GameCap from Seedy K: Oklahoma – Map Chronicle

If Louisville had somehow fought its way through the Bahamas after beating two key players early and losing another on Division 2’s first defensive possession, it would be its greatest Christmas present since . . .

. . . I don’t know . . .

. . . Since you were nine years old and there was a brand new black 3-speed Schwinn Corvette in front of your apartment door. (Believe me, it made a kid I actually know in 1954 very, very happy.)

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

But be absolutely certain of the most important insight: this was not a lump of coal.

The Cardinals lost to the Sooners 64-69 in the title game.

The Cardinals have nothing to be ashamed of.

Of course they could have won. (You won’t hear “should” coming from this corner.)

It was the “decisive” possession of the game with 2:28 minutes left, 59:62. Three missed triples, the last two rushed and out of rhythm. Three offensive boards. A missed half-blocked layup. But after giving up a deuce to steady Oklahoma, U of L countered with a triple from J’Vonne Hadley.

Noah Waterman missed a three-ball on a deuce with 15 minutes left.

That’s exactly what happened. It is not intended to cause shame in the slightest. Shots miss. Especially from teams playing their third straight day without a trio of key contributors.

The combative, scrappy Cardinals just couldn’t get out of the woods.

Disappointed? Naturally.

But personally, I never thought Louisville would be 5-2 at this point. With a win over a top 25 team at the time.

* * * * *

When Kasean Pryor went down after hyperextending his left leg, it seemed that anything positive would be the goal the rest of the way.

U of L was down 7 at that point.

U of L outscored the Sooners the rest of the way.

The Fighting Cards actually finished in 58th place with 5:02 on the clock.

The fact that PG Koron Johnson and the ever-tough utility guy Kader Traore were never available was a hindrance throughout the game. At this point, her and Pryor’s lack of status was simply too much to overcome.

You have a system with ten players and only eight play one half, seven the other, it’s almost impossible to adapt.

These Louisville Cardinals almost did the impossible.

* * * * *

Looking at pure statistics, one might wonder how they fell.

+21 from the glass 44-23.

+18 second chance points. 25-7.

+ 12 points in the paint. 34-22.

And only -6 points on turnovers. However, it must be seen as supposedly fatal that the nervous Cardinals missed everything half a dozen times in their first ten possession games, which earned the winners eight points.

The other meaningful number. The cards had a value of -10 on the charity stripe, a net win of just 56%.

* * * * *

U of L never let up.

The guys who played, PLAYED.

Waterman grabbed 11 hard rebounds, followed by Hadley’s 13.

Chucky Hepburn came to life in the second part, but was haunted the entire time. Oklahoma starts three ball-handling and set-starting guards. CH simply couldn’t cope with 1 against 3.

Louisville flies home with two key wins in Atlantis, 5-2 on the season.

If it’s not quite Joyeux Noel, then it’s not Festivus either.

– CD Kaplan