| Game Preview: Loyola-Chicago | Date: Dec. 18, 2000 |
| Site: Freedom Hall | Records: U of L: 2-6, Loyola-Chicago: 2-6 |
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| OK, now. U of L is now playing a team with an identically pathetic record as ours at 2-6. Loyola-Chicago has lost to such college basketball illuminaries like Stephen F. Austin and Canisius. Frankly put, if the Cards drop this one, then UofLHoops.com might not publish any more this season. It can't get any easier for the Cards, and if the Ramblers still prove to be too much a task for this bunch of Cardinals U of L will drop off the Sagarin ratings like a pebble being flicked away from the top of Mt. Everest. If the Cards had any more of a cupcake game just to guarantee a win than this one, they'd go into diabetic shock. |
Pacing the way this season for the Ramblers is 5-8 guard David Bailey, who is pouring in 18.6 ppg and dishing out 6.0 apg. He also shoots over 44% from three-point range. Finally, a team whose best player isn't a center, not that Loyola-Chicago lacks frontcourt presence. They have a 6-8 forward, Schin Kerr, who scores 14.8 ppg and pulls down 7.4 rpg, plus a 6-10 Croatian center, Silvijie Turkovic, who averages 10.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg though for some reason does not have a block all year. Even as bad as this year has been and looks to continue to be, a loss is unfathomable--and would point to a complete inability for the University of Louisville basketball team to compete this season at the Division I level.
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| Game Summary: Loyola-Chicago | Score: Louisville 86, Loyola-Chicago 70 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (26) Loyola-Chicago: David Bailey (13) |
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| Finally, the losing streak is over. The Cards break eighty points, and as usual when doing so, come out with a victory. Yes, even the Cards were able to outmatch another team, but hey, when you've lost five in a row, beggars can't be choosers. The Cards win their third game of the year, and their first this season in Freedom Hall, with an 86-70 triumph over Loyola-Chicago. Sophomore guard Reece Gaines came out of a recent slump to lead all scorers with a career-high 26 points. Guards Gaines, Marques Maybin and Erik Brown, in only his second game for U of L, combined for 61 of U of L's points as the Cards avoided what would have been Denny Crum's second career six-game losing streak. U of L also avoided becoming the first Cardinal squad to lose their first three games in Freedom Hall. |
| U of L led 26-24 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half. From there, Gaines and Maybin contributed nine points to a run that gave U of L a 40-25 lead with 2:44 left in the opening period. Gaines went 7-10 from the field in the first half and had 18 points by halftime. Maybin shot only 3-10 in the first half, but had two three-pointers to open the second period to lead a 10-2 run that gave the Cards a 52-29 lead. Maybin finished with 24 points on 5-7 shooting in the second half. The Cards shot 44.6 percent for the game, and finished a blazing, and season-high, 10-20 from three-point range. Gaines shot a season-high 8-14 from the field and was instrumental in holding Loyola-Chicago's leading scorer, David Bailey, to only 13 points. Erik Brown had 11, his second double-digit performance in as many games for U of L. |
| Hajj Turner started his second straight game and finished with six points, six rebounds and four assists.
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