Louisville holds Savannah State to 7 First Half Points in 87-26 Rout
The No. 6 ranked Louisville Cardinals hosted Savannah State on Monday night. Savannah State committed numerous turnovers and missed shot after shot that it was not a question of when Savannah State would score it was a question of if the Tigers would actually score.
Savannah State eventually scored, though they did it quite infrequently throughout the entire game.
The Cardinals were led by Montrezl Harrell with 15 points and 9 boards and Louisville started the game with a run of 29-0 through nearly the first 16 minutes of the first half. Louisville eventually led at half 41-7 and won the game by 61 points 87-26.
Things were so bad on the night for Savannah State that Rick Pitino the Louisville coach felt sorry for the team.
Pitino said after the game that he felt his zone defense played well and their opponent just had a bad shooting night. Bad is not how to describe it, more like atrocious, hitting just 10 of 51 shots and committing 26 turnovers.
Louisville had a great deal to do with Savannah State’s misfortune. It looked for a while as if it might be a shutout in the first half. That has not occurred since 1979 when Duke was leading 7-0 at halftime against North Carolina, and no that was not on the football field.
Louisville’s defense forced the Tigers into a 0 for 23 shooting drought to open the game.
At halftime, Louisville led by 34 points and held the Tigers to just 2 baskets on 26 shots.
The 26 points by Savannah State was the fewest Louisville has allowed since February of 1947 when they defeated Georgetown College 20-13.
The rout by Louisville marked a big setback for Savannah State, who came into the game on a winning streak of two games and intent on stifling the Louisville offense with a trap defense.
Instead, it was Savannah State on the receiving end of great defense as Louisville, trapped, pressed and cut off the inside with six blocked shots and 16 forced turnovers in just the first half.
In their defense, Savannah State started two sophomores and two freshmen.
Things are not going to get much easier for Savannah State going forward. In non-conference action, the Tigers play Indiana, Miami, Kansas State and LSU.
Pitino said he would not show nor allow the team to watch video of the game, as he wants them to stay grounded for Louisville’s game against Cleveland State on Wednesday.
The largest victory margin by Louisville is 72 points in 1944 against Georgetown College by the score of 99-27.
Pitino and the Cardinals must leave the rout behind them and focus on its next opponent Cleveland State.
The Cardinals are 4-0 to start the season and were voted No. 6 in the latest top 25 rankings released on Monday.
