Louisville Falls to Virginia in Regular Season Finale
(Photo of David Johnson, Jay Huff: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing a crucial game as it pertains to seeding for the ACC Tournament, the Louisville men's basketball program could not overcome in-conference nemesis Virginia, falling 68-58 in their regular season finale on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals (13-6, 8-5 ACC) have now lost 11 of the last 12 matchups against the Cavaliers (17-6, 13-4 ACC), and fall out of contention for a double bye in next week's ACC Tournament. They will receive either a No. 6 or No. 7 seed, pending results from Saturday night's Duke/North Carolina matchup, while Virginia claims the ACC regular season title.
David Johnson had a team high 14-points, Jae'Lyn Withers had 12, and Samuell Williamson had nine with 10 rebounds. ACC Player of the Year candidate Carlik Jones failed to score double digits for the first time this season, finishing with six points on 2-15 shooting.
On the other side, UVA's Sam Hauser had a career-high 24 points, assisted by 17 from Trey Murphy III. The Cavaliers shot 51.9% from the field, while holding the Cardinals to just 36.8% for the game.
Virginia established dominance early on, pulling out to an 18-8 lead to start the game, and using their suffocating pack line defense to hold Louisville at bay during the majority of the first half. The Cardinals shot just 8-29 (27.6%) in the first half, and tied their lowest scoring first half of the season with 21 points (at Miami).
Louisville shot much better in the second half, going 46.4% from the floor after halftime, but could not close it out. They pulled it to within a single possession thanks to a Withers and-one, but his foul on Tomas Woldentensae on a three-point shot with 8:47 left would cause an 11-2 Virginia run to put the game away for the Hoos.
Next up for Louisville, they will head to Greensboro, N.C for the ACC Tournament, where their first postseason action this season will come in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, Mar. 10. Opponent, tipoff time and television designation will be determined later this evening.
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