The Louisville Cardinals didn’t have to travel far for their first game of the NCAA Tournament taking on the Creighton Bluejays in Rupp Arena on Thursday afternoon. After a valiant effort, the Cardinals would fall to the Bluejays.
On Selection Sunday, the Cardinals didn’t quite receive the news they hoped for this tournament season. The Cards saw their name drawn early for the #8 seed to take on #9 seed Creighton in the bracket of the #1 overall seed, Auburn. Creighton just came off a run in the Big East tournament where they made the finals and gave St. John’s everything they could handle. This made them a not-so-pleasurable draw for the first round.
Despite the unfortunate draw, the selection committee had the decency to provide Louisville with some sort of edge. The Cardinals would travel down the road 77 miles to play in arch-rival, Kentucky’s Rupp Arena. While it wouldn’t particularly be a home game, the Cardinal fans would travel in bunches like they have for road games all season. The Cards were a combined 13-4 in neutral and road court games this year. Regardless of who the Cards play, we know they can beat anybody on a neutral court.
The Cards were going punch for punch in the early going being as close as 28-25 in favor of the Bluejays. After that point, Creighton would go on a 12-0 run within a matter of a minute and a half. That would be the difference maker of the whole game. Louisville would go down 49-34 at the half.
The second half was played pretty evenly and it seemed the Cards found a way to at least stick around. The deficit however was too severe to overcome. Ultimately the Cards would lose 89-75 in heartbreaking fashion after not making the tournament in over 6 years.
The final notables of the year. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far, it has been an incredible ride.
Chucky Hepburn – 22 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists. 9-23 from the field, 2-8 from the three-point line
Terrence Edwards Jr. – 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. 9-22 from the field, 3-9 from behind the arc.
J’Vonne Hadley – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist. 5-8 from the field, 0-1 from three point land.
While this wasn’t the outcome we expected, eventually we knew it would probably come. Only one team can win the National Championship every year. Despite the outcome, it’s okay to feel sad, I feel sad as well. But, don’t be sad because it’s over, smile because it happened. I can’t thank this Louisville team enough for the joy they have brought out of me over the past 5 months. It is so exciting to have Louisville Basketball back where it rightfully belongs, in the national spotlight.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
