Louisville Survives Upset Bid, Takes Down SMU in ACC Tournament Opener

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Survive and advance is the name of the game during this time of year, and that was certainly the case for the Louisville men's basketball program in their first postseason game.

Kicking off their run in the ACC Tournament with a matchup against SMU in the second round, the Cardinals were able to build on some end-of-season momentum, earning a 62-58 come-from-behind win over the Mustangs on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center.

Sixth-seeded and No. 24 AP-ranked Louisville (23-9, 11-7 ACC) spent most of the second half behind by a couple possessions to 11th-seeded SMU (20-13, 8-10 ACC), but made their move down the stretch.

Down by a point in the final two minutes, Ryan Conwell made two clutch baskets for the Cardinals. He drained a stepback three with 1:17 left, then following an SMU miss on the other end, he split a double team for a layup with just 29.4 seconds left. The Mustangs got four more chances to trim the deficit with the shot clock turned off, but missed all of them.

Louisville has now won three-in-a-row, and earn victories over Quad 1 teams in back-to-back games for the first time all season. Louisville won 92-89 at then-No. 23 Miami in their regular season finale this past Saturday.

Louisville also gets revenge for their previous matchup against SMU, which was a 95-85 loss in Dallas back on Feb. 17. The Cards faced them twice during the regular season, winning 88-74 at the KFC Yum! Center in the first matchup back on Jan. 31.

Neither team was at full strength for the matchup. Louisville was without star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (back) for the third straight game and 11th overall, while SMU didn't have standout shooting guard B.J. Edwards (ankle) for their fifth straight game.

As you can imagine, those absences had big time impacts on the efficiencies of both offenses. Louisville went just 39.6 percent from the floor and 6-of-26 on three-point tries, but was able to cash in at the free throw line - going 14-of-20. They also tied for their fewest assists all year with just eight.

However, the Cardinals made up for it by producing a great defensive outing. The Mustangs were held to 42.9 percent from the floor and 9-of-27 on threes, and turned it over 14 times. UofL also did a great job of defending without fouling, allowing the Ponies to make just three trips to the line - resulting in just one make.

Conwell finished with a team-high 16 points, while Adrian Wooley added 14 points, and Isaac McKneely finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists - the latter two of which led the team.

Louisville was able to get consistent good looks to start the game, but had an incredibly tough time sinking them. Despite making three of their first four shots of the game, they went just 8-of-27 from the field in the first half, including a ghastly 2-of-14 on three point tries.

Fortunately, they combated this by putting together one of their best defensive halves of the season, fueled mainly by an abundance of full court pressure. SMU was held to 11-of-27 shooting in the first half, which included a 3-of-11 mark on threes, and turned the ball over nine times.

That being said, it was the Mustangs that ended the first half strong. They made three of their last four attempts of the half while the Cardinals missed their final seven, going on a 6-0 run to tie the game up at 26 a piece at halftime.

SMU was able to carry that end-of-half momentum across halftime, and it seemed like Louisville could not find any answers. The Mustangs shot 13-of-23 over the first 18 minutes of the period, while Cardinals hit just three of their first 11 shots after halftime - including a stretch of seven straight misses.

But in the final 10 minutes, their offense finally woke up, as they drained 10 of their final 15 shots. Additionally, not only did SMU miss all four shot attempt in the final 30 seconds, they missed their final seven attempts - spanning over the final 2:43.

Next up, Louisville gets a rematch with Miami in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 12 at 2:30 p.m. EST.

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