No. 20 Louisville is on a two-game losing streak and has struggled defensively in Atlantic Coast Conference play, but that may change on Saturday when it hosts Boston College.
The Eagles, after all, are one of the worst shooting teams in college basketball.
The Cardinals (11-4, 1-2) lost to Stanford 80-76 last Friday and then fell to Duke 84-73 on Tuesday. They have been without talented point guard Mikel Brown Jr. for five games due to a lower-back injury. Brown’s 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per game have proven difficult to replace, but it is defense that concerns Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey.
“I’m very, very disappointed with our performance in the second half,” Kelsey said after the loss to the Blue Devils. “They shot 70 percent from the field and everything was at the rim.”
Duke did shoot 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) in rallying from a 47-38 deficit to best Louisville. The Blue Devils won the battle of points in the paint 40-26 to speak to Kelsey’s point.
After a second straight game of allowing 80 points and taking a loss, Kelsey sees significance in the next battle.
“I really think this is a crucial, crucial point of our season,” Kelsey said. “It’s as much adversity as we faced since we came together on June 5.”
Ryan Conwell figures to help out. He had 24 points on 8-for-19 shooting, including 4-for-11 from 3-point range, in the Duke loss and is averaging 19.9 points per game for the Cardinals.
Reserve forward Aly Khalifa scored 17 points in 20 minutes against Duke, connecting on 5-for-5 3-point shooting.
Asked about Brown after the Duke game, Kelsey stated, “Mike’s dying to be out there. He’s working his absolute tail off in rehab. We’re hoping sooner than later, he’ll be out there.”
Regardless of Brown’s status, Louisville’s defense could get a break against Boston College.
The Eagles (7-8, 0-2) are shooting just 40 percent from the field on the season, 351st in Division I rankings. Their 28.9 percent 3-point touch ranks 348th, and BC averages 69.5 points per game (320th).
Boston College played one of its better offensive games in a 79-71 loss to North Carolina State on Tuesday. The Eagles shot a season-best 51.1 percent (23-for-45) from the field, and a 9-for-18 performance from 3-point range (50 percent) also was a season best for accuracy.
Boston College was paced by 24 points on 7-for-13 shooting from Fred Payne, nearly double his average of 13.2 points per game. Top scorer Donald Hand contributed 14 points but did have six of BC’s 16 turnovers in the game.
Of even more concern, Boston College saw NC State shoot 13-for-22 from 3-point range (59.1 percent) and make an eight-point halftime lead hold up.
“We’ve got to keep working,” said Eagles coach Earl Grant. “Try to figure out how to take an offensive performance like tonight, match it with the defense we are capable of playing, and continue to push forward.”
The Eagles started center Boden Kapke for the first time all year in the NC State loss. Kapke had eight points and six rebounds in the defeat.
