Three Takeaways From Louisville's Season-Ending Loss to Michigan State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The long and winding season for the Louisville men's basketball program is now over. Taking on Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals could not pull off the upset, instead, suffering a 77-69 second round loss.

Here are three takeaways from their showdown with the Spartans:

No. 1: Defensive effort was there...

It's no secret that Louisville's biggest hinderance this season when playing upper tier competition has been their defense and overall physicality. While their defense wasn't perfect, it was much better than I expected it to be.

Tom Izzo-led Michigan State teams are known for that grit and tenacity - A.K.A, the exact type of teams that have given Louisville fits. But the Cards didn't back down from the fight.

The Spartans went plus-seven in the rebounding battle, but it didn't feel that way at all, especially because both finished with 11 offensive boards. Ball pressure was hit-or-miss, but it did result in 15 turnovers for 20 points in their favor. Transition defense was not great early on, but they did rebound (no pun intended) in this area.

"I felt like the team really, really started to come together and fought," head coach Pat Kelsey said. "I thought they fought tonight. We went neck and neck with the best rebounding team in the country. We were right there. I thought we fought. I thought we scrapped. Worked so much on defending the post. They go at you at the pipes."

No. 2: ... but offensive execution was not.

Louisville has been led by their efforts on the offensive end of the floor for the vast majority of the season. But while their defense was able to withstand Michigan State's physical nature, their offense was a different story.

The Cardinals couldn't sustain much around the rim, which isn't a huge surprise considering how much the Spartans force opponents to take outside shots. However, Louisville was granted a *lot* of relatively open looks on the perimeter, and they just couldn't make MSU pay for packing the paint.

"I feel like we really got some good looks, and the shots just didn't fall down," guard Ryan Conwell said. "But I think we executed our game plan really, really well. We got out in transition. We got our open threes, got downhill, tried to put pressure on the paint. They were trying to be physical with us and disrupt us, but especially in the first half, I thought we got some really good looks, and they just didn't fall.

What really did Louisville in is that, outside of Ryan Conwell and Adrian Wooley, no one really stepped up to the challenge. Isaac McKneely had a couple timely threes, but only had nine points after dropping 23 on USF. Vangelis Zougris scored four points in the first two minutes, and finished with eight. Kobe Rodgers and Sananda Fru both only had two points, Khani Rooths only played five minutes.

The most surprising disappearance was from J'Vonne Hadley. He had been a rock steady piece for Louisville all season long, and especially over the last month, but this was one of his worst games in a Cardinal uniform. He had just two points on 1-of-8 shooting, including 0-4 on threes.

No. 3: The game was partially decided by two foul calls.

Let me be clear on one thing: I am not saying that the officiating crew is the reason that Louisville lost this game. What I am saying is there were a pair of calls that had massive implications in the final score.

The first is when Conwell picked up his second foul just 4:17 into the game, forcing Kelsey to have to sit his standout shooting guard. Louisville shot just 1-of-11 while Conwell sat until Kelsey took a risk and re-inserted him at the 10:00 minutes mark, allowing Michigan State to fire off a 17-5 run and briefly lead by double digits in the first half.

Fast forward to midway through the second half, and both teams are still battling. At the 7:12 mark of and eight-point game, Zougris is slapped with a flagrant 1 foul. Not only does Michigan State make both flagrant free throws, they also drain a three on their ensuing possession, pushing their lead out to 13 with 6:41 left

At that point, Louisville's deficit didn't get back to single digits until the final minute, when they were forced to hoist up desperation threes. Right or wrong, those calls were massive momentum swings against the Cards.

No. 1: Defensive effort was there...

No. 2: ... but offensive execution was not.

No. 3: The game was partially decided by two foul calls.

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