National Basketball Association
Louisville 80, Virginia 73
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 8, 2020
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials:
# Keith Kimbell, # John Gaffney, # Bert Smith
Attendance:
19250
By Field Level Media
Jordan Nwora scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, leading No. 5 Louisville to an 80-73 win over visiting Virginia in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
Steven Enoch and Malik Williams each added 13 points for the Cardinals (21-3, 12-1 ACC), who won their 10th straight game and improved to 14-1 at home this season.
Tomas Woldetensae scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Cavaliers (15-7, 7-5), who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Kihei Clark added 23 points and a game-high seven assists.
Nwora, a leading contender for ACC Player of the Year honors, made 7 of 14 shots from the field (4 of 8 from 3-point range) and converted all four of his free throws.
The Cardinals beat Virginia for the first time since March 7, 2015, ending a string of nine straight losses to the Cavaliers. Virginia fell to 3-4 on the road.
The Cavaliers came in with the nation's top scoring defense, allowing just 50.4 points per game. But they nearly gave up that many in the first half.
Louisville shot an incredible 60.0 percent in the first half, including 8 of 15 from 3-point range, to take a 44-30 lead at the break.
Virginia, which shot 52.0 percent, led for just 27 seconds in the first half -- at 4-3 after a Clark layup.
Nwora led all first-half scorers with 15 while Clark had 10.
In the second half, UVA improved its defense, kept making shots and cut its deficit to 66-65 on Woldetensae's 3-pointer with 4:29 left.
Another 3-pointer by Woldetensae tied the score at 68-68 with 3:38 left. After a technical foul on Louisville coach Chris Mack, Virginia took its first lead of the second half 13 seconds later on two Clark free throws.
But Louisville responded with a 6-0 run to hold off the Cavaliers.
For the game, Louisville shot 51.0 percent, including 40.9 percent (9 of 22) from deep. Virginia shot 53.1 percent, including 11 of 22 from behind the arc.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Virginia |
|
Louisville |
|
Thomas Woldetensae 27 |
Scoring |
Jordan Nwora 22 |
|
Kihei Clark 7 |
Assists |
David Johnson 5 |
|
Kihei Clark 5 |
Rebounds |
Jordan Nwora 7 |
|
Mamadi Diakite 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Malik Williams 7 |
|
Kihei Clark 2 |
Steals |
David Johnson 1 |
|
Jay Huff 3 |
Blocks |
Dwayne Sutton 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Virginia
|
73 |
53.1 |
11-22 |
10-14 |
14 |
19 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
| Louisville
|
80 |
51.0 |
9-22 |
21-24 |
9 |
29 |
1 |
3 |
5 |