Once again, though, the Cardinals looked better away from home.
Photo by Ryan Hunt/Getty Images
Louisville once again played a competent game away from the KFC Yum Center, and then once again faltered down the stretch on their way to a way 75-68 loss at Virginia Tech in the ACC opener for both teams.
The loss ran Louisville’s road losing streak to 20 games. The Cardinals’ last win on an opponent’s home floor was on Jan. 2, 2022 against Georgia Tech. The head coach for the Yellow Jackets in that game, Josh Pastner, served as the ACC Network analyst for Sunday’s game in Blacksburg.
Skyy Clark led five Cardinal scorers in double figures, netting 16 points while knocking down 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield chipped in 14 points, while Tre White, Mike James and Ty-Laur Johnson each scored 10.
Virginia Tech, which was led by reserve MJ Collins’ 20 points, won despite not making a field goal in the final four minutes and 19 seconds of the game. The Hokies hit 12 free-throws during that stretch to pull away from a Louisville team that couldn’t seem to execute anything in the game’s most crucial moments.
U of L has lost two consecutive conference openers after previously having won nine of their last 10.
Louisville now has the work week off before hitting the road to take on DePaul on Saturday. The Blue Demons are currently 1-6 with four losses against mid/low-major competition.
Game of our lives in six days.
