Louisville rolls over Iona to get fourth straight win
It was student squaring off against teacher on this afternoon in Freedom Hall. Memo from Rick Pitino to Kevin Willard: class is in session. Advantage teacher in this one.
Louisville held Iona to only 36 points on a brutal 19 percent shooting from the field, as the Cardinals breezed by the Gaels 67-36. Iona’s 36 points were the fewest surrendered by the Cardinals this year and the fewest scored by an opponent in 26 years.
Terrence Williams poured in a season best 22 points and Derrick Caracter added 13 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Cardinals attack. Louisville used multiple defense looks, from man-to-man to zone to using their trademark style press. Whatever defense looks Louisville threw at Iona, everything seemed to work, as Iona’s offense was smothered and looked extremely out of sync for a team that entered the contest shooting 49 percent from the field.
Kevin Willard, who worked as an assistant coach under Pitino for the last six seasons, witnessed his team suffer through a long scoring drought, going eight minutes without scoring a basket from the field. Offensively nothing worked for Iona and defensively Louisville flexed their muscles and proved to be too much for the visiting Gaels.
The Cardinals get the victory, their fourth straight, and improve to 9-3, while they also get some more good news concerning injured center David Padgett.
The senior could see action sooner than expected. Out since Nov. 18th with a fracture kneecap, there’s a good chance Padgett will play on New Year’s Day when Louisville opens up Big East play against Cincinnati. Padgett’s return against the Bearcats would be a few games ahead of schedule, as he was expected back on Jan. 10th against West Virginia. If Padgett returns on Tuesday, it will be the first time this season Louisville would field a completely healthy roster.
Tags: Big East Basketball, Iona Gaels, louisville cardinals, NCAA Men's basketball