Louisville Blows Early Lead, Falls at Boston College to Remain Winless in ACC Play
This story will be updated.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The Louisville men’s basketball program, which travels north to play Boston College after a week’s hiatus, failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to claim its first ACC game win, losing at the Silvio Wednesday night with 75:65 O. Conte Forum.
The Cardinals fall to 2-18 overall and 0-9 in the ACC to continue their winless start to league play. Their total losing streak is now nine games, most recently against Florida A&M on December 17. Meanwhile, the Eagles — who sit in the bottom half of the ACC rating — improve to 10-11 and 4-6 in league play.
Louisville shot marginally better than Boston College at 53.1 percent to 49.0 percent, as well as 9-of-18 on three-point attempts to 8-of-22. However, like all season, the game difference came from turnovers. The Cardinals committed the Eagles 10 to 19 turnovers and also allowed BC to walk 17 of 21 at the free throw line while walking only 4 of 6 themselves. They also lost the rebound fight 27-25.
Louisville set the tone almost from the start thanks to sharp execution from Ellis and James. The Cardinals used an early 16-3 run to lead 19-7 in the first more than nine minutes of the game, marking their widest lead in the ACC game. During that opening stretch, Ellis and James combined to score Louisville’s first 15 points and 17 of their first 19 points.
While Boston College struggled to hit threes in the first half, they shot 1-of-11 against Louisville’s 5-of-9, but they did just enough to stay in the game and looked better on the track after a slow start . The Cardinals shot a whopping 60.0 percent from the field before halftime, but that also resulted in nine turnovers for nine BC points. Combined with minimal first-half production outside of Ellis and James, UofL only managed a 35-29 half-time advantage.
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The little momentum Louisville had at halftime didn’t last long when the second half started. They held BC at bay for the first five minutes of the half, but then the Eagles fired off an 18-5 run — consisting of only threes and free throws — midway through the half to control the game.
Withers and his 12 second-half points gave Louisville a fighting chance to rebound and even helped them go on three points with 3-10 in the game, but the Eagles finished the game on an 11-4 run to finish the game bed. BC fired a blistering 7-of-11 on three-pointers in the second half, forcing 10 more turnovers in Louisville in the process.
Next, Louisville will stay on the road and travel to Boston College. Tipp-off against the Fighting Irish is scheduled for Saturday, January 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo by Mike James, Devin McGlockton: Greg M. Cooper: Associated Press)
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