U of L downs Ohio State 64-55 for marquee win
Eyes rolled and fans on social media buzzed after University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino said the atmosphere for his team's Tuesday night matchup with Ohio State would be the best the Cardinals have ever had for a home game at the KFC Yum! Center.
But he was serious, and the 22,000-capacity arena rocked like it was a conference game in mid-February. His team matched the intensity of the environment in a 64-55 win over the 14th-ranked Buckeyes on national television.
It's a signature win for Louisville, and it gave the Atlantic Coast Conference its second big-game victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Even bigger for Louisville, the Cards displayed the kind of late-game consistency that they didn't have last season. Poor end-of-game execution and shot selection, paired with spotty free-throw shooting, cost U of L several wins over the 2013-14 campaign, and it ultimately cost the Cards their season.
In the final five minutes against Ohio State, U of L was 3 of 5 from the field and made 5 of 8 free throws, outscoring the Buckeyes 13-10 in the game's final minutes.
"It just gives us confidence," senior Wayne Blackshear said. "I think we've got some key guys who came back and really know what we went through last year and didn't want that to happen this year."
Fifth-ranked Louisville (6-0) stifled Ohio State with a frenetic, suffocating defense and built a 17-point halftime lead, which was just enough to hold off the Buckeyes' furious second-half rally.
But it was the way Louisville did it that might surprise some.
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With starting center Chinanu Onuaku in foul trouble and sixth man Mangok Mathiang slowed by a sore ankle, Louisville turned to freshmen Anas Mahmoud and Jaylen Johnson for important chunks of playing time, and the youngsters lived up to the challenge.
Mahmoud grabbed seven rebounds and made a critical free throw in the final minute of a game that may end up being a significant moment in his young career.
"He really gave us a big lift," Blackshear said.
The Cards' veterans did the rest of the heavy lifting, though it wasn't always easy.
Chris Jones and Terry Rozier struggled on offense yet again, making just 6 of 26 shots from the field, but Blackshear and Montrezl Harrell held the line until Rozier's late-game heroics.
The 6-foot-5 Blackshear had an eye-catching first half, showing the aggression and assertiveness that Louisville fans have craved since the Chicago native arrived at U of L as a McDonald's All-American and decorated high school prospect.
He strung together 16 first-half points and four rebounds and finished with 22 and six, but it was his demeanor that stood out the most. On one play in the game's early moments, Blackshear caught an alley-oop from Harrell and tipped it in as he was fouled.
As he sat on the floor after the whistle, Blackshear clenched his fists and screamed.
"Wayne's been terrific," Pitino said.
Harrell had his moments, too, piecing together 13 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes plagued by foul trouble. He had to sit out the final three minutes of the first half after he picked up his second foul, but the 6-foot-8 All-American provided the calming presence Louisville needed in the game's crucial minutes.
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It was an uncharacteristically rough night on offense for Ohio State, and much of the credit for that goes to Louisville's defense, which held Ohio State to just 18 first-half points.
The Buckeyes were 6 of 26 from the field in the first 20 minutes and lost nine turnovers, including a five-turnover stretch over one two-and-a-half-minute span.
"They pressure you 94 feet," Ohio State associate head coach Dave Dickerson said. "They have a multitude of pressures. We didn't do a great job in the first half ... It was the tale of the game where we couldn't get anything going."
But Ohio State (5-1) fought back with determination and persistence, grinding through possessions and eventually solving Louisville's matchup zone and fullcourt pressure.
Louisville native D'Angelo Russell, a freshman who leads Ohio State in scoring, labored his way to 17 points from 6-of-20 shooting, but it took a collective effort for the Buckeyes to claw back into the game.
That's why Tuesday's win was so critical for Louisville. The Cardinals have only had one other game with the type of intensity and pressure that matched Tuesday's against Ohio State, and even that game, against Minnesota, was a 13-point Louisville win.
This one required late-game execution. Rozier's 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining gave U of L a six-point lead, and back-to-back offensive rebounds with less than 30 seconds to go sealed it.
The crowd roared as if Louisville had just won a headliner conference game. Just like Pitino predicted.
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).