LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Cardinals may or may not be the best team in the country, but they played like a squad deserving of that ranking Tuesday night.

Louisville aced its first test as the nation’s No. 1 team, as the Cardinals took control early and held on in the second half to top No. 5 Michigan 58-43 in front of a packed house at the Yum Center.

Jordan Nwora led the way for Louisville with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Steven Enoch, matched up down low with star Michigan center Jon Teske, had 13 points and 10 boards of his own. Dwayne Sutton hit double-digit rebounds with 11 and had 4 points as well.

Shutting down Teske and Zavier Simpson, one of the top point guards in the country, was a priority for Louisville. Teske finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Simpson, who led the nation at 9.7 assists per game coming into the night, had just 3 dimes to go with 9 points.

Winners and losers from latest CFP ranking Opinion: Don’t be foolish and write off Brady, Patriots Tua Tagovailoa sees NFL draft as ‘business decision’ 100 greatest NFL players of all time Like what you see? Download the USA TODAY mobile app

It was Louisville’s strongest defensive effort of the season, and the first time the Cardinals held an opponent to fewer than 50 points. Outside of early in second half, when the Wolverines cut the lead to 4 points at the 16:59 mark, the Cardinals were in control all night.

“I think the story of the game was just our defensive effort from the beginning of the game all the way through,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “We probably played 38 and a half minutes of as good of defense as we can play, outside of maybe the first minute to start the second half. We beat a really good team. I’m sure they’re a little bit tired – three games in three days in the Caribbean is not easy, so we feel very fortunate.”

The Cardinals locked down in the first half, taking a 28-18 lead into the break. The Wolverines hit just 6 of 30 shots in the first 20 minutes. Nwora led the Cardinals in the first half with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Louisville (8-0, 1-0 ACC) didn’t let up in the final 20 minutes, either. Michigan (7-1) got as close as 30-26, but the Cardinals bounced back with a 10-point run to pull away. The Wolverines never got to within single digits again.

Nwora scored 6 in that 10-point run and was in the zone toward the end of the game, gesturing toward the crowd for more energy every time the Cardinals increased their lead late in the second half.

Michigan guard David DeJulius said in a press conference before the game that the Wolverines wanted “all the smoke,” meaning they wanted Louisville’s best effort.

They got what they asked for, Nwora said.

“We had heard they wanted some smoke yesterday – so they got some smoke, and they got smoked. That’s what happens,” Nwora said. “They were talking, we were able to quiet them up a little bit, and now we’ve just got to focus on the next game.”

At halftime, Louisville unveiled a banner honoring the program’s three Final Four Most Outstanding Player winners – Pervis Ellison (1980), Darrell Griffith (1986) and Luke Hancock. Ellison was unable to attend, but Griffith and Hancock each spoke amid cheers from the crowd.

Louisville will be back in action at 9 p.m. Friday at home against Pittsburgh in the team’s second ACC game of the season.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.