Louisville-Virginia Tech: What we learned
Louisville knew exactly what Tuesday's game against Virginia Tech was: A mid-week matchup against a team that just isn't ready to compete in the ACC.
Nobody from Tech will argue with you, though new coach Buzz Williams will have the Hokies humming along soon enough.
In the meantime, Louisville blasted what coach Rick Pitino called "a really undermanned" squad. The final score -- 78-63, Louisville -- in no way reflects the domination we witnessed on Tuesday night.
RELATED | Cards leap to early lead, roll over Hokies
So what does Louisville (15-2) get out of a game like this? It's a two-fold impact.
First of all, only Chris Jones played 30 minutes or more. Terry Rozier (19), Wayne Blackshear (24) and Montrezl Harrell (26) got a chance to rest, though Harrell had a momentary scare after he rolled his ankle in the second half. (He says he has a sprained ankle and will be fine.)
Second of all, the rout allowed Mangok Mathiang to find some mojo, and it allowed Pitino to empty his bench.
No, Louisville didn't exactly blow the doors off this thing with its bench players. They combined for 18 points. But it did help some of them get some game action.
Analysis continues after the video
Jones again. It's no longer just a little streak. Louisville's point guard is playing his best stretch of basketball since he came here. Jones notched a career-high 11 assists and once again looked confident and in control with the ball in his hands. He was pesky on defense, as usual, and curious on offense, bouncing around Virginia Tech's defense and searching for little cracks and crevices to explore off the dribble. Pitino said Jones deserved much of the credit for Mathiang's 11 points. I don't disagree.
Aaron and Gill shooting. In a game like this, a coach really wants to see his younger guys off the bench have some confidence-building moments. Neither Shaqquan Aaron nor Anton Gill is ready defensively to log serious minutes for Louisville. Pitino has said as much. But the 6-7 Aaron and the 6-3 Gill need to become key guys off the pine. They are both streaky, impact shooters, and when they're making shots, they play with so much more confidence. Tonight, Gill splashed his first shot, a 17-foot jumper off the left elbow. He ended up making 2 of 3. Aaron made 2 of 4 from 3-point range.
RELATED | Himmelsbach | Cards' Mathiang finds role in win
Field-goal defense. Louisville gets a ton of credit for its turnover creation, and rightfully so. The Cardinals do it as well as anyone, and it's usually the hallmark of a win. But on Tuesday, they traded turnover creation for field-goal defense, challenging tons of Virginia Tech shots. The Hokies never found an offensive rhythm and shot just 36.7 percent as a team. They were a miserable 9 of 28 in the first half, and that was all Louisville needed to run away with things.
But ... don't expect another team on Louisville's schedule to be this bad. Virginia Tech will be decent soon, but the Hokies are AAC-last-season bad right now, and that is a bad thing for them in the ACC. BC and FSU are Louisville's only other opponents in the final 14 games that rank below 100 in the Ken Pomeroy efficiency ratings.
