Louisville Stumbles at Virginia in Regular Season Finale

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Hitting the road for their final game of the 2022-23 regular season, the Louisville men's basketball program fell flat on their face in their rematch against Virginia, falling 75-60 Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cardinals (4-27, 2-18 ACC) were unable to avenge their 61-58 home loss to the No. 13 Cavaliers (23-6, 15-5 ACC), and suffer their fourth regular season sweep in the process. Florida State, Pitt and Miami also pulled off two-game sweeps over Louisville during the regular season.

The Cardinals also finish with zero road wins for the first time since the 1939-40 season, and tally 18 double-digit regular season losses in year one under head coach Kenny Payne.

Louisville's defense struggled all afternoon long, allowing Virginia to shoot 58.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-point attempts. Out of the 29 made field goals by the Cavaliers, 25 of them came off of assists.

Conversely, the Cardinals shot noticeably lower than their hosts at 43.5 percent and 26.7 percent on threes, while also turning the ball over 12 times for 16 UVA points off them.

The majority of Louisville's scoring came from Mike James and El Ellis, as the former finished with a game-high 24 points while the latter notched 14 points. The duo went 10-of-22 from the field and 14-of-16 at the free throw line, whereas the rest of the Cardinals were a combined 10-of-26 and 2-of-4, respectively.

The first half was some of the worst basketball that Louisville has played all season long, on either end of the court. Offensively, the Cardinals went just 6-of-18 in the period and 1-of-7 on three-pointer with eight turnovers, at one point going 8:11 without making a field goal.

Defensively, they let Virginia go 13-of 26 from the field and 5-of-12 on threes, with every single one of the Cavaliers' field goals coming off of an assist. The only reason the Hoos led just 36-20 at the half was due to Louisville only letting them get four offensive rebounds and two second-chance points.

Louisville's offense improved dramatically after halftime, but their defense still lagged behind, leaving them unable to truly close the gap between them and Virginia. The Cardinals shot 14-of-28 during this period, but allowed the Cavaliers to go 16-of-24. As a result, UofL's deficit only got as little as 13 points.

Next up, Louisville will head to Greensboro, N.C. for the ACC Tournament. The Cardinals have already clinched the No. 15 seed in the tournament, and their first opponent will be determined later this afternoon.

(Photo of Kihei Clark, El Ellis: Geoff Burke - USA TODAY Sports)

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