Louisville basketball wins ACC Tournament opener against Georgia Tech Wednesday, Mar 9 2022 

ACC and ACC Tournament and basketball and college basketball and Georgia Tech Basketball and Louisville Basketball and sports Daniel Rankin 5:32 pm

By Daniel Rankin —

On March 8, the Louisville Cardinals took down No. 14 seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 84-74.

Senior Guard Jarrod West scored a season-high 20 points, leading both teams. Noah Locke contributed 16 points, including four from the 3-point range. Malik Williams finished the game with a double-double complete with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The defending ACC Champion Yellow Jackets started the game well, running to a 7-0 start. A three from Mason Faulkner and solid paint play from Williams allowed the Cards to remain competitive early.

Most notable early in the game was the limited rotation used by Head Coach Mike Pegues, who only used seven players the entire game. In a season with inconsistent playing minutes and different starting lineups, it seems Louisville has finally found their main core of players just in time for the ACC Tournament.

The first half remained competitive until the Cards pulled ahead comfortably midway through.

A 53.3 percent field goal and 50 percent 3-pointer first-half percentage kept the pressure on Georgia Tech and allowed the Cards to head into the locker room up 45-28.

In the second half, the Cards slowed down slightly offensively but continued to extend their lead. With 12 minutes remaining in the game, Louisville had its largest lead of 27 points.

At this point, Georgia Tech re-tuned their defensive game plan and changed the game entirely with an aggressive 17-0 run.

Despite a timeout from Pegues, the Cards quickly found themselves leading by single digits late in the game. However, Louisville found a way to prevail thanks to late points by West and Junior El Ellis, securing the victory for the Cards.

“Credit to Georgia Tech they fought back and got in the game, and we allowed some [turnovers] in transition,” stated Pegues. “But our guys didn’t cave and stayed with it.”

Overall, it was an exciting ACC Tournament matchup and a great win for the Cardinals. After a disappointing regular season, any attempt to rewrite the team’s success in postseason play is a good start.

With the round 1 win, the No. 11 seeded Cards now advance to the second round, playing the Virginia Cavaliers today, March 9, at 9:30 p.m. The round 2 matchup will be aired live on ESPN 2 from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Louisville will have to learn from previous experiences after losing in their first two matchups against the Cavaliers earlier this season.

In previewing the game, Pegues explained that “[Virginia] is going to punch sometimes in the game and we’ll have to punch back.”

Should the Cards advance, they’ll face the University of North Carolina Tarheels on Thurs., March 10 at 9:30 pm.

Photo Courtesy by Adam Creech // U of L Athletics

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Men’s basketball stung by the Yellow Jackets Thursday, Feb 20 2020 

basketball and David Sutton and dwayne sutton and Georgia Tech Basketball and malik williams and Samuell Williamson and sports and yellow jackets John McCarthy 3:14 pm

By John McCarthy —

The No. 5 Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team fell 64-58 to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Feb. 12.

This loss in Atlanta marked the end of the Cardinals 10-game winning streak.

The Yellow Jackets played Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center Jan. 22, only losing by four points in a game where Georgia Tech led for half of the game.

Louisville struggled in the first half, shooting a lackluster 34.8 percent. They only sank one of their seven three-pointers.

Both the Cardinals and Yellow Jackets turned the ball over nine times in the first half. The rebound and assist totals were close. The Yellow Jackets just had the hotter hand from the field, shooting 45 percent.

Junior Malik Williams led the way for the Cardinals in the first half off the bench, contributing nine points and four rebounds. Freshman Samuell Williamson had five points and three rebounds in the first half off the bench.

Yellow Jackets junior Jose Alvarado bottomed 11 points and grabbed a pair of rebounds. Senior James Banks III bucketed eight points and brought down two rebounds.

The Cardinals shot better in the second half and ended the game shooting 41 percent from the field. Although Louisville struggled from three in the first half, they swished five three-pointers in the second half that kept them within striking distance of the Yellow Jackets.

The Cardinals went cold from the free-throw line in the second half. They ended the game shooting 61 percent from the free-throw line. This score was close the entire way and the largest lead the Yellow Jackets had was eight points.

The main difference between the two teams was Georgia Tech’s plus-six margin on the defensive glass, which turned into extra offensive possessions. Georgia Tech ended the game with five players scoring double digits.

Senior Dwayne Sutton ended the game with nine points and ten rebounds. Freshman David Johnson came off the bench to score 16 points, dish two assists and hustle for five rebounds. Williams totaled 16 points and eight rebounds.

Inside the last minute of the game, the Cardinals came within one point of Georgia Tech three times, but could not overcome the deficit.

Louisville will look to start another winning streak when they visit Clemson Feb. 14. The Tigers are 9-5 this season at home and are on a one-game winning streak.

File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal

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