A comeback for the ages?
It's difficult to say whether the University of Louisville's 71-70 win over Marquette University this morning/afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center ranks as one of the greatest comebacks in college basketball history, but it certainly ranks as the best I've seen in 47 seasons of watching Cardinal basketball.
In case you hadn't heard, U of L trailed 65-47 with 6:28 to play, but outscored Marquette 24-5 the rest of the way. The Cards made nine of their final 11 shots, including Kyle Kuric's game-winning layup off a nifty Preston Knowles pass with four seconds to play.
To me, this compares favorably to the University of Kentucky's 1995 "Mardi Gras Miracle" rally from 31 points down at Louisiana State -- the gold standard in college hoop comebacks. Today's was a U of L home game, but the Cards overcame a comparable deficit in terms of time and score, and I'll place it at No. 1 on my list of U of L's alltime "I believe in the resurrection of the dead" masterpieces.
The rest of my top five, in chronological order:
Dec. 18, 1968: Louisville 67, Memphis State 66 -- This one tastes all the sweeter in retrospect because it came at the expense of the loathsome Tigers in the Missouri Valley Conference opener. Memphis led this one by eight points with 1:30 to go -- and this was almost two decades before the three-point basket, which at the time existed only in the American Basketball Association.
Louisville went on to win a share of the MVC championship that season, losing a playoff game to Drake for the league's NCAA berth.
Feb. 16, 1975: Louisville 75, Saint Louis 68 -- This one stuck in my memory for a number of reasons. First, that day was the first time I remembered a U of L team getting booed off the floor by its own fans. Second, it was one of the rare Cardinal home games at which the U of L pep band did not play. Third, it was my 20th birthday.
The Freedom Hall crowd loudly voiced its severe disappointment as the nationally ranked Cards went to halftime trailing a dreadful Saint Louis team by 17 points. As the story goes, U of L head coach Denny Crum walked into the locker room and said, "OK, who wants to play?" The first five players whose hands went up -- sixth man Stanley Bunton and four rarely used subs -- started the second half.
U of L's starters visibly fumed on the bench as the five scrubs fought valiantly to cut into the Saint Louis lead, but with 12:36 to play, the Cards still trailed 59-36.
Then Crum reinserted his starters -- and the Billikens never knew what hit them. U of L went on a 39-9 tear the rest of the way, and the only reason the Cards won by just seven was the clock running out.
Dec. 20, 2001: Louisville 73, Tennessee 72 -- With 30 seconds left, the Vols led 70-64, but U of L threw in three treys, including Reece Gaines' game-winner at the horn. (No love for Tennessee in this corner, except for the Lady Vols and head coach Pat Summitt. As a general rule, nothing sucks like a Big Orange.)
Feb. 17, 2007: Louisville 61, Marquette 59 -- From my own blog posting about the nearly magical history of the No. 34 jersey at U of L: "Jerry Smith, No. 34, a product of nearby Wauwatosa, WI, capped a furious Louisville rally with a trey from the right wing as the buzzer sounded. Smith's third triple of the game, all in the final three minutes and change, completed the Cards' comeback from a seven-point deficit and handed the 13th-ranked Golden Eagles a stunning 61-59 loss."
What landed this game on my list was its importance. With a loss, U of L might easily have played itself out of the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Cards closed on an uptick and earned an invitation to the Big Dance.
I do not include the original Dream Game, the 1983 Mideast Regional final against Kentucky, on this list. While U of L faced a double-digit deficit in that one, it was in the first half, and the Cards actually surrendered a five-point lead in the last eight minutes of regulation before blitzing the Cats 18-6 in overtime. I rank it as one of college basketball's alltime best games for a host of reasons, but not because of the U of L comeback.
It's difficult to say whether the University of Louisville's 71-70 win over Marquette University this morning/afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center ranks as one of the greatest comebacks in college basketball history, but it certainly ranks as the best I've seen in 47 seasons of watching Cardinal basketball.
In case you hadn't heard, U of L trailed 65-47 with 6:28 to play, but outscored Marquette 24-5 the rest of the way. The Cards made nine of their final 11 shots, including Kyle Kuric's game-winning layup off a nifty Preston Knowles pass with four seconds to play.
To me, this compares favorably to the University of Kentucky's 1995 "Mardi Gras Miracle" rally from 31 points down at Louisiana State -- the gold standard in college hoop comebacks. Today's was a U of L home game, but the Cards overcame a comparable deficit in terms of time and score, and I'll place it at No. 1 on my list of U of L's alltime "I believe in the resurrection of the dead" masterpieces.
The rest of my top five, in chronological order:
Dec. 18, 1968: Louisville 67, Memphis State 66 -- This one tastes all the sweeter in retrospect because it came at the expense of the loathsome Tigers in the Missouri Valley Conference opener. Memphis led this one by eight points with 1:30 to go -- and this was almost two decades before the three-point basket, which at the time existed only in the American Basketball Association.
Louisville went on to win a share of the MVC championship that season, losing a playoff game to Drake for the league's NCAA berth.
Feb. 16, 1975: Louisville 75, Saint Louis 68 -- This one stuck in my memory for a number of reasons. First, that day was the first time I remembered a U of L team getting booed off the floor by its own fans. Second, it was one of the rare Cardinal home games at which the U of L pep band did not play. Third, it was my 20th birthday.
The Freedom Hall crowd loudly voiced its severe disappointment as the nationally ranked Cards went to halftime trailing a dreadful Saint Louis team by 17 points. As the story goes, U of L head coach Denny Crum walked into the locker room and said, "OK, who wants to play?" The first five players whose hands went up -- sixth man Stanley Bunton and four rarely used subs -- started the second half.
U of L's starters visibly fumed on the bench as the five scrubs fought valiantly to cut into the Saint Louis lead, but with 12:36 to play, the Cards still trailed 59-36.
Then Crum reinserted his starters -- and the Billikens never knew what hit them. U of L went on a 39-9 tear the rest of the way, and the only reason the Cards won by just seven was the clock running out.
Dec. 20, 2001: Louisville 73, Tennessee 72 -- With 30 seconds left, the Vols led 70-64, but U of L threw in three treys, including Reece Gaines' game-winner at the horn. (No love for Tennessee in this corner, except for the Lady Vols and head coach Pat Summitt. As a general rule, nothing sucks like a Big Orange.)
Feb. 17, 2007: Louisville 61, Marquette 59 -- From my own blog posting about the nearly magical history of the No. 34 jersey at U of L: "Jerry Smith, No. 34, a product of nearby Wauwatosa, WI, capped a furious Louisville rally with a trey from the right wing as the buzzer sounded. Smith's third triple of the game, all in the final three minutes and change, completed the Cards' comeback from a seven-point deficit and handed the 13th-ranked Golden Eagles a stunning 61-59 loss."
What landed this game on my list was its importance. With a loss, U of L might easily have played itself out of the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Cards closed on an uptick and earned an invitation to the Big Dance.
I do not include the original Dream Game, the 1983 Mideast Regional final against Kentucky, on this list. While U of L faced a double-digit deficit in that one, it was in the first half, and the Cards actually surrendered a five-point lead in the last eight minutes of regulation before blitzing the Cats 18-6 in overtime. I rank it as one of college basketball's alltime best games for a host of reasons, but not because of the U of L comeback.
Labels: basketball, college, Louisville Cardinals
posted by Alan at 1:35 PM
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