It wasn't anything close to pretty. It was a bad performance all around. Somehow, Louisville fought off a 10-0 Georgia Tech run deep into the second half to extend the winning streak to five.
On top of fighting off a 10-0 Georgia Tech run, Louisville was held without a field goal over the final 5:15 of the game. Chris Mack turned to a pair of his newcomers, calling on David Johnson and Samuell Williamson to play in key possessions with just minutes to go. The bigger story is that Mack sat down Jordan Nwora.
Nwora's struggles continued tonight, as he went 3-of-11 from the field, and wasn't great defensively, either. Mack had seen enough and went with Williamson over Nwora as the game tightened up.
Takeaways:
Williamson looks more comfortable
Williamson has looked more comfortable over the last two games, and Chris Mack has given him more minutes. Williamson had a flurry of nice possessions, knocking down a three-pointer, grabbing an offensive rebound, and tipping the ball out, leading to another Louisville possession.
Johnson shines again
Johnson, the other newcomer, saw his minutes reduced due to foul trouble. In the 15 minutes Johnson played, he was extremely productive. Johnson finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and has shown the ability to get into the paint, and finish at the rim consistently. The freshman is emerging, and Mack had confidence to go to Johnson with the game on the line. When does he crack the starting lineup?
Malik Williams comes up big
Malik Williams has strung together a handful of nice performances, and tonight, Louisville relied on him during the 15-2 run that was used to pull ahead. The effort Williams brings is contagious, on both ends of the floor. Williams finished with 13 points, and made some clutch free-throws to ice the game.
Final Stats:
- Louisville won with Nwora having an off night, and with Sutton providing practically nothing on offense.
- Ryan McMahon gave Louisville solid minutes, and ended up with the highest +/- on the team (+11).
- Louisville outscored Georgia Tech 32-0 in bench points.
Deep breaths. It was ugly. Fans will groan about the performance. But, Louisville won. Head over to The Collision Course to talk it out.
