Louisville Stumbles in Second Half, Falls to Miami in ACC Quarterfinals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Getting a rematch with Miami in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, the Louisville men's basketball program came up short in the second meeting, falling 78-73 on Thursday at the Spectrum Center.

Following an extremely physical back-and-forth first half that saw them take a one-point lead into halftime, the sixth-seeded and No. 24 AP-ranked Cardinals (23-10, 11-7 ACC) quickly fell behind early in the second half. The third-seeded Hurricanes (25-7, 13-5 ACC) took an eight-point advantage just under three minutes into the period, and never relinquished that lead.

The closest Louisville got was when they made it a one-point game with under 90 seconds left. But after Miami's Malik Reneau blew by for a layup with 59 seconds left, the ensuing inbounds pass from UofL's Isaac McKneely was stolen by Tru Washington - who then hit two free throws.

With the loss, Miami also gets revenge over the Louisville. Less than a week ago, UofL claimed a 92-89 decision in Coral Gables for their regular season finale last Saturday.

Louisville sees their three-game win streak snapped, and they also fall to 1-5 all-time in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament since joining the conference for the 2014-15 season. The lone exception is last year, when head coach Pat Kelsey guided them to the league's title game in his first season at the helm.

While Louisville out-shot Miami, hitting 48.2 percent of their attempts, their cold shooting from three-point range against SMU carried over into this contest, as they went only 6-of-24 from deep. They also turned it over 13 times for 17 points the other way.

The Cardinals' defense from the day before didn't make an appearance, as the Canes were able to go 46.6 percent from the floor. The U went only 19-of-29 at the free throw line, but it was more than what UofL did in either category (13-of-17).

Ryan Conwell and J'Vonne Hadley led the charge for Louisville, with Conwell scoring 22 points and Hadley right behind him at 19. Khani Rooths also came off the bench for an 11-point outing. Reneau, Washington and Tre Donaldson combined for 55 of Miami's points.

Most of the afternoon was a physical rock fight that was reminiscent of the old Big East. McKneely missed a large chunk of the first half and needed four staples after taking an inadvertent elbow to the forehead, Sananda Fru was poked in the eye on a foul, and Kobe Rodgers also drew blood after biting his tongue on a hard fall. Miami also saw Shelton Henderson and Ernest Udeh Jr. got roughed up as well.

Louisville and Miami, literally and figuratively, went blow-for-blow in the first half. Other than a 10-0 Cardinals run that was countered by a 11-3 run by the Hurricanes, the two squads didn't gain more than a possession lead over the other, with the opening period featuring 12 lead changes and six ties.

Following 20 minutes of play, it was UofL who was able to gain a 38-87 advantage over The U. While Louisville shot 14-of-25 in the first half compared to 14-of-32 by Miami, that also came with seven turnovers for 11 points the other way - with four of these turnovers occurring in the game's first six-plus minutes.

When the two teams returned for the second half, Miami shot out of a cannon. The Hurricanes scored 12 of the second half's first 15 points, including a 10-0 run to push their lead to eight just 2:38 into the period.

That was mainly because, after embracing the physical nature in the first half, Louisville seemingly shied away from it. After going 3-of-8 on three-point tries in the first half, eight of their first nine attempts from the field after halftime were threes, and they were also out-rebounded 5-0 in the first segment.

The Cardinals eventually found more success when they stopped settling for threes, but still only shot 13-of-31 from the field in this half (and 3-of-16 on three). Meanwhile, The U was 13-of-26 while attempting just three threes, and added 13 free throws to go with it.

Next up, Louisville heads home to await their draw for the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 15 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

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