| Game Summary: Utah | Score: Utah 84, Louisville 67 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (13) Utah: Phil Cullen (16) |
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| U of L continued its see-saw performance nature of this year, coming off an inspring victory at DePaul only to throw up another clunker, this time at Utah. From the start, the Cards were never in the game, and were lucky to lose by only 17. Utah shot 74% in the first half, and 59% for the game, while the Cards could not buy a hoop. The Cards finished the game shooting 37% from the field. |
| Utah's Phil Cullen led all scorers with 16 points by going 4-5 from three-point range, while guard Nick Jacobson finished with 15 points while shooting 5-5 from the field, including three three-pointers, and 2-2 from the line. Utah's big men posed serious problems for U of L, as center Chris Burgess had 14 points and forward Britton Johnsen had 11 points and seven rebounds. Utah outrebounded the Cards 43-35. Marques Maybin led the Cards with a paltry 13 points, but fouled out with over seven minutes left in the game. Utah made 11 of its first 14 shots to take a 31-11 lead with 7:37 left in the first half. Utah led 47-25 at the half by outrebounding the Cards 23-8 in the opening period. It was a total thrashing, and the Cards were never in it. |
Even in missing eight of their last 10 shots to finish at 43.5% shooting in the second half, Utah finished with 59% shooting for the game. The Utes outscored U of L 32-18 in the paint and made 21 free throws compared to the Cards' six. After missing his first four shots, Muhammed Lasege made five of his last seven to finish with 10 points. Reece Gaines and Bryant Northern also scored 10 points each for the Cards.  |
| Game Summary: Utah | Score: Louisville 75, Utah 55 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Nate Johnson (19) Utah: Hanno Mattola (27) |
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| What a night! Another Top 20 opponent, another demolition by the hands of the Cards. At some point U of L will have to prove its mettle on the road, but for now, with the realization of what it can do with 100% effort for a full 40-minute game, U of L is looking downright awesome. From the opening tip U of L showed how quickness and athleticism can overcome size, forcing Utah into 17 turnovers and leading almost the entire game. |
| Although Utah took the lead at 2-0 with the first basket of the game, U of L started with the defensive pressure right off the bat, grabbed a quick 12-4 lead and never looked back. People wondered if the Cards could repeat the performance they put out vs. North Carolina; the answer was a resounding yes and then some. In the first half alone, after which the Cards took a commanding 40-18 lead, U of L allowed Utah only three defensive rebounds and held them to an incredible 6-23 shooting from the field. This from a team among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage. The Cards, meanwhile, shot 56.6% for the half. |
| With 10:24 left in the first half, U of L led 17-6, forcing Utah coach Rick Majerus to take three of his timeouts in the first 11:43, when U of L led 21-8. After the third timeout, the Utes committed a turnover, setting up a Tony Williams three-pointer that made the bulge 24-8. Ahead 30-18 with 3:23 left in the opening period, U of L went on a 10-0 run to end the half, with six of those points coming from reserve Kevin Smiley, who finished one point below his career-high with nine. |
| The second half was more of the same. Louisville hit nine of its first 13 shots to take a 59-32 lead with 11:13 remaining. Louisville led by as many as 30 with 6:57 remaining, but a 13-3 Utah run cut the lead to 20 by game's end. Louisville was led by Nate Johnson's 19 points on 9-13 shooting, along with 12 points from Tony Wiliams. Another highlight for U of L was the 10 points from Tobiah Hopper, who hit the first two three-pointers of his U of L career. Utah was led by Hanno Mattola's 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half and the majority of those after the game was decided. There was a record amount of NBA scouts on hand checking out Mattola--hopefully they got a nice look at Nate Johnson and Tony Williams as well.
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| Game Preview: Utah | Date: Jan. 6, 2000 |
| Site: Freedom Hall | Records: U of L: 8-3, Utah: 11-2 |
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| For the second time in four games U of L faces off vs. a Top 20 opponent, this time against the 18th-ranked Utah Utes who currently are on a nine-game winning streak. Utah has been thriving since starting center Hanno Mattola has returned from injury; in his first five games back he has led the team in scoring at 24 ppg (he is shooting an unbelievable 9-14 from three-point range). While Brendan Haywood of UNC posed a formidable frontcourt dilemma for the Cards, it's safe to say that U of L hasn't faced a team with as strong a frontcourt as Utah all season. |
| The Cards have won their last three games and are perfect thus far at Freedom Hall at 6-0. It will take a tantamount effort for U of L to keep that perfect record alive against Utah. U of L is led in scoring by Tony Williams at 17.7 points a game while Nate Johnson is close behind at 17.1 points a game. It's great for the Cards to be getting such solid production out of their senior forwards while the young backcourt gains experience in growing into its own. |
| The game looks to be all about tempo. Louisville will look to run and pressure Utah with intense, in-your-face defense, while Utah will try to draw U of L into a halfcourt game and try to be more methodical on the offensive end in order to take advantage of their solid frontline of Mattola, Nate Althoff and others. Another important factor for the Cards will be the performance of its bench, who will have to maintain the intensity level on the defensive end when spelling the starters.
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