Louisville Basketball escapes Virginia Tech with Win, acclaimed double bye

Blacksburg, go. – Pat Kelsey Had a flashback in its first season as a chief coach of division I Tuesday evening, during Louisville basketballGame of Virginia Tech.

November 28, 2012: Winthrop fell to Wofford, 70-55, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. THE Hokies‘ coach, Mike Youngwas in his 11th blow at the head of the burrows; And Kelsey said he had dissected his match plan with surgical precision.

“Each time you play against him,” said Kelsey, “you feel like you open and operate. He is an incredible tactician.”

Almost 13 years later, the Cardinals of Kelsey in 17th row (22-6, 15-2 ACC) brought the team out of Young. It didn’t last, but they did enough to get out of Cassell Coliseum With a 71-66 victory, a double bye in the conference tournament next month and the biggest reversal from one year to the history of the program, +14 victories.

Speaking with journalists thereafter, Kelsey seemed to leave the equivalent of the hoops of an operational theater. His hands were covered with a dry black marker, leaving marks on his pants, wiping on her whiteboard. The game became so intense on the section that it did not have time to wash them with a spurt of its bottle of water.

“I give a lot of credit to our children,” he said, “to be simply resilient, be grainy, be filthy; because it was a type of game.”

This is not how it started. The U de l took an advance of 18-6 at brand 13:08 of the first half by making 8 of its first 10 shots. Nine of his points came via seven reversals of Hokies, including four flights, and he ended the match with 26 out of 22.

“Misheaire,” said Young.

It was the clearest that the cards look over the night. Tech (12-16, 7-10) outpected them from the range of 3 points, 33-18, had three players combined for 42 points on the bench and had a rebound advantage of 37-30. With 6:58 remaining in regulations, the score was established at 55.

“They perform very well. You just have to be on your belongings,” said Kelsey. “I thought, for the most part, our guys really been. It’s just – it’s like going to the dentist, when you have to play against his teams. It is a hint of cap and a tribute to him.”

“It’s frustrating, that’s for sure,” added Terrence Edwards Jr., who finished with 13 points on a 5 shot for 14. “We know what is the norm for us and how we play; but these teams come for us. “

Louisville won the section, 16-11, largely thanks to Edwards and Chucky Hepburnwhich combined to score 12 of these points. The first had eight, including a pair of 3 which gave his team a seven points cushion when the Hokies drew twice in two possessions.

James Scott and Reyne Smith represented the other four points at critical moments. The Dunk Putback of Scott, his sixth and final of the night, on a lay-up failed by Hepburn put the cards 69-66 with 59 seconds on the clock.

“This is the difference between winning and losing,” said Young. “When you give Louisville or to anyone another possession, the basketball gods generally give you a kick in the ball joints.”

Smith, who went 3 for 11 on the field and 1 for 9 beyond the arc, frozen the game on the free throw line after I saw Hadley had a flight with seven seconds to lose on the final possession of the hokies. Kelsey credited the defensive coordinator Brian Kloman for the adjustments that generated turnover.

“They were performing a game to get a 3 -point shot,” said Kelsey. “He adjusted some of our clashes (and) put James Scott on their leader. We assumed that they were going to start possession with an environmental screen; what they did. (That) allowed us to Return to natural matches very, very easily. “

Hepburn led UL with 15 points on a shot of 5 for 12 and six assists, but committed six seasonal reversals. Scott joined Edwards with 13 points; And Hadley had 11 to accompany a top of eight rebounds.

Next for cards: revenge against Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. Saturday to launch a three -game homestand at the KFC Yum! Center. Since the cards escaped from the Petersen Events Center with a victory of 82-78 on January 11, the Panthers have slipped to 16-12 (7-10).

With Barnburner on Tuesday, Louisville fell below the most dominant season on the road in the history of the program. This title still belongs to the 2013-14 campaign, during which U of L had a margin of victory of 13.8 points far from yum! Center. The Kelsey team ended the year at 13, but sometimes it is best to win one to the hard.

“It’s better to be in a dog fight, especially at this time of year,” said Edwards. “The matches become crucial; the teams try to go to the ACC tournament. We are already there, so the teams come for us; and they want to get these big victories on us. It’s most certainly good for (it’s) A close match.

Reach the male basketball journalist from Louisville Brooks Holton to bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksholton.

This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Basketball: Pat Kelsey Club obtains a double goodbye for Ap Tourney