Louisville Falls to Virginia in ACC Tournament

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Louisville men's basketball program's season is now over.

Facing Virginia for the third time this season and second time in five days, the 11th-seeded Cardinals were unable to flip the script from the previous two matchups against the sixth-seeded Cavaliers, falling 51-50 in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

With under two minutes to go and the game tied at 45 after a clutch three-pointer from Noah Locke, Jayden Gardner connected on a jumper, then Reece Beekman added an easy layup in the final minute to effectively put the game away.

Malik Williams poured in a layup in the final five seconds, but that was countered by a pair of Gardner free throws. El Ellis also drained a halfcourt heave as time expired with the game already out of reach.

Louisville ends their year with a record of 13-19 - their first losing season since 2000-01 when they went 12-19 in Hall of Fame head coach Denny Crum's final year.

Williams finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds, the only Cardinal with double figures in either category. Gardner led all scorers with 17, while Virginia also got 15 points from Kihei Clark.

The Cardinals shot a paltry 35.7 percent from the field and 5-22 on three-point attempts, with Virginia shooting marginally better at 42.0 percent and 0-6, respectively.

Louisville came out of the gates firing on all cylinders on the defensive end. Virginia shot just 2-18 from the field and 0-3 on three-pointers over the first 11 minutes of the game, including a 5:36 scoreless stretch where they missed nine straight shots.

But just one day removed from having their best offensive first half of the season, the Cardinals looked pedestrian on that end of the floor to start the game. They shot just 10-25 overall before halftime, and made only one of their ten three-point attempts.

On top of that, Virginia started to find their groove offensively as the first half came to a close, connecting on seven of their final nine shots. Still, Louisville's tremendous early efforts on defense were enough to give them a 24-20 lead heading into the locker room.

Some of this momentum in favor of the Hoos carried over into the second half. While the lead in either direction never got above three points until the final minute, Virginia shot 52.2 percent after halftime, whereas Louisville was only 32.3 percent.

(Photo of Mason Faulkner, Kihei Clark: Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports)

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