CARDINALS

Emotional, important day looms for U of L

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj

There was a sense of sadness in University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino's voice last March when he talked about graduating seniors Russ Smith, Luke Hancock, Tim Henderson and Stephan Van Treese.

Their departures, he repeated several times, symbolized the ending of an era.

On Friday, Pitino's voice wavered ever so slightly as he reflected on the careers of senior Wayne Blackshear and junior Montrezl Harrell, the two forwards who will be honored in Saturday's "senior day" ceremony before U of L hosts second-ranked Virginia at 6:30 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center.

"These two players -- Montrezl and Wayne -- are the last remnants of the (2013) championship team," Pitino said. "It's over. There's nobody left from the championship team. We're going to miss these guys. They're part of three straight conference tournament championships and multiple league championships and the most wins in college basketball the last three years."

It just so happens that such an emotional day for Louisville also involves one of its most important games of the season. A victory Saturday would, by far, be the most impactful victory of this season. It's a game that 16th-ranked Louisville (23-7, 11-6 in the ACC) needs to, and desperately wants to, win for myriad reasons beyond the emotions of the day.

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First, a win would secure fourth place in the ACC and a double bye in the conference tournament, which means Louisville could have an extra day of practice and wouldn't have to play again until Thursday.

Second, on Wednesday next week, the NCAA tournament selection committee will begin its meetings and start putting together the 68-team 2015 NCAA tournament field. If Louisville wants to reverse its recent trend and earn a favorable seed in the NCAA tournament, a win Saturday would help -- a lot.

"From a seeding standpoint, it's very big," Pitino said. "It's a very, very important basketball game."

It's also big from a confidence standpoint. Louisville played well last Saturday at Florida State, winning 81-59 in what Pitino called his team's best all-around performance of the season. That win came five days after Blackshear and sophomore Terry Rozier willed U of L to a comeback win at Georgia Tech.

But Wednesday's 71-59 home loss to Notre Dame frustrated Pitino and his team and slowed their collective roll. The final few minutes reminded them a bit of their experience at Virginia in early February, and that's not a good thing.

In both games, Louisville completely lost sight of its offensive game plan.

Against Virginia last month, U of L labored through a scoreless 10 minutes and 32 seconds in the first half and totaled a meager 13 points in the opening period. That proved too much to overcome, even with the Cardinals' spirited second-half rally.

On Wednesday, U of L scratched and clawed back into a tie with Notre Dame, only to rush possessions and take bad shots over the final nine minutes and 43 seconds of the game.

"Bad matchup or not, we still have to execute our game plan," Harrell said Wednesday.

On Saturday, Virginia (28-1, 16-1 in the ACC) will have the same disciplined, persistent squad it had in that February game. The Cavaliers have been ruthlessly efficient this season, with the nation's top-rated defense and a patient offense.

U of L will be a home underdog, a rare role for the Cards in recent years. But they do have some history on their side: Pitino's teams have won the last 21 home games against opponents that they already played on the road earlier in the season. They have also won on 12 of the past 13 "senior days."

And maybe they can tap into some of Blackshear and Harrell's winning history, too.

"I played on some good teams since I've been here," Blackshear said, "a Final Four freshman year, going back to another Final Four, getting a championship, winning two Big East championships, going to the AAC, winning a conference and going to a Sweet 16 ...

"I mean, hey, a lot of people can't say they did that over the course of three years. We're going to try to go out there and battle for the ACC now."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).

TODAY'S GAME

NO. 2 VIRGINIA AT NO. 16 LOUISVILLE

6:30 p.m., KFC Yum! Center

TV: ESPN Radio: WKRD-790, joined in progress by WHAS-840