Perimeter shooting woes plague Louisville against Georgia Tech
Louisville men’s basketball had its second worst offensive performance of season against Georgia Tech, shooting 34.8% from the field in a 64-58 loss in Atlanta Feb. 12. The Cardinals went 3 of 24 on shots behind the arc as their 10-game winning streak ended to a team they beat in January.
Louisville’s 58 points were its second-lowest scoring output this season. Despite the poor shooting performance, Louisville coach Chris Mack said his team is going to continue to take perimeter shots.
“We missed a lot of open shots that our team has made,” Mack said. “I don’t know if game pressure effected it. The looks that we generated, whether it was in transition or whether it was in the half court was primarily for guys that we want shooting the ball.”
The Cardinals are eighth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 39.1% and have made nine or more three-pointers in 15 games this season. Louisville could never get going from the perimeter, and the team’s top two three-pointer shooters, Jordan Nwora and Ryan McMahon, combined to go 1 of 12 from behind the arc.
Perimeter shooting woes wasn’t the only thing that plagued Louisville. Georgia Tech started the game on a 12-2 run and the Cardinals finished with 16 turnovers.
“Three-point shooting didn’t cost us the game, we still had a chance to win regardless of how abysmal we shot the ball,” Mack said. “I don’t think we will shoot that poorly in any other game, but if we do, we have to figure out a way to win the game despite that.”
Mack said his team was good defensively against Georgia Tech, but couldn’t find a scorer with any combination on the floor.
