By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE–It’s safe to say that Rick Pitino was due to spend a more peaceful evening Saturday than he did a few nights ago.
After his Louisville basketball team blew most of a 26-point lead and hung on to beat Pittsburgh 85-80, the angry (his description) coach spent a mostly sleepless night in his office after watching film of the game with his staff.
“He was real mad about that,” said junior point guard Quentin Snider in what was probably a classic understatement.
But his players made sure Pitino was in a happier mood Saturday afternoon by turning in what he termed a “terrific game” as the No. 14 Cardinals (15-3, 3-2) defeated No. 7 Duke (14-4, 2-3) 78-69 in the KFC Yum! Center for their third straight win to climb above .500 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time this season.
Anas Mahmoud (right) had a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell added 15 points and No. 14 Louisville shot 59 percent in the second half to top No. 7 Duke 78-69 (UofL Athletics Photo)
“When you lose a 26-point lead it’s nothing to be proud of,” sophomore guard Donovan Mitchell said. “When you do, you want to make that an emphasis for the next game.”
UofL never owned anything close to a 26-point lead against Duke, but the Cards made sure they stayed focused on finishing strong even when they took a 10-point lead into the final 1:36 and were up by a seemingly-safe 76-69 with only 22 second remaining.
“Coach kept saying, ‘the game’s not over, the game’s not over. Keep playing,'” Snider said.
As is almost always the case in a Louisville victory, the Cards won this one with tenacious defense, forcing Duke into a season-high 18 turnovers and a season-tying low of five three-point baskets (in 12 attempts), a couple of statistics for which UofL center Anas Mahmoud had a simple explanation.
“Maybe they hadn’t played anybody who plays defense like we do,” he said. “Everybody knows how good Duke’s three-point shooting is and we took it away. We just played team defense. Everybody helped everybody. Three or four times we made four or five rotations. We weren’t going to let them get a shot off until they worked for it.”
Said Duke acting coach Jeff Capel: “The thing they do, they keep coming after you and speed you up or make you lose your poise.”
Besides the turnovers, the effectiveness of the Cards’ combination of man-to-man and matchup zone was most evident in the second-half struggles of leading scorer Luke Kennard and the ballhandling problems of point guard Grayson Allen. After scoring 10 points in the first half, Kennard managed only TWO shot attempts in the second half to finish with 17 points. And Allen was harassed into a season-high six turnovers. It was due to the little things the Cards had gleaned from the scouting report.
“With Allen, force him left,” Snider said. “He can go left, but he’s not as strong as his right hand. Force Kennard to the right. Just certain things with their players.”
Allen, who was suspended one game recently for his third tripping incident in two seasons — including one against UofL’s Ray Spalding — was booed throughout the game every time he touched the ball, but the catcalls didn’t seem to affect his play. He scored a game-high 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
“I don’t think it bothers him at all,” Capel said. “Look, you’re on the road, that’s supposed to happen unless something has changed in college basketball. The opposing crowd is supposed to say stuff. So as a player you should expect it.”
Pitino offered words of encouragement to Allen after the game and defended him in his post-game press conference, saying he “is a terrific young man who made some mistakes” and calling him a “modern-day Christian Laettner,” who opposing crowds view as a villain and like to “bury”.
Duke, which was playing without injured double-double machine Amile Jefferson, shot a respectable 47 percent for the game, same as Louisville, but was never able to get into a rhythm or put together a significant spurt. The visitors managed back-to-back field goals just three times.
“We played 40 minutes of good defense, had to battle them,” Pitino said. “I’m really impressed with the fact that they made five threes. Do you know how tough it is to guard them there?”
After a slow start during which they missed 19 of their first 22 perimeter shots, the Cards’ offense picked up in the second half and was almost as overwhelming as their defense. They shot 58.6 percent (17-29) in the second period, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
“In the first half we got kind of stagnant and used too many pick and rolls,” Mitchell said. “in the second half we moved the ball, weren’t afraid to keep attacking, got the ball inside, made some great choices.”
Mahmoud led the way, notching career highs in both points with 17 and rebounds (11) while registering his first career double-double. He hit 6-of-9 shots and 5-of-7 free throws.
“I thought Anas was very good and he’s just going to keep getting better and better,” Pitino said.
“I feel I’m playing a lot better,” Mahmoud said. “Just me being more confident and more trusting of my teammates that they’ll find me and I’ll find them. That’s really how it all starts. Everybody knows their role and how we get the W.”
Mitchell was also a major factor, especially late. He scored 10 of his 15 points in the final eight minutes to help UofL keep the Devils at bay. His surge started with a layup just seconds following his return to the game after suffering a sprained ankle and being helped off the court by trainer Fred Hina. He added another layup and two 3-pointers.
“You don’t want to sit out any game, especially a big game like this,” Mitchell said. “I decided I was just going to fight through the pain. I went out in the hall and did as many sprints as I could, and the more I walked on it the more my body got accustomed to the pain.”
Snider had a big day for the Cards, too, with 13 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and just two turnovers in 36 minutes.
“This was a big game for us,” Pitino said. “We are striving to get in the top four in our league. We’ve played one hell of a schedule and it’s not going to stop. We’re getting better and better. This (win) makes me very excited.”
And it also makes for a good night’s sleep.
