Carlik Jones is Louisville’s only hope
Carlik Jones is the glue guy for the Cardinals this season. A flat out embarrassing 85-48 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday was the worst loss in a long time for the Cardinal program. It didn’t even seem like they got off the bus as Wisconsin quickly jumped out to a 25-4 lead in the first ten minutes of the game.
Louisville was 4-0 on the season coming into the game Saturday against Wisconsin but it was obvious from the get-go that they needed Carlik Jones. Averaging 17.3 points, 7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists Jones had been the unquestioned leader for this Cardinals team. The grad transfer from Radford had really stepped up and been a huge addition for Chris Mack this offseason.
Louisville was stuck in pretty much a six-man rotation against Wisconsin with Williamson playing the full 40 minutes. The Cardinals struggled to take care of the basketball and generate much offense without Jones, David Johnson assumed most of the ball-handling duties, he’d turn the ball over seven times adding to the team’s tally, Louisville would finish the game with 18 turnovers.
Louisville will get Carlik Jones back for their game on Tuesday against Pittsburgh, will be interesting to see how opposing teams approach trying to take him out of the game as much as possible. No need to panic with Louisville, expect them to bounceback but it’s become extremely clear just how much value Jones has to the Cardinals.