Louisville completes Duke’s season with 80-73 OT win

Louisville completed a sweep in Duke’s regular season with an exciting victory by 80-73 in overtime on the Blue Devils on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Cards found a way to win, despite losing Malik Williams at the start of the second half, after the big man hurt his right foot again, despite losing David Johnson through fouls near the end of the second foul, and despite losing Jae ‘Lyn Withers for foul in the middle of the overtime period.

How did they manage to overcome these obstacles while dealing with unconscious Matthew Hurt? The answer begins and ends with Carlik Jones.

Again, Radford’s graduation transfer was tremendous for U of L. Playing all 30 seconds of the 45-minute competition, Jones scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds, made four assists and, perhaps, the most notable of all, did not have a single turnover. He scored seven of Louisville’s 15 points in overtime, including an icy pull-up jump to put the Cardinals ahead by five, with 37 seconds to play.

Jones’ heroism failed to completely overshadow Hurt’s effort, which once again ignited the U of L, this time at the sound of 37 points, the record of his career. He was less effective in the final stretch, however, largely thanks to an excellent defensive effort from Samuell Williamson, who took over from Hurt at the end of the game, coming from Johnson and Withers.

As good as Jones was, Williamson was not far behind him in the heroes department. The second-year striker continued his stellar game sequence, scoring 14 points and catching 12 rebounds in 42 minutes of action.

With the victory, Louisville has now won three in a row over Duke and two in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium. AU of L also remains the only program in the country to have faced Mike Krzyzewski at least 10 times and to have a winning record against Coach K.

There’s a lot more to be said for this one – the three Quinn and the clutch free throws, Jae’Lyn’s random brilliant moments, CARLIK DUNKING – but my God, what a victory. It is such a courageous performance in a great location, as we saw from a Cardinal team a long time ago.

Big wins on Saturday night at the end of the season are simply the best. Everyone should enjoy this tonight.