The Louisville Cardinals went on the road in the Big East on Saturday and came away with a 77-74 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. WVU has now lost five of their past six games. They led for almost the entire second half until a late Kyle Kuric three pointer pulled it even with less than three minutes to play. The Mountaineers fell one game below .500 in the conference while the Cardinals won their sixth straight.
No. 24 Louisville Vs. West Virginia: Cardinals Come Back Late For Sixth Straight Big East Win
Louisville trailed West Virginia for almost thirty minutes on Saturday, but defensive pressure and long-distance shooting gave them a late lead and a quality road win in the Big East.
After trying to chase down the Mountaineers for most of the game, Louisville finally pulled even on Kyle Kuric three with two and half minutes remaining. The Cardinals then stole the ensuing inbounds pass to take take a 73-71 lead. All of West Virginia's 11 turnovers lead to immediate Louisville points. Kuric finished with a team-high 17 points, hitting four of eight attempts from behind the arc. As a team, the Cardinals shot better than 45 percent from downtown to keep it close with star Peyton Siva in foul trouble for much of second half.
Kevin Jones, a strong Big East Player of the Year candidate, had yet another dominating performance on the inside for the Mountaineers. Jones finished with 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Deniz Kilicli teamed up with Jones in the paint and had 17 points of his own, before a late charge call fouled him out with under two minutes to go. Truck Bryant, however, could not get anything to fall all afternoon and finished just 3 of 17 from the floor, including a last second desperation three to tie it that fell short.
For more on the West Virginia Mountaineers, visit SB Nation’s Mountaineers blog The Smoking Musket. For more on the Louisville Cardinals, visit SB Nation’s Louisville blog Card Chronicle.
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