Louisville basketball picks up a huge win against Duke. Big takeaways from the victory.
Louisville basketball and the Duke Blue Devils entered Saturday’s matchup in desperate need of a win. Both teams were coming off back-to-back losses against ACC opponents.
Louisville finally started well after five consecutive poor starts and lead 10-5 at the first TV timeout. From there they outscored the Blue Devils, 31-28 behind big halves from Dre Davis & guard duo David Johnson and Carlik Jones.
Defensively, where most issues have been for Louisville, the team was better. Closeouts were sharper. Cut off’s on drives improved. Still, it wasn’t enough to ever push the game out of stretch early. Especially as Matthew Hurt, Duke’s leading scorer, erupted for 15 points on 6/8 shooting in the first half.
A 5 for 13 start from three was crucial for Louisville basketball, who entered after a stretch of poor three-point shooting. Led by Johnson, who hit two early on, the Cards were able to open up the floor thanks to great ball movement against a challenging 3-2 zone from Duke.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams changed leads 17 times and pulled the game to a tie 8 times. Louisville continued to struggle with guarding Hurt in the second half, but a late adjustment by Mack to put Johnson on Jones may have saved things. After a few early buckets, Hurt wasn’t able to score quite the same way and ultimately fouled out for Duke.
The game was still in question within the final seconds. Once again Carlik Jones was able to seal things for the Cards. Jones scored the final 9 points for Louisville basketball, hitting 7/8 free throws down the stretch. After being benched for Quinn Slazinski, it was Sam Williamson who came up with a loose ball & a tie-up after two missed shots that could’ve given Duke the win.
Though Duke isn’t the same team we’ve seen in years past, this was a big win for Louisville. Especially coming off back-to-back losses where Mack questioned his teams effort.
Here are some quick reactions following the 70-65 win.
Chris Mack ended up with the best pieces, despite recruiting challenges
Remember when everyone was worried about Chris Mack’s recruiting in 2020?
With DJ Steward and Jaemyn Brakefield on the floor for Duke, it was another reminder of the frustrating recruiting cycle that was.
In case you don’t remember I can quickly refresh your memory. Every player that Lousiville targeted early ended up recruiting to other schools after at some point being leans towards Louisville. Caleb Love. Jalen Terry. Daivion Smith. Jaemyn Brakefield. DJ Steward. Khristian lander. Devin Askew. The list goes on and on.
Who would’ve thought in a game against Duke that we’d come to the conclusion Louisville was better off. Don’t get me wrong, a combination of Steward and Johnson would have been lethal. But it sure as hell wouldn’t be better than Johnson & Carlik Jones.
You include the play of Jaelyn Withers, Dre Davis, and even JJ Traynor, and you can really see Mack’s vision coming to fruition.
There wasn’t a single player on the floor for Duke who I would pick to put the ball in their hands during crunch time over Jones.
Down the stretch, as the game went back and forth, Jones was the driving force for Louisville (literally). His ability to explode out of ball screens and find creases in the defense to attack the paint was on full display, as he got buckets over and over.
Jones scored the final 9 points for Louisville and ultimately sealed the big victory.
There are no words to describe how important Jones has been to this Louisville team. 10/10 times I’m taking him as my go-to guy and tonight was further proof.
“Two-way Dre” made his impact felt
The freshman forward now known as “Two Way Dre” played his a** off today.
It wasn’t always pretty as he made plenty of mistakes including 5 turnovers and a couple of silly fouls. However, when he was on he was on. Doing it he against guys ranked 70+ spots ahead of him this past season.
Davis did his part to cut off all dribble penetration from Duke’s talented guards and wings, forcing multiple turnovers and bad possessions. His forced urnovers oftentimes led to transition opportunities, including a fast-break that ended with this dime from Davis.
He also hit shots, which was crucial, going 4/7 from the floor for 11 points.
The fact that he’s having games like he did against Duke is a great thing. He’s already far ahead of schedule in his development. Now, the question becomes how quickly can he contribute like this on a nightly basis?
Davis’ impact in the second half was limited as he apparently dealt with cramps. When not on the floor you could see a vast difference in i the ability to control penetration.
Louisville needs his best in order to win and his play against Duke proved that.
It’s no longer a question; Jae’Lyn Withers is the third piece on this team
Dre Davis was really good for Louisville but it was Withers who once again had a monster game. We’ve talked a lot about which player would emerge as the third piece to go along with Johnson and Jones, and the play of Withers has all but answered that.
Coming in on a hot streak, Withers got off to a slow start. After only scoring three points in the first half, the redshirt freshman finished with 13 points to go along with 7 rebounds. His athleticism was on full display as he made several incredible baskets around the rim, multiple coming in the form of offensive put backs. The rebounding was huge for Louisville, especially as he dealt with Jalen Johnson and Matthew Hurt.
His biggest impact tonight came from second-chance points. In a close game, each one of his three offensive rebounds was more important than the last. Offensive rebounds are always going to make a coach happy. But when you’re able to get points on put backs, it changes things when you’re in battles against good teams.
Withers struggled at times to protect the paint and he did turn it over three times. Yet, overall his second-half play changed things for Louisville and allowed them to come out victorious.
3 thoughts on “Quick reactions: Carlik Jones carries Louisville basketball to victory”