CARDINALS

U of L goes cold in double-digit loss to Duke

Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

Terry Rozier did his best on Saturday to put a positive spin on Duke's 63-52 win at Louisville. It's January, he reasoned, and there's still room for sixth-ranked Louisville to discover its offense.

"It's not the end of the world," Louisville's 6-foot-1 sophomore guard said. "We're going to keep getting better. Hopefully next time a team zones us, the shots will fall."

That was the issue in Louisville's third loss of the season, and there's reason to believe any coach who watched Duke's methodical thumping of Louisville will employ a zone defense against the Cards going forward.

Rick Pitino's team made just 18 of 61 shots, or 29.5 percent, and a first-half drought allowed Duke to power into a double-digit lead that it would not relinquish.

Rozier led Louisville (15-3, 3-2 in the ACC) with a team-high 17 points, but he was 5 of 16 from the field. His backcourt mate, Chris Jones, was 2 of 10 and dealt with first-half foul trouble. Wayne Blackshear was 2 of 10, too, and All-American forward Montrezl Harrell never found any rhythm despite posting his 19th career double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

If those stats and this story sound repetitive, it's because Louisville fans have read it before. U of L's offensive problems persist, and Pitino seemed resigned on Saturday to the growing possibility that they might not go away.

"I knew that from Day 1," Pitino said. "I've said it all along: We're not as good as the past three years for one reason, which saw against Kentucky, which you (Saturday). We can't knock down easy shots inside (or) outside, so we've got to be really meticulous in every other area."

Transcripts:Louisville players discuss Saturday's loss

On Saturday, Louisville just didn't have it in many aspects of the game, even with its vaunted defense. The Cards only forced 10 Duke turnovers and grabbed just four steals, the second-lowest total of the season.

Duke's heralded freshman center Jahlil Okafor had his way inside, particularly in the second half, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds. Fellow big man Amile Jefferson added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Duke scored 32 points in the paint.

It was too much on Saturday, and even as Rozier and Pitino tried to put a bright side on a disappointing day at the Yum! Center, U of L re-learned what might be the lesson of the entire season for them.

"Just because we're not shooting well, we can't let it affect us on the defensive end," Blackshear said. "We have to rely on our defense ... No matter if we're scoring the ball or not, we have to keep playing defense and getting turnovers."

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Recruiting note:

U of L's newest recruiting target was there. Taylor County junior point guard Quentin Goodin, who received a scholarship offer from Pitino on Jan. 7 before the Cards' win over Clemson, was back at the KFC Yum! Center again for another unofficial visit.

Goodin, the state's highest-ranked player in the 2016 class and the No. 74 junior nationally on 247Sports.com, was accompanied by teammate David Sloan, a sophomore guard now being recruited by the Cards.

"It went great," Taylor County coach Richard Gatewood said. "The boys enjoyed it, thought the atmosphere was unreal."

Assistant Kenny Johnson told Gatewood that the Cards' staff plans to watch Taylor County's game on Sunday night at the Flyin' to the Hoop showcase in Dayton, Ohio.