Louisville Basketball: 2020-21 keys to victory against Wisconsin Badgers
By Ian Mumm
Louisville Basketball’s first game back on the hardwood is against a tough and experienced Wisconsin squad.
Louisville Basketball is looking to get back on the court for the first time since December 1st against a top-10 Wisconsin team. Louisville has been shut down for the last two weeks, as a result of quarantining. The timing of the shut down was not ideal for head coach Chris Mack’s group, because their on/court performances were beginning to show signs of positive movement towards preseason expectations.
A 1-point win over Seton Hall in the 2nd game of the season was slightly puzzling for a Cardinals team that was touted highly during the preseason with grad transfers Carlik Jones and Charles Minlend joining the fray. Minlend has not been available due to a preseason injury, but the addition of Jones was supposed to create a seamless transition for this year’s group.
After a strong performance against Prairie View A&M, Louisville routed a sneaky Western Kentucky squad, led by NBA hopeful Charles Bassey, by 21. Louisville finally looked collected after that result and poised to carry some momentum into bigger matchups.
Sitting at 4-0, the Cardinals still sits in a good position to make some noise in the ACC following some lackluster performance by conference powers Duke and North Carolina. Louisville comes into their matchup Saturday against the Badgers averaging 77.8 PPG offensively and limiting opponents to 58.0 PPG. On the verge of featuring a top-50 offensive and defensive team, without several of their top pieces, emphasized a very positive outlook for the Cardinals.
Their return to the court against a national top-10 program is a prime opportunity to secure a season-defining win in a year of significant flux. Ahead of this game, I point out several areas that Louisville needs to nail down in this game to pull off a win.