Coming off a setback at Syracuse, the Virginia Cavaliers needed a big effort at home against 4th ranked Louisville and they got one in a 71-55 win over the Cardinals.
London Perrantes had 18 points and Isaiah Wilkins turned in his first career double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. In 6 career ACC meetings against Louisville, the Cavaliers have held them under 60 points each time out.
Louisville built a 7 point first half lead and led 34-32 at halftime, only the 4th time this year UVA has been behind at the break. The Wahoo defense stiffened in the 2nd half, holding Louisville to just 25% shooting from the floor.
“I hope you guys liked it because I liked it a lot. I think that’s what we have to be" said UVA head coach Tony Bennett about his team's second half defense. "We flew around and we jammed the lane. It was a challenge in the first half, they did spread it out and attacked off the dribble. Yes, they were shorthanded, I understand all of that. They’re talented and I don’t know if they got worn down or not. I just know the crowd was into it, Isaiah [Wilkins] was terrific with his activity. Jack [Salt] was too, and our guys really tried to spread out and help each other."
Louisville was missing two players to injury and two more to a one-game suspension.
“I think fatigue was a factor, but we took really good shots in the first half" said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. "Because we are so inexperienced, we try hard when we’re down 12 or 14. We try to rush it to get back in the game instead of taking our time. And that is an inexperienced team.”
UVA tied a season best with 8 blocked shots. They also outrebounded the Cardinals 38-19 and improved to 15-1 this year when they outrebound an opponent. They also improved to 92-5 all time under Bennett when scoring at least 70 points.
The Cavaliers improve to 18-5 overall and 8-3 in the ACC. They are on the road at Virginia Tech Sunday night.
