Louisville Escapes With Win Over Pitt in Foul-Fest

The Cardinals move to 4-0 in the ACC.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Returning to the KFC Yum! Center for their first home game of the new year, the Louisville men's basketball program overcame a litany of whistles to take down Pitt 75-72 Wednesday and continue their hot start to conference play.

The Cardinals (10-4) move to 4-0 in ACC play with the victory, and remain tied atop the ACC standings with Duke, North Carolina and Miami as the lone undefeated teams in conference play. Pitt (5-9) falls to 0-3 in the ACC, tied with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech for dead last in the league.

Despite solid shooting nights on both side, particularly in the second half, the game was bogged down by constant whistles. Both teams were called for 23 fouls in the conference matchup, including three technical fouls a piece - and one for each head coach.

Louisville shot 48.0 percent for the game, including 53.8 percent after halftime, whereas Pitt was 44.2 and 48.1 percent. As you can imagine, both teams saw a lot of action at the free throw line, as the Cardinals were 20-30 and the Panthers were 19-27.

El Ellis poured in a team-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half, while Noah Locke was the only other double digit scorer for Louisville with 13. Pitt's Jamarius Burton finished with a game-high 21 points, and was one of four Panthers to score in double figures.

The game got off to an extremely chippy start, as four technical fouls were called in the first 1:12 of the game. Both Louisville's Malik Williams and Pitt's John Hugley were assessed one after a dustup, then Panthers head coach Jeff Capel and their bench each received one as well following some choice words from the Pitt sideline.

The rocky start certainly set the tone for most of the opening half. Louisville opened up the game shooting 4-14 from the field and 0-5 on three-point attempts, Pitt was 5-17 and 1-7, and a combined 22 fouls were called before halftime.

In the final six minutes of the half, both teams started to find a groove with their shooting. Pitt closed went into the half shooting 5-8, while Louisville was 6-10, mainly pitting shooters Horton and Locke against each other. The Cardinals took a 35-32 lead into the locker room.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair right from the jump, as this period alone featured 16 lead changes. The uptick in offense carried over from the end of the first half, as Louisville shot 14-26 from the floor and 5-11 on threes in the second half, while Pitt was 13-27 and 3-10.

The Cardinals connected on eight of their last nine field goal attempts of the game, while Pitt was one for nine, and appeared to have the game in hand down the stretch. Locke hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to go up by seven, but the game was far from over.

Williams and head coach Chris Mack each received technicals in the final 30 seconds, leading the way for four Pitt free throws. West connected on two free throws after getting sent to the line, but a three-pointer from Jamarius Burton made it a two-point game with just 7.6 seconds left.

West would again head to the line, but only go 1-2 to keep the Panthers' hopes alive. Burton heaved up another three, but clanked off the rim to preserve the Cardinals' victory.

Next up, Louisville will head back on the road and travel to the Sunshine State for a matchup at Florida State. Tip-off against the Seminoles is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 8 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Roosevelt Wheeler, William Jeffress: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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