CARDINALS

Analysis | U of L's win at Miami

Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

CORAL GABLES, Fla. The University of Louisville basketball team came to the Miami area late Sunday and spent the past 48 hours or so soaking up the 70-degree weather and the chance to get away for an extra day.

But when the time came for the business aspect of this trip, Louisville delivered again on the road, this time fighting past Miami 63-55 on Tuesday in front of a nearly full BankUnited Center in picturesque South Florida.

Guess who Louisville asked to close the deal?

Yes, it was one of U of L's guards, the guys who coach Rick Pitino says he can always count on for big baskets when his team needs them the most. Miami (14-8, 4-5 in the ACC) gave Louisville everything it had in the second half, fighting back within three points on one occasion late in the second half.

Yet every time Miami seemed to have some momentum, Terry Rozier collected the ball, made something happen and kept ninth-ranked Louisville (19-3, 7-2 in the ACC) in the driver's seat.

Rozier (22 points, five rebounds, three steals) looked every bit of the first-round NBA draft pick that Pitino believes he is. The 6-foot-1 sophomore scored 12 second-half points and hit shot after shot to kill rallies. On one sequence, he corralled a steal on one end and turned it into a finger-roll layup on the other. Another time, he came off a pair of screens, squared up and splashed a jumper to end a U of L scoring drought.

His best moment? A post-up catch, a fake with his back to the basket, and then a spin back around to his right, where he calmly dropped in a floater over a defender and drew a foul.

"That's 2006 D-Wade," Rozier said, referring to his favorite player, Dwyane Wade. "A little hesitation and in-between. I guess since I'm in the city, it just happened."

Love for Jones, too.

The first question in Pitino's post-game press conference was about Rozier, but Pitino redirected his focus. "Terry's playing great, but you all need to start acknowledging Chris Jones. He's the man tonight," Pitino said.

Well, it's hard to argue with that. Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds, six steals, five assists and three turnovers in just more than 39 minutes. He was everywhere, and he only attempted 11 shots. The biggest plus, at least aside from his rebounding, was his calm free-throw shooting. He made 5 of 6.

Harrell's bumps and bruises.

Pitino said after the UNC game that weeks like this are tough on teams, because of the back-to-back road trips and the little nicks that the players get along the way. On Tuesday, Montrezl Harrell caught his fair share of them, clattering to the floor on two separate occasions and requiring attention from U of L trainer Fred Hina. The first time, Harrell popped up after a few seconds. The second time, he went to the locker room and threw up, a la Russ Smith at SMU last year. Both times he returned, and he finished with 18 and nine.

"It was just getting more fluids into my system," Harrell said. "I came back out there to see that my team was still going strong."

Bench options? Louisville got some help from Shaqquan Aaron and Mangok Mathiang in the weekend win over UNC, but there was zero bench impact on Tuesday. Quentin Snider and Anton Gill hardly played, and Aaron looked rushed and uncomfortable, with the exception of one late-shot-clock drive. This has been repeated a lot in this space, but here it goes again: If Louisville wants to do much in March, it doesn't need a huge bench effort, but it can't go entirely without a bench, either.

"Right now, it's not really a problem," Harrell said. "Later down the road, it may be a problem if we're not on and other people have to step up ... Honestly, it's nothing to really worry about. There's three main scorers right now, but I feel like there's no defense that will stop all three of us from scoring at the time. I just don't see it happening."

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