Louisville Denied Regular Season Sweep of Georgia Tech

ATLANTA - Traveling down south for a rematch with Georgia Tech, the Louisville men's basketball program was unable to complete the regular season sweep over the Yellow Jackets, falling 83-67 Saturday at McCamish Pavilion.

Earlier this month, the Cardinals (4-25, 2-16 ACC) took down the Jackets (12-17, 4-14 ACC) 68-58 at the KFC Yum! Center for their first conference win of the Kenny Payne era. Louisville has yet to win a true road game this season, now sitting at 0-10 in such games, and Georgia Tech has now won four of their last six games after dropping nine straight.

After holding Georgia Tech to just 7-of-27 from beyond the arc in their first matchup, Louisville allowed them to shoot 12-of-29 on three-point attempts in the rematch. The Cardinals shot 4-of-17 on threes themselves, and 44.3 percent from the field to the Yellow Jackets' 48.2 percent.

The loss came in spite of a solid night on the boards, with Louisville winning the rebounding battle 37-29 and 14-7 on offensive rebounds. However, that was negated by another turnover-filled game by the Cardinals, committing 14 for 18 GT points.

El Ellis and Kamari Lands paced the Louisville offense with 15 points a piece, Mike James notched 14 points and J.J. Traynor also broke double figures with 10. Outside of that quarter, the Cardinals only got 13 points.

Louisville shot the ball well inside the arc in the first half - going 12-for-18 - while also winning the rebounding battle 17-13, but that's about all they did well before halftime. Not only did they turn the ball over nine times for 11 Georgia Tech points, but they allowed the Yellow Jackets to shoot 8-of-16 on three point attempts and 53.3 percent from the field overall before halftime.

The game was surprisingly competitive through most of the first half, with the lead in either direction never ballooning to more than four points over the first 13-plus minutes. But after Louisville took a 24-22 advantage with 7:38 left, Georgia Tech out-scored them 23-8 to take a 45-32 lead into the locker room. During that stretch, GT shot 9-of-12 from the field.

The Yellow Jackets were able to extend their lead to as much as 18 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Louisville would not go away quietly. Committing just four turnovers in the second half and holding the Georgia Tech to just 4-for-13 on threes and 42.3 percent from the field in the period, the Cardinals were able to trim the deficit to as little as five points with just under five minutes to go.

But during that final segment, shooting picked up for the Yellow Jackets while slumping for the Cardinals. Louisville hit two of their final nine shot - and 39.4 percent for the half - while Georgia Tech drained five of their final seven shots.

Next up, Louisville will return to the KFC Yum! Center and host Virginia Tech for their home finale. Tip-off against the Hokies is set for Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Jalon Moore, Jae'Lyn Withers: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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