The No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers (18-5, 8-3 ACC) suffocated the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals (19-5, 7-4) in the second half to earn a 71-55 home victory Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
London Perrantes led Virginia with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Isaiah Wilkins posted a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Beyond V.J. King, Louisville struggled offensively. The freshman forward scored 24 points while accounting for 40 percent of the Cardinals' 20 made field goals.
As a team, Louisville shot 37 percent from the floor, and Virginia held the Cardinals to 6-of-24 shooting in the second half.
Many expected points to come at a premium. Virginia entered Monday allowing the fewest points per game in the nation (54.0), while Louisville's 62.3 points allowed per contest ranked 12th. The Cavaliers and Cardinals ranked third and first, respectively, in adjusted defense, per KenPom.com.
Louisville was also playing short-handed. ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman reported head coach Rick Pitino suspended Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang for breaking the team's curfew Saturday night. The Cardinals were already without Quentin Snider, who suffered a hip injury in January, leaving them without three of their top five scorers.
Considering the personnel losses, Howie Lindsey of 790 KRD in Louisville was surprised to see the Cardinals jump out to an early lead:
Louisville took a slim 34-32 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Cardinals played an excellent first half. They shot 14-of-30 from the field, including 4-of-11 from three-point range. They also turned the ball over only three times.
The Courier-Journal's Jeff Greer made an important note, given the team's depleted ranks:
Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde praised King, whose 12 first-half points led the Cardinals:
Things quickly took a turn for the worse for Louisville. Virginia scored the first seven points of the second half to go ahead 39-34, and the Cavaliers didn't look back from there.
They went on a 22-5 run during the first 9:25 of the half, increasing their advantage to 15 points.
CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein enjoyed watching Virginia take control of the game at both ends of the floor:
ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello was surprised by how easily points were coming inside for the Cavaliers:
Overcoming a 15-point deficit would've been hard enough for Louisville at full strength. With only seven scholarship players available, the Cardinals stood little chance at mounting a comeback.
ESPN 680 Louisville's Jason Anderson wondered how Adel and Mathiang felt watching the game at home:
Virginia's win extended head coach Tony Bennett's head-to-head edge over Pitino. According to Jerry Ratcliffe of the Daily Progress, the Cavaliers are 5-1 against Louisville since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014.
Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis tweeted about Bennett again getting the better of his coaching counterpart:
Beating the fourth-ranked team in the country is a nice win no matter the circumstances. The Cardinals' injuries and suspensions do, however, blunt the impact of Virginia's victory. The Cavaliers caught Louisville at the right time, and a defeat at home would've been a disappointment.
Virginia will hit the road to face Virginia Tech on Sunday before playing 18th-ranked Duke and eighth-ranked North Carolina in back-to-back games. Beating the first-place Tar Heels, in particular, will be important for the Cavaliers to keep their regular-season ACC title hopes alive.
Louisville will welcome Miami into the KFC Yum! Center for its next game Saturday before going to the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse next Monday.
Assuming Adel and Mathiang are back from suspension, the Cardinals should be able to bounce back from Monday's defeat.
Postgame Reaction
"Second half, we couldn't make shots," Pitino said after the game, per Greer. "But they tried their best. When we're at full strength, we're a pretty good basketball team."
According to Eric Crawford of WDRB in Louisville, the Cardinals coach ended his press conference after being asked a question about Mathiang.
"I don't—don't mention his name to me," Pitino said of the senior forward. "That's all I've got. Thank you."
Perrantes said Bennett used his halftime talk to snap Virginia out of its early funk, per Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Coach Bennett got us fired up at halftime. He seems to be good at that of late."