Louisville Bounces Back, Takes Down Georgia Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Returning home to the KFC Yum! Center for a showdown against Georgia Tech on Senior Day, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to take a step back in the right direction, holding off their visitors long enough to emerge with a 87-70 victory on Saturday.

The No. 21 Cardinals (20-7, 9-5 ACC) bounce back after falling 95-85 at SMU this past Tuesday, which snapped a five-game winning streak. They've won eight of their last 10, whereas the Yellow Jackets (11-17, 2-13 ACC) have now lost nine-in-a-row.

Louisville had a great shooting night, connecting on 51.9 percent of their attempts from the field, as well as going 14-of-31 on three-point tries and an almost perfect 19-of-20 outing at the free throw line. That being said, they had more turnovers (18) than assists (15, and even set a season-high in the former.

Defensively, the Cardinals struggled in around the paint. They allowed Georgia Tech to shoot 45.9 percent from the floor, including 25-of-43 on two-point tries plus 40 points in the paint. That being said, UofL forced 17 Yellow Jackets turnovers - their most against a high-major team - and only allowed them to go 3-of-18 on threes.

Unsurprisingly, Louisville was once again led by Mikel Brown Jr., who finished with a game-high 19 points. J'Vonne Hadley added 17 points plus a team-high five rebounds, Ryan Conwell finished with 15 points plus a team-high four assists, and Isaac McKneely had 14 points. Georgia Tech had four players crack double figures scoring, including a team-best 17 points from Baye Ndongo.

The two teams traded barbs in the opening segment of the game, but Louisville then fired off a 16-2 run over the next two segments thanks to some good defense, leading 28-12 at the 9:21 mark of the first half to seemingly have the game in full control. However, the game was far from in hand at that point.

Over that final nine-plus minutes before halftime, the Cardinals turned it over eight times, allowing the Yellow Jackets to not only keep pace - but at one point make a run at their lead. GT had a 12-0 run in the final segment, trimming the UofL advantage to as little as six points with 53 seconds until the half. But Louisville was able to get a couple buckets in that final minutes to take a 42-31 lead at the break.

The start of the second half mirrored the start of the first almost to a T. Following some back-and-forth action in the first few minutes after halftime, Louisville used a 16-2 run to push their lead out to 25 with 11:58 to go.

But like in the first half, Georgia Tech didn't hang their heads. A few minutes after the Cardinals' run, the Yellow Jackets countered with a 14-0 run, resulting in UofL's lead dwindling to as little as 11 with 7:38 to go.

Fortunately for Louisville, that's as little as their lead shrunk to in the final eight minutes of the game. They made six of their final seven baskets, while holding Georgia Tech to just a 4-for-10 mark down the stretch.

Next up, Louisville has a short turnaround and will head back on the road, traveling to Chapel Hill for a ranked showdown with North Carolina. Tip-off against the Tar Heels is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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