Before we get to the salient Reality Check, let’s savor what the Cardinals did do right in Chris Mack’s inaugural game as the head man.
After going ofer the long ball in the opening stanza, well traveled grad transfer Jeremiah Jefferson had taken six treys in the 2d, and drained them all. When teammate Gavin Peppers added one of his own with 3:40 left, the never quit, foul laden Colonels from Thibodaux, La. (tib-uh-dough) had whittled the nervous Cardinals lead to a deuce at 68-66.
You could almost hear the sphincters tightening. On the court. In the stands.
During the final media timeout, Mack assigned defensive ace Darius Perry to check Jefferson.
The beleaguered Cards did the tighten up.
U of L scored but one FG from then on. After VJ King drained the second of two charity opportunities, Perry broke the press, went end to end for a layup.
In the last two minutes of the nerve rattling contest, U of L went to the line fourteen times.
Here’s how they did.
Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. Net. (Hold your barbs, ye purists, I’m speaking figuratively all twine, not literally.)
Steven Enoch: 2/2. (He was 9/9 on the night.) VJ King: 2/2. Christian Cunningham: 2/2. Perry: 2/2. Cunningham again: 2/2. Dwayne Sutton: 2/2. Cunningham once more: 2/2 to make it an 85-72 final.
In a game when the Cardinals did little else objectively exemplary, they connected on their last 15 charity tosses to seal the deal. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Nicholls State →