University of Louisville men's basketball gutted out a tough 79-68 victory over Pitt on Saturday afternoon in front of its largest crowd of the season at 18,459 in the KFC Yum! Center.
"I'm proud of our guys," said head coach Pat Kelsey. "I think the first thing I want to say is the atmosphere was phenomenal. It was phenomenal. I told our guys, you've earned that. You know, they worked their butt off, and they're having a phenomenal season. And we talk about, how this team reflects the character, the toughness, the grit of the city of Louisville. I think, you know, our fan base sees that and to come out the way they did tonight. I mean, that was a big, big, big time college basketball atmosphere. I give our marketing staff a lot of credit for the idea to come up with the stripe out and challenge the fan base. They were unbelievably coachable. They followed through, and the stripe out was awesome. I thought our student body was terrific. They made a major impact in the game. The students and the fan base, it was special tonight. I had goosebumps when I walked out, and they were a major, major factor in the game."
"I got a lot of respect for Pitt, for Jeff (Capel), Kelsey continued. "I think their backcourt is as talented as any in our conference. They're a handful to deal with. I love when I get in those huddles and I don't have to say anything but our leaders, our upperclassmen, which is everybody on our team, were already saying the things that I was going to say. It was going to come down to getting stops and getting big rebounds. I think they were 2 for 15 the last 17 field goal attempts. A couple of them, we had some missed assignments, and they just missed open looks. But overall, our guys buckled down, got a big stop. I mean, Chucky had a game that he's going to tell his grandchildren about. That stretch of four minutes before half was as amazing of a point guard play. It kind of looked like Steph Curry out there. Even the one after the whistle, he kind of threw up and it went in. I played basketball my whole life, and I've never been in a zone like that. I struggled to score in an empty gym. And they say when the basket looks like the ocean, it's really fun to play that way. And I don't know what that's like, but Chucky was feeling it that way tonight."
"I thought it's great to have Terrence Edwards III, Trey's newborn son at his first college basketball game tonight. That was awesome. Noah (Waterman) got his 1,000 point. James Scott had four steals and had a big block down the stretch. It was just a really, really good team effort and unbelievable atmosphere."
Chucky Hepburn opened the scoring for the Cards, knocking down two free throws less than a minute into the action, which was a sign of things to come for the senior guard. Louisville led into the under-16 media timeout on a 5-0 run thanks to back-to-back buckets from Terrence Edwards Jr. with the score 9-4. The Panthers brought the game back to even at nine apiece with 14:11 to play in the first from a layup by junior Cameron Corhen. A 30-second timeout from Pitt with 9:54 left in the first was caused by the combination of Noah Waterman's 1,000 career collegiate point and an up-and-under fast break layup from Edwards Jr. left the score 16-12.
Pitt took the lead 22-21 out of the under-eight media timeout however by a 3-pointer from junior Guillermo Diaz Graham, his first on the night. This was instantly answered by Chucky Hepburn getting red-hot, nailing four 3-pointers in a row and electrifying the Yum! Center and giving Louisville a 33-29 lead at the under-four media timeout.
In the final two minutes of the first half, Hepburn chucked up a heat check three with 1:36 remaining that found the bottom of the net. Hepburn knocked down yet another one from long range, giving the Cards their biggest lead of the game up 39-29.
Hepburn tallied an unreal 24 first-half points which was good for most first-half points by an ACC player this season. He shot a perfect 6-6 from behind the arc and had Louisville's last 18 points to end the first.
Louisville led at halftime 39-33 after two quick baskets from sophomore Jaland Lowe.
The Cards shot 13 of 26 (50%) from the field and 9 of 13 (69.2%) from deep in the first half. Louisville held Pitt to 13 of 31 (41.9%) shooting from the field and 5 of 16 (31.3%) from 3-point land. James Scott had himself a half defensively, racking up all of Louisville's steals with four. Edwards Jr. was runner-up to Hepburn in points with nine while adding two rebounds.
Pitt battled back early in the second half, cutting the Cards' lead to 47-46 at the under-16 media timeout. 3-pointers from Panthers Diaz Graham, Zack Austin and Brandin Cummings sparked the Panthers' quick comeback, with Pitt shooting 4/8 from the field during that span.
Out of the media timeout, Pitt took the lead by three with the score 50-47. Louisville then went on a 7-0 run with 11:36 left, which was capped by Reyne Smith's 106th 3-pointer of the season moving him up to second all-time for a single season behind Taquan Dean.
With both teams in the bonus, it was a back-and-forth free throw affair, up until James Scott threw down a fast break slam with 6:52 left and Pat Kelsey called his second timeout with the score 62-61 in favor of the Panthers.
The Cards turned it on out of the timeout, going on a 7-0 run which involved Hepburn securing a career high 37 points heading into the final media timeout. Trading buckets and free throws, UofL's lead held true as they closed out the Panthers 79-68, to move to 23-6 on the season.
Pitt capitalized on 12 Louisville turnovers, scoring 17 points off the miscues. The Panthers also scored 14 second chance points off 12 offensive boards.
Louisville ended the night shooting 51.1% from the floor overall with a whopping 52.4% from long range.
Edwards Jr. joined Hepburn with the heavy lifting scoring, notching 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting. He added in seven rebounds.
The Panthers had four players in double figure scoring, led by Lowe who logged a double-double with 10 rebounds and 16 points.
The Cardinals will continue their homestand on Wednesday evening by hosting newfound ACC member California at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
