Louisville basketball: How to lose a game in 10 minutes

It was a rough go for Louisville basketball against a former foe.

Written by

Matt Osbourn

There are sure-fire formulas for winning games, and guaranteed ways to lose them.

In the first half on Wednesday night, John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks followed the former, while Pat Kelsey coached the Louisville basketball program through the latter.

Cali-Peril

I hate playing against teams that Cal coaches. Why, you ask? Because, without exception, he combines outrageous talent with absolute domination around the rim. This almost always creates huge disparities in free throw shooting, allowing him to protect leads regardless of either team’s offensive production.

Offensive production was a huge problem for Louisville basketball in the first half, creating the exact type of environment that Cal’s teams thrive within.

Beyond help beyond the Arc

One of the things that the Cards are going to have to figure out is how to respond when threes aren’t falling: against the Razorbacks, just like in the Cincinnati game, Louisville basketball simply couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc, and it wasn’t for lack of trying.

The Cards finished the first half 3-20 from three, while Arkansas was a solid 5-11.

Combine that with the fact that Cal got almost as much production from one member of his bench (Brazile, 17 points) as Kelsey did from his three lead-scoring starters (Conwell and Brown, Jr, 6 points, Fru 8 points), and it is of little surprise that Louisville went into the locker room down 47-29. Arkansas shot 18 first half free throws, connecting on 14 of them, compared with Louisville’s meager 2 on 5 attempts.

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Rally cries!

Early in the second half, a DJ Wagner three expanded the Razorback lead to its largest, at 54-34. It was then, when Louisville basketball started to attack the basket, that the Cards made a game of it. Brown, Jr., who was 1-7 from three in the first half, got fouled on a make, followed by a slam from Sanada Fru and a J’Vonne Hadley three. Kasean Pryor checked into the game, sandwiching another layup from Brown, Jr. with two dunks of his own.

A turn-around from Isaac McKneely, following a ball fake from three, cut the Arkansas lead to ten, 60-50. Adrian Wooley hit a three at the 10:45 mark, getting the Cards within six, but they never put enough defensive stops together to get over the hump.

Rally Dries…

An Isaac McKneely three, with 2:36 to go, got the Cards as close as they would get, 81-76. It was Arkansas’ ability to dominate the offensive glass that ultimately doomed the Louisville comeback effort. Brown, Jr. and Conwell eventually found ways to score, in spite of a very poor shooting performance, but Louisville gave up too many easy buckets and second chance points in the second half to complete the rally.

Hindsight

The final buzzer sounded with Calipari’s Razorbacks on top, 89-80, as the crowd chanted “overrated.” While the performance was disappointing, I think that is, ultimately, a false assertion. Arkansas had to come out white-hot, get outrageous offensive production from its bench, and shoot twice as many free throws as the Cards to secure a victory that they owe, at least in part, to the worst shooting night of the year for Louisville.

In spite of all of that, UofL still dwindled a twenty point road deficit to a two-possession game with less than three minutes remaining.

In the end, Louisville wasn’t nearly “nasty” enough: Kelsey used this adjective over ten times to describe the way his team needed to perform to win in the pregame. The Razorback aggression in the paint was just too much down the stretch. Cal’s Arkansas team followed the same winning formula that gave Louisville fans fits when he coached at Kentucky: create separation with young talent, then protect said lead using free throw shooting and rebounding.

Louisville’s primary strength has been its shooting, and the offense just didn’t adjust quickly enough to compensate for long-range inaccuracy.

Looking forward

The Cards are not overrated. Poor shooting performances will happen. Kelsey has the horses to win in multiple ways, and Plan B almost worked on Wednesday, in spite of everything that Arkansas had going its way.

There is a clear format, though, for giving the Cards problems, now. How far the team goes will likely depend on the ability to respond to this very specific adversity.

Louisville basketball: How to lose a game in 10 minutes