After UVA win, what's next for U of L?
The rush of winning consumed the University of Louisville basketball team after Saturday's thrilling 59-57 victory over second-ranked Virginia in the regular-season finale.
The players gushed about Mangok Mathiang, the game's unlikely hero who swished the go-ahead basket with 2.7 seconds left. They raved about junior forward Montrezl Harrell's 12th double-double of the campaign. They reviewed one of their best defensive performances of the season.
Then, the next logical question came up: U of L just defeated Virginia. What's next?
"We beat the No. 2 team in the country -- that does a lot for us," sophomore guard Terry Rozier said. "Going right into the ACC tournament, it's a confidence booster ... After we lost to Notre Dame, we changed our defense and we just want to keep it that way -- being more active, helping each other. Hopefully we can just keep this rolling."
The next chance to "keep this rolling" comes in Greensboro, N.C., at 2 p.m. Thursday, when U of L (24-7) will take on the winner of North Carolina's Wednesday game against either Boston College or Georgia Tech. The Cardinals earned a double bye into the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament and now have the chance to chase a league tournament title in their first season as members.
Perhaps more important than any of that is the opportunity to earn a more favorable seed in the NCAA tournament. There is no such thing as predictability in conference tournaments, so a lot can happen over the next week, but there is potential for Louisville to play North Carolina, Virginia and either Duke or Notre Dame in the span of three days.
Just playing those teams helps Louisville's computer numbers as the NCAA tournament selection committee meets this week. Beating those teams would give U of L significant momentum heading into the Big Dance.
"Playing at Florida State, playing at Georgia Tech, playing tonight -- now we did not play well against Notre Dame because we did not stick to the game plan -- but the last three out of four we did," Pitino said. "I'm real proud of them. The guys have reached their potential. They're developing into a team like the last few years.
"Now, can we make a run? All depends on the matchups."
It may also come down to the defensive changes that Pitino made before the Virginia game. He wasn't sure if they would have much, if any, impact on Saturday's matchup, simply because of how good Virginia is on offense. But he did think the alterations may help in the postseason.
What, exactly, are the alterations?
"We have a very complex system defensively where we have three different presses, and we go man (or) zone -- ball goes to certain spots (and) we go back to man, ball goes back out we go back to zone," Pitino said.
"All we were doing is confusing our own guys."
Rozier said the difference on Saturday was clear, and the numbers back him up, even against an offense as efficient as Virginia's. In the first meeting between the teams, which Virginia won 52-47, Louisville only forced two turnovers. The Cavaliers shot 33 percent, sure, but they never looked out of sync in that game.
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At times on Saturday, Virginia looked frazzled. Louisville's press created some turnovers, and its halfcourt defense had fewer miscommunications and missteps than it had in previous outings.
The result: Virginia had its third-highest turnover percentage of the season, committing turnovers on 23.8 percent of their possessions.
"I have hurt the team by trying to stay with a complex system," Pitino said. "But my hands were untied when Chris Jones left. We were doing a great job for 60 percent of the year confusing people. Now it is time for us to stop confusing our own team. That is why we had to make the changes. I think the guys are very confident in what they are doing right now."
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).