Louisville Falls Behind Big Early, Destroyed by Virginia

The Cardinals are also now on their longest losing streak on the season.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Virginia for their first ACC rematch of the season, the Louisville men's basketball program faired about as well as they did in the first matchup between the two teams, suffering a blowout 69-52 loss Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals' (6-14, 1-8 ACC) losing streak now sits at five-in-a-row, their longest of the season, and they have lost 11 of their last 13 contests since opening up the season at 4-3. They also drop their ninth straight matchup against the Cavaliers (15-5, 6-3 ACC), and are now 2-18 against UVA since joining the ACC in 2014.

Much like the first showdown, Louisville struggled immensely with Virginia's tried and true pack line defense. The Cardinals shot just 35.7 percent from the floor and 3-of-11 on three-point attempts, and committed 18 turnovers to only five assists

The Cavaliers, once again, took advantage of UofL's issues on the defensive end of the floor. UVA shot an even 50.0 percent overall plus an 8-of-17 showing on threes, scored 24 points of turnovers, and assisted on 18 of their 27 made shots while turning it over just 11 times themselves.

About the only area where Louisville performed much better than Virginia was at the free throw line. The Cards went 19-of-24 from the charity stripe, while the Cave were 7-of-10.

Tre White was the only Cardinal to crack double figures in scoring, logging 10 points. Him and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield were the only Louisville players to hit three or more field goals, with the duo combining to go 6-of-14 from the field while the rest of the team went 9-of-28. Virginia's Ryan Dunn led all scorers with 19.

The tone for the afternoon was set right out of the gates. Louisville didn't score until the 14:15 mark of the first half, and missed their first five field goals of the game, not connecting on one until the 12:46 mark. Meanwhile, Virginia connected on their first five shots to score the first 11 points of the game.

The highlight of the first half was a 7-3 run from the Cardinals where they hit back-to-back field goals and forced five straight Cavaliers misses, but then things immediately started going downhill again.

Louisville missed 11 of their final 13 shots of the half, while Virginia hit 11 of their final 18 shots of the period to take a 41-13 lead into halftime. It marked the program's largest halftime deficit since it trailed by 32 to Bradley on Dec. 10, 1938, and the third-largest halftime deficit in program history.

The Cardinals were able to shoot at a much higher mark in the second, connecting on 50.0 percent of their attempts after halftime and even firing off an 11-0 run at one point, but it was not nearly enough to mount a comeback. The Cavaliers still shot 42.3 percent themselves during the period, and led by as much as 30.

Next up, Louisville will head back on the road for a matchup at Clemson. Tip-off against the Tigers is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Tre White, Andrew Rohde: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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