Louisville led by 8 at halftime, and held that lead for much of the game. However, when Michigan took the lead 53-51 with 8:54 remaining, their first lead since 4-2, they didn’t look back. Michigan continues their magical run by defeating 2-seed Louisville 73-69.
Louisville was led by Donovan Mitchell’s 19 points. Deng Adel added 16 points, also. Mangok Mathiang finished his Louisville career with 13 point performance. Transfer Tony Hicks also ended his Louisville career today, he scored 7 points in useful minutes. Fellow Senior David Levitch played sparingly, he finished with 1 rebound. Thank you to the seniors for a great season.
In the end, Louisville’s inability to defend the paint today cost them. For the 2nd straight game, Louisville allowed an opposing big man to record a career-high in points. Today, it was Moritz Wagner, while fellow big man D.J. Wilson also had success today with 17 points. Louisville held Derrick Walton Jr. to 10 points on 3-13 shooting, and Zak Irvin to 11 points.
Louisville out rebounded the Wolverines 37-30. However, the Cards turned the ball over 5 more times than their counterpart. Louisville had every opportunity to control this game, especially with their lead going into halftime, but their defensive woes and inability to string stops together was too much to overcome.
It was a great season and hats off to Michigan.
Go Cards!