Had seriously short-handed Louisville — down two key contributors to start with, losing another on the first defensive possession of the 2d — somehow swept its way through the Bahamas, it would have been the greatest holiday gift since . . .

. . . I dunno . . .

. . . since you were nine years old and there’s a spanking new black 3- speed Schwinn Corvette sitting outside your apartment door. (Trust me it made one kid I’m really familiar with very very happy in 1954.)

Alas, it was not to be.

But be absolute certain of the paramount takeaway: This was no lump of coal.

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

The Cardinals have zero to be ashamed of.

Of course, they could have won it. (You shall hear no “should” from this corner.)

There was the “key” possession of the game, with 2:28 left, down 59-62. Three missed triples, the last two hurried and out of rhythm. Three offensive boards. A missed semi-blocked layup. Yet after giving up a deuce to steady Oklahoma, U of L countered with a J’Vonne Hadley triple.

Noah Waterman’s missed threeball down a deuce with :15 to go.

That’s what happened. It is not meant to invoke shame in the slightest. Shots get missed. Especially by teams playing their third day in a row, without a trio of major contributors.

The full of fight, scrappy Cardinals simply couldn’t get over the hump.

Disappointed? Of course.

But I for one never fathomed Louisville would be 5-2 at this juncture. 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 the rest of the way would be the goal.

U of L was down 7 at the time.

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

The Fighting Cards actually tied the bruiser at 58 with 5:02 on the clock.

That PG Koron Johnson and ever tough utility guy Kader Traore were never available was an impediment the whole game. At that juncture their missing status and that of Pryor was simply too much to overcome.

You have a system set up ten guys, and only 8 play one half, 7 the other, it is almost impossible to adapt.

These Louisville Cardinals darn near did the impossible.

 * * * * *

Looking at pure statistics, one might wonder how did they fall?

+21 off the glass 44-23.

+18 second chance points. 25-7.

+ 12 points in the paint. 34-22.

And only -6 on points off turnovers. Though it must be considered ostensibly fatal that the nervous Cardinals gave it away a half dozen times in their first 10 possessions, resulting in 8 points for the victors.

The other telling number. Cards were -10 at the charity stripe, netting just 56%.

 * * * * *

U of L never faltered.

The guys who played PLAYED.

Waterman snared 11 tough rebounds, second to Hadley’s 13.

Chucky Hepburn came alive in the 2d, but was hounded the whole way. Oklahoma starts three ball handling, set-starting guards. CH just couldn’t cope 1 on 3.

Louisville flies home with two important Ws in Atlantis, 5-2 for the campaign.

If not quite Joyeux Noel, it ain’t Festivus.

— c d kaplan