Louisville proves itself in narrow loss at Michigan State
Incredulous that his team had won its first five games yet still had not cracked the AP Top 25 poll, Louisville coach Rick Pitino suggested over the weekend that the stripper scandal is overshadowing the achievements of the Cardinals.
“I just think we’ve been ignored,” Pitino told reporters in Brooklyn. “There’s so much talk about other things that they didn’t really focus on basketball. But that’s OK. It makes you hungry.”
Louisville won’t be overlooked much longer if it consistently performs at the level it did Wednesday night at Michigan State. The Cardinals led the nation’s third-ranked team deep into the second half on its home floor before a late scoring barrage from Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes doomed them to a 71-67 loss.
That Louisville came as close as it did against an elite opponent is an encouraging sign for a program that had to replace 82 percent of its scoring from last season’s 27-win Elite Eight team. The Cardinals showed promise in winning their first five games comfortably prior to Wednesday night, but the best of those opponents was probably small-conference power North Florida.
Michigan State represented a huge step up in competition, yet Louisville was up to the challenge.
Neither Drexel transfer Damion Lee nor Cleveland State transfer Trey Lewis had any issue adjusting to being guarded by high-major athletes. Lee was the best player on the floor much of the night, scoring 23 points and consistently having his way with Valentine off the dribble. Lewis had 21 points in a supporting role and freshman guard Donovan Mitchell showed flashes elite athleticism and scoring prowess.
A lack of frontcourt scoring hurt Louisville, but the Cardinals made up for it with impressive pressure defense that forced 11 first-half turnovers from Michigan State and a handful more in the opening minutes of the second half. Only in the final 10 minutes when seniors Valentine and Forbes took over did the Spartans finally look more comfortable on the attack.
Forbes had 20 points including five 3-pointers. Valentine had 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds and one stumbling circus shot to end the first half.
Michigan State’s lack of early sharpness is understandable considering the odyssey the Spartans have been on early this season. They’ve edged Kansas in the Champion’s Classic in Chicago, defeated Boston College, Boise State and Providence at the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim and now beaten Louisville back in East Lansing in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. That’s the early-season resume of a team with No. 1 seed potential.
Meanwhile Louisville will go back to playing overmatched small-conference foes the next few weeks before a showdown with No. 1 Kentucky in Lexington at the end of the month. The Cardinals missed a chance to net a quality win Wednesday night, but they nonetheless proved a lot in defeat.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
