Coach Mike Pegues, said that after the tough loss against Miami, his team had to have a “Come to Jesus meeting” and multiple people laid their cards(no pun intended) on the table. Pegues took responsibility and gave the players and gave the fans credit for hanging tough throughout this rough and un-Louisville like season.
Coach Pegues said, “I was blatantly honest with our guys in terms of wanting to show some vulnerability and wanting to show them that, ‘Hey, this isn’t on you.’ A big part of this is on me… They’re kids. They’re going to make mistakes. They want to talk back at times. They don’t want to do the right things. And as a leader, I have to find a better way to manage that and have a feel. And I haven’t always done that. I’m learning on the fly as well. We all are. And I just wanted them to know that we’re in this together. We can have a clean slate. We can start over. We agreed to that. We hugged it out. And it resulted in us being on the same page today and getting a win.”
It seemed as if the had some help from on high in multiple instances in this game. Clemson missed some opportunities to make this a bit harder on the Cards down the stretch missing some wide open looks on poor close outs, and lack of communication by Louisville. Towards the end of the game, Louisville was beginning to drift into old Louisville patterns of jacking quick threes, and scoring droughts. Pegues called a timeout and implored his guys to hit singles, and stop trying to swing for the fences.
Though not perfect and often times not pretty, Louisville puts together almost complete forty minutes of basketball and is able to end this historical losing streak at seven games with 70-61 win over a scrappy Clemson Tigers team. Jae’Lynn Withers opened the scoring for Louisville with a layup. The first half was a slog for both teams with a 6 turnovers a piece and both teams shooting under 45% from the field. Noah Locke provided a spark off the bench with 15 points on 6-12 shooting, and JJ Traynor provided some energy minutes including a big block in the 1st half that sparked a little mini run. Withers chipped in 7 points and 10 rebounds. Malik Williams played well garnering the most minutes he’s played since returning from suspension, and made key plays in helping Louisville scrap out the win. Pegues stated that Malik had a solid week of practice this week and has reasserted himself as the team captain and the leader that this team needs him to be.
On his suspension Williams said, “Honestly, I was lost and confused, frustrated, a lot of things of that nature,” Williams continued. “. . . It took time to truly open my eyes to know my doing in the suspension, but I do accept it. I did my time and I’m back.” Williams made winning plays when he was on the floor and contributed 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Williams attributed a pep talk and dinner with former Card teammate and current Milwaukee Bucks forward Jordan Nwora with helping get him in a better frame of mind. On Nwora, Williams said, “He just told me to keep going and remember where I’m at, and the tradition of this school, And as I walk out the door just setting that standard again, so that whoever is here next year knows that no matter what is happening we have to work hard, give maximum effort and have a winning attitude and mindset.”
Coach Pegues has told this team over and over again that wearing Louisville across your chest should mean something. That its about intensity, hard work, and maximum effort consistently for a full 40 minutes. Louisville will try to turn this win into a streak as they travel to Chapel Hill, NC to take on North Carolina on Monday. The Cards lost to UNC in overtime 90-83 back on Feb 1 in a very physical back and forth contest.
By Jovan Bell