In Atlanta, Cards find a rallying cry

ATLANTA -- Faced with a enough drama for a mini-series over the past few days, the University of Louisville basketball team looked awfully relieved late Monday night after its comeback 52-51 win at Georgia Tech.

They had fallen behind by as many as 13 points, but a 14-2 run over a four-minute stretch midway through the second half brought Louisville right back into the game. And in doing just enough to escape here with a win, Louisville seemed to have discovered a rallying cry in the process.

"Even when we're down and have been to one of our lowest points, we can still band together as a team, band together as brothers and come out with a victory," junior forward Montrezl Harrell said.

"We've had our tough encounters these last couple weeks. Everybody's counting us out ... (but) we're not worried about people counting us out. Just wait 'til March rolls around."

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It's fitting that Harrell said that here, in the city where Louisville won the 2013 national championship. U of L coach Rick Pitino felt some memories and good vibes pop back into his mind when his team came here for the first time since that title.

But this trip was a lot different and those good vibes didn't last long. Louisville (22-6, 10-5 in the ACC) arrived with a ton of luggage, and it cost a lot more than $25 a bag.

Chris Jones, the team's starting point guard and third-leading scorer, had been dismissed 27 hours before Louisville tipped off at Georgia Tech and 24 hours after U of L beat Miami in a thrilling 55-53 decision. With Jones went 13.7 points, four rebounds, 3.6 assists and two steals a game. And along came a lot of attention and focus on U of L.

So when the game actually started, it didn't help that the Cardinals fell behind early and scored just 17 first-half points, the sixth time this season they haven't hit 20 in a half. They shot 25 percent and had nine turnovers. Their star, Terry Rozier, the guard who Louisville desperately needed to do even more in the wake of Jones's departure, was struggling. He was 1 of 7, still mired in a frustrating shooting slump that has lasted since a Feb. 7 loss at Virginia.

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As he has so many other times this season, Rozier persisted. He kept probing, looking for his offense, looking for ways to spark his team.

"I've got a strong belief in myself," Rozier said. "Not a lot of my fans do, but hey, that's fine. Got a (few) tweets recently. You know what they say, 'They're going love you, then hate you, then love you again. I believe in myself. My teammates believe in (me) and we got the job done."

They got the job done in rapid fashion -- Rozier scored 14 points in the final 8:46, including the go-ahead layup with 20 seconds left; Louisville outscored Georgia Tech 24-10 in that same stretch; and the Cardinals left Atlanta still in the hunt for fourth place in the ACC, still in the hunt for a solid seed in the NCAA tournament and, perhaps more important than any of that, with a new rallying cry.

"Everybody's doubting us," Rozier said. "We just have to come together."

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