Louisville advances to Atlantis final with OT win over West Virginia

The Cardiac Cards are back.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Thanks to an 11-point second half comeback and a clutch overtime period, the Louisville men’s basketball team will play for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament championship on Friday.

The Cards overcame a sluggish start and some poor outside shooting thanks primarily to the play of point guard Chucky Hepburn. The Wisconsin transfer was sensational for a second straight day, pouring in a career-high 32 points and making six steals to bring his tournament total to 13. Hepburn drew 13 fouls from West Virginia players, helping him get to the line for 17 free-throws, where he converted 14.

Hepburn’s heroics allowed U of L to advance to the Atlantis title game despite shooting just 7-of-28 (25%) from three and allowing West Virginia point guard Javon Small to go off for 26 points and seven assists.

The game was played and called like an old Big East tussle between the former conference rivals, at least for the opening half. Both teams struggled to find their footing and adjust to the extremely loose whistle, as West Virginia carried a 28-24 advantage with them into the locker room at halftime.

The second half saw more shots falling and more whistles blown, as the two sides exchanged haymakers and runs on their way to an even opening 40 minutes.

Louisville never trailed in overtime, as Reyne Smith got things started with three-pointer off of an offensive rebound by Kasean Pryor. Hepburn then scored the team’s next six points, the first three coming off an and-1 drive and score. A steal and a layup by Pryor then set the stage for Hepburn to salt away the game at the free-throw line.

Smith hit four threes for a second straight day and finished with 15 points. Pryor chipped in 13 while adding eight huge rebounds and three equally important blocks. Terrence Edwards also had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Louisville, which has now advanced to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game in each of its three appearances in the tournament, will face either Arizona or Oklahoma for the title Friday night at 5:30 p.m.

I don’t need to tell you how fun this has been, because I’ve heard the same thing from about a thousand different people at this point. All the old feelings, all the old emotions; they’ve all come flooding back for all of us over the last 24 hours and it’s felt incredible.

Let’s win the whole fucking thing.