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    Louisville Basketball Battled Snow and BC to Win 81-72
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    The tenth ranked University of Louisville basketball Cardinals (17-3, 5-2 ACC) kept their act on the road Wednesday night when they traveled to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on Boston College (9-10, 1-6). It was a late 9pm start but the Cards took care of business 81-72.

    Earlier in the week, it looked like the teams would have to take a rain check, actually snow check, on the game as the storm of the millennium approached New England. It was bad enough, but nothing like that. Louisville was able to safely make the trip.

    It helped them continue the momentum they gained in Pittsburgh on the backs of Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier and Chris Jones. It would also be a chance to get more production out of the five spot with the two headed monster of Chinanu Onuaku and Mangok Mathiang. Mathiang scored in double figures last time out.

    Fans who wanted to make the trip ended up staying home. Usually it’s thousands of screaming not so nice things at the visiting team. The strange circumstances made it just hundreds. And it was mostly students. Would that take away from the game day feel? The weather provided enough of a distraction without other changing circumstances.

    Both teams started the game fairly hot with each knocking down triples with ease. The Cards had to make sure they guarded the perimeter and the Eagles had to come out of the zone defense early. Everyone zones Louisville because what they saw in the Duke game. In the two games after that Cardinal loss, UofL has made those teams pay.

    Through the first half, BC hung around and even tied it several times, but was never able to go ahead. Meanwhile the Cards kept working on improving their offense via better shot selection while also maintaining that signature defense. 58% shooting provided the evidence of that while limiting Boston College to 43%.

    What kept the Eagles close was the three point shot, which is a part of the game they’ve relied on throughout the season. They closed the gap using the three-ball after Louisville went on yet another 8-0 run. At the break, the Cards led it 35-33. Aaron Brown’s 17 first half points kept them in the hunt. He had 26 for the game.

    To open the second stanza, Louisville found Harrell on the block early. Three Eagles collapsed on him. He slammed it home. With Trezz only taking 5 first half shots, they wanted to get him going early. Unfortunately, 4 and a half minutes in, he picked up his third foul and took a seat next to Coach Rick Pitino. He came back and finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

    The Cards got sloppy with their leader on the bench with two-bit fouls and open shot misses while BC took advantage where they could. It would keep them close in a game that let like Louisville would break away at any time.

    In the end, the Cards still didn’t get a lot of scoring from the center position or from the bench. Instead, they rode the horse that brought them there which was the superb guard play of Rozier and Jones once again. Jones finished with 28 points and Rozier had 23. Wayne Blackshear continued to struggle from the field but closed with 10.

    The Cardinals return to the friendly confines of the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday for a 4pm tip off against North Carolina. Imagine the storylines as the Cards try to avenge that last second loss just weeks ago.

    Photo by: Tim Girton/Louisville.com

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    About Tim Girton

    Tim Girton writes about University of Louisville sports here at Louisville.com and his love for Louisville continues on his photoblog, called This Is Louisville.

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