How it happened: Team effort pushes Louisville past No. 22 Miami
It just makes sense that this Louisville team would pick up the program’s first top-25 road win since 2020 in the final game of the regular season.
After leading by as many as 12 down in the second half on Saturday, the Cardinals eventually held off No. 22 Miami (FL) and won it 92-89.
Adrian Wooley will go down as the star after hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go. But, Louisville still got the defensive stop, as Ryan Conwell forced a bad pass turnover from Miami’s Tre Donaldson. Still, it was Wooley who made most of the offensive plays for the Cardinals down the stretch. He operated the pick-and-roll, dished off a nice pass to Sananda Fru for a dunk, and ended up as Louisville’s lead ball-handler for the majority of the 28 minutes he was on the floor. Wooley put up 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out six assists, all while making just five field goals.
Conwell had 18 first-half points and shot a team-high 14 field goals. The senior was a large part of Louisville’s initial surge, but after a quiet start to the second half, he ultimately made the big defensive stop and hit two late free throws.
Up and down the roster, Louisville had contributors on Saturday. Aly Khalifa, who was originally listed as probable with an illness, ended up having one of his best games of the season against the Canes. He led the Cardinals off the bench with eight points, made a pair of 3s in the first half, and dropped five assists and zero turnovers in 11 minutes. Starting his second game in a row, Vangelis Zougris was also productive in limited playing time, making two baskets at the rim.
Aside from Conwell and Wooley, other Louisville players in double figures include J’Vonne Hadley (16) and Isaac McKneely (15), who carried their usual scoring weight but also picked up slack in other areas. McKneely made several midrange jumpers, all of which were highly contested, and executed against Miami’s zone defense for five assists.
Louisville was without freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (back) for the second straight game against the Hurricanes. Senior forward Kasean Pryor (illness) also failed to make the trip.
With the win, the Cardinals have clinched the six-seed in next week’s ACC Tournament. They’ll have the opportunity to face Miami again in Thursday’s quarterfinals if they beat the winner of the 11-seed and 14-seed game.
Louisville finishes the regular season with a 22-9 record overall and an 11-7 ACC record.
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