Volslated

The University of Louisville Cardinals had been on a roll of sorts, having defeated four historical opponents in Kentucky, Indiana, Memphis, and Cincinnati.

With the momentum from the great start they’ve had so far this season, the 11th-ranked Cardinals had vengeance on their minds against the Vols from last season.

The start of the game for Louisville would start off on the wrong foot as freshman phenom starting PG Mikel Brown would miss the game due to lower back strains.  From the start, you could tell he was missed, and to make matters somewhat worse, the Vols would buy a vast amount of buckets and shots from the inside with their big men.

The guards of the Vols seemed like they charged their batteries, as they’d drive past the Louisville defenders more than their fair share of the first half. The only real inside presence the Cards had had in the first half was the two buckets down low that Fru had made.

Just before the end of the half, fan favorite Kobe Rodgers would take an inadvertent foot to the face after tying up the Vols defender after attempting to take a charge. Luckily for card nation, Rodgers would eventually keep up and walk off to the Louisville side of the court.

Tennessee would run their favorite “shell drill” with less than a minute to go, causing the Cardinals to get a shot clock violation, and a three-shot denied just before the end of the half. Four three-pointers and eleven points by Conwell and a few from the stripe had the Cardinals down by seven at the half.

And to be honest, things were going to get any better for the Cardinals as they’d end up losing to the Vols of Tennessee by a score of 83-62, falling to (9-2) on the year. Now granted when your best player on the team and arguably a top 5, top 10 draft pick isn’t playing things will be different.

But to end up losing by a score of 21, which was basically what you’d lose by the previous year to the same team, with what some would say was not as much talent, is all telling of sorts. You cannot EVER let a team dominate like the Vols did on the inside and expect to win big-time games.

Tennessee managed to get 28 points inside the paint during the first half and would end up with another 12, totaling 40 points inside the paint. Louisville, being a team with 3 or more players 6’10”, no question you can’t allow that.

During their two massive, huge road games against Arkansas & Tennessee, the Cardinals have lost by a total of 30 points, giving up a total of 74 points inside the paint.

The Cardinals have the upcoming games against : Montana, CAL, and Stanford, winning all three would put them at 12-2 by the time they face the blue devils of Duke next month.

Stat Line :

R. Connell : 22pts/5reb/1ast

A. Wooley : 19pts/4reb/1ast

J. Hadley : 9pts/4reb

I. McKneely : 5pts/1reb