Louisville basketball clips Stanford at the buzzer to advance

Remember how fun Louisville basketball is?

It’s challenging enough to beat a team like Stanford, with a player like Maxine Reynaud, as it is: Reynaud is a first team, all-ACC lock for the NBA who gives his team a double double every time he takes the court. The difficulty of duplicating the defeat that the Louisville basketball program gave Reynaud’s Stanford team on the former’s senior night is compounded by the fact that it occurred a mere five days ago.

Stanford, coming off a hard-fought victory against a scrappy California team that gave the Cards all they could handle last week, lost by twenty to Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals on the last home game of his seniors’ careers. Reynaud and the Cardinal were familiar with UofL’s sets, knowledgeable of their weaknesses, and hungry to get back at Louisville to improve their NCAA hopes by advancing further in the ACC tournament. On Thursday night, the Cardinal gave the Cards all they could handle, and almost more.

The Good… The Bad

The game started off promisingly for Louisville basketball, with resurgent senior forward Noah Waterman connecting on back to back three point field goals. Things quickly took a turn, though, and both teams struggled with turnovers for a large part of the first half. Louisville failed to score for nearly six minutes, during which Stanford took a 7-9 lead. The Cards responded with back to back lobs to James Scott, from Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards, Jr., respectively, at which point Edwards, Jr. went to work. He carried Louisville through most of the first half, including back to back threes (one with the shot clock expiring) that gave his team a small four point cushion, 19-15.

Stanford always had a response, though. Reynaud’s efforts were complimented by the sharp shooting of Oziyah Sellers and Ryan Agarwal. The Cardinal got back to back threes by getting paint penetration and kicking to the corner, which gave them a 30-33 lead at the end of the first half. In spite of Edwards Jr.’s dozen points, Louisville went into the locker room losing for the first time in ACC play all year.

The Ugly

Sellers and Waterman traded threes to start the second half. Reynaud would connect on a free throw after being fouled on a make, but had to leave the game at the 17:38 mark when he received his third foul. This should have been the window the Cards needed to close the 35-39 gap, but Stanford’s supporting cast went to work. Agarwal bounced in a three.

Jaylen Blakes made a long two. Sellers made a contested layup, and Louisville had no answer on offense. With the half time lead quintupled, Pat Kelsey took a timeout. The score was 37-52, fourteen minutes and thirty two seconds remained, and the game was in danger of getting out of UofL’s reach, in spite of the absence of Reynaud.

Time Out… Time to Climb

Louisville basketball had a fifteen point mountain to scale, and Terrence Edwards, Jr. and Chucky Hepburn laced up their hiking boots. Edwards, Jr. drew fouls on two makes, but missed the free throws (a problem that plagued the usually-accurate Cards all game), and Reynaud drew his fourth foul on an illegal screen. Hepburn and Edwards, Jr. made back to back field goals: 46-57. Stanford was forced into a shot clock violation. Edwards, Jr. found Scott for a lob: 48-57. Hepburn hit a three and then found J’Vonne Hadley for a fast break dunk: 53-57. Hepburn completed a three point play and found Scott for another lob, bracketing a Reynaud moon-ball three: the score was tied at 60 with 7:23 to go.

Fight to the Finish

Edwards, Jr. connected on four straight free throws, and Chucky hit another three and, again, found Hadley for a layup. The score was 70-65 with three minutes and five seconds to go. Eight seconds later, Reynaud fouled out. The Cards appeared in control, up by eight after a Scott put back and Hepburn free throw, but Stanford refused to relent. Agarwal made a three, followed by a pair of free throws from Sellers. Hepburn would turn the ball over on the ensuing Louisville possession, which Chisom Okpara turned into an old fashion three point play. Stanford had gone on an eight point run in just over a minute, tying the score at 73. Kelsey called a timeout with 27.2 seconds remaining.

Good Luck Chuck

Hepburn got the ball in the backcourt, and passed the ball to Edwards, Jr. when Stanford double teamed him. Chucky got the ball again, and again gave it to Edwards, Jr. when two Stanford players rushed to defend him. Edwards, Jr. tried to draw a foul in the act of shooting from the top of the key and missed. The ball was bobbled by Okpara who sent a lazy pass off of the rebounded miss…right to Chucky Hepburn, who was standing just beyond the charity stripe. Chucky caught, fired, and connected: the cardiac Cards escaped with a victory, 75-73.

Then and Now

What a way to begin March Madness for Kelsey’s Cards. They overcame a lot in this game: a talented player with a productive supporting cast, a prepared opponent hungry for revenge after recent defeat, and a fifteen point deficit. Watching this one, I couldn’t help but remember the 2013 Big East tournament, when Pitino’s Peyton Siva-led Cards came back from a thirteen point halftime deficit to beat Syracuse in the conference championship. I felt the same despair, watching a team that had enjoyed so many victories fall deeply behind an opponent I had watched them beat before, and a similar ecstasy when that same team turned on, closed the gap, and took home a win. The 2013 team won that tournament, and the next one. What will 2025 hold for this team?

Siva was on the sideline. Luke Hancock was courtside, calling the game. Hepburn is the Defensive Player of the Year, and Kelsey is the Coach of the Year. Can Louisville be the ACC Champion of this year’s tournament? The journey continues tomorrow night…