Virginia set to face Louisville in the second round of the ACC Tournament

With the Louisville Cardinals taking care of business against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 84-74, the Virginia Cavaliers will now play Louisville for the second straight contest as the two meet Wednesday night at 9:30 PM.

While Louisville was leading by 27 points with just under 12 minutes remaining, the Yellow Jackets went on a 27-6 run in over nine minutes of gameplay to make Cardinals fans everywhere nervous. Nevertheless, impressive shot-making from Jarrod West and Noah Locke carried them over the top while the team had five different players in double figures,

Fortunately for Virginia, Georgia Tech’s late run meant that Louisville doesn’t get to simply roll into tomorrow night’s contest fully rested but actually had to close the game out down the stretch.

This will be the third meeting between these two squads this season. In the first matchup back on January 24th in Charlottesville, the ‘Hoos took care of business with a 64-52 win behind 15 points from Kihei Clark and 14 from Jayden Gardner while Reece Beekman had a comical two point, seven rebound, 11 assist outing.

Then, last Saturday, Tony Bennett’s squad took a trip to its home away from home — the KFC Yum! Center — and used a 36-9 first half run to build what was an unassailable lead. Kadin Shedrick had 20 points while Reece Beekman displayed his all-around abilities to score 15, grab 12 rebounds, dish five assists, and nab five steals.

UVA has had tremendous success against Louisville since the Cardinals joined the ACC. In fact, the ‘Hoos are 13-2 against Louisville since 2014 and 9-1 since 2018.

Louisville has struggled immensely this season. Head Coach Chris Mack was fired back on January 26th while the Cardinals have won just three games in their last 17 contests dating back to January 8th. With the season and a potential NCAA Tournament bid on the line, it’s do or die time for Virginia.