45 at the 14:46 mark. The Cougars actually grabbed the lead at 49-48, but then wore down (a la Tulane) and made only 2-14 shots in the last 12 minutes of the game. Part of the depth problem for Houston was caused by the absence of Alton Ford, who was sat out a game for disciplinary reasons. U of L limited its opponent to only 34.7% shooting, the lowest of any team so far this season. U of L, meanwhile, matched its best performance from the field since its opener against Hawaii by shooting 50.9% (they shot 53.4% against the Rainbows). U of L also matched a season-high with 22 assists, with Reece Gaines, who lead U of L with 20 points, dishing out a career-high eight assists to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Marques Maybin had 13 for U of L, but fouled out of the game with 3:09 left. |
| Game Summary: Houston | Score: Louisville 88, Houston 74 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Nate Johnson (35) Houston: Chad Hendrick (19) |
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| Nate Johnson wrapped up his Freedom Hall career with a stellar 26 point, 10 rebound performance last Tuesday vs. South Floria. In his final regular season game as a Cardinal, he put on an even more brilliant performance. He finished with a career-high 35 points (surpassing the 31 he scored against North Carolina earlier this year) on an amazing 14-17 shooting from the field, including 3-3 from three-point range. He also collected nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. It was a game that was more similar to the USF game than in just the senior forward's performance. U of L ran out to an early lead, saw it disappear, then regrouped for a strong second half to put the game away. The start was so good that you knew it was going to have to end harshly. Marques Maybin, who finished with 14 points, and Johnson combined for the first 14 points of the game as U of L led 14-0. The lead maxed out at with a 24-5 Cardinal lead at the 13:35 mark. But like USF, Houston went into a 1-3-1 zone trap, picking up U of L's offense at midcourt. The trap led to turnover after turnover (the Cards finished with 21), and the Cards scored eight points in the next ten minutes as Houston scored layup after layup. The Cougars, who actually led at the half 44-40, shot a blazing 59% in the first half. |
| In the second half, however, U of L adusted to Houston's defense, and was able to wear down the Cougars, who expended too much energy in the comeback. The Cards scored the first 10 points of the second half, and it was U of L hitting on layups as they shot 62% in the second half once UH's defense lost its muster. Tony Williams hit a three-pointer with 6:49 left to give U of L a 70-62 lead; the Cards then went on a 9-1 run to seal the victory. Nate Johnson's 35 points was the most scored in a game by a U of L player since DeJuan Wheat had 35 against UAB on Jan. 17, 1996. Also scoring a career-high for Louisville was reserve guard Rashad Brooks, who finished with 11 points on 4-7 shooting, 2-5 from three-point range. Tony Williams also finished in double-figures for the Cards, scoring 11 points and getting seven rebounds. Reece Gaines finished with six points, six assists and five steals. Chad Hendrick led Houston with 19 points, while George Williams had 15, Kenny Younger 14 and Gee Gervin 12. |
