Win No. 300 for Pat Kelsey will have to wait.
Three nights ago Louisville looked unstoppable in a 90-70 win over California and Stanford managed just 40 points in a 7-point home loss to a bad Notre Dame team.
A lot can change in 72 hours, apparently.
U of L suffered just its second conference road loss under the direction of Pat Kelsey in an 80-76 defeat the hands of the Cardinal Friday night in Palo Alto.
Louisville trailed for nearly the entirety of the game, struggling from behind the arc (6-of-27) and allowing Stanford to shoot 47% from three and 46% from the field overall.
The evening of frustration was best embodied by Ryan Conwell. U of L’s leading scorer shot just 6-of-21 from the field, 2-of-14 from three, and fouled out by making a critical mistake in the game’s closing moments. He still led the Cardinals with 18 points.
Once again playing without star point guard Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville’s backcourt looked far more disjointed than it had in any of its other games without the freshman. Conwell struggled mightily, Adrian Wooley scored just 3 points on a night where it felt like he hardly played because of foul trouble, and Kobe Rodgers had just 2 points and 1 assist.
The defensive end was a bigger issue for U of L, which allowed Stanford freshman star Ebuka Okorie to pour in 28 points. When too much attention was paid to Okorie, Louisville left Stanford’s most capable shooters wide open on the perimeter. Catch and shoot specialist Ryan Agarwal finished with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three.
Up until about the 7-minute mark, this felt like a game where Louisville’s superior skill and (hopefully) will would win out. It never did. Every time it felt like the Cards were about to get over the hump, Stanford made a big play or U of L did something silly to help them.
A frustrating evening any way you slice it, and not exactly the momentum this team was hoping to carry with it into Tuesday night’s showdown against Duke.
The rest of the college basketball world is going to start giving the side eye to this Louisville team, and there’s not exactly going to be a shortage of criticism back in the Derby City. The next four weeks feature two games against Duke and home opportunities against North Carolina and Virginia.
Prove it time has arrived.
Category: General Sports
