Calvin Clemmons slams a dunk through the basket during the first half. |
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Men's Basketball Falls In Regular Season Finale, 100-59
March 8, 2003
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - No. 15 Louisville didn't need Marvin Stone against Charlotte on Saturday night.
The 6-foot-10 senior center - Louisville's second-leading scorer and rebounder - was benched by the school for the second time in three games as the NCAA continued looking into his amateur status.
Without him, the Cardinals came up with one of their best performances of the season, routing the 49ers 100-59.
"I haven't seen us play with that much energy and heart in a long time," said Reece Gaines, one of four Louisville seniors playing their last regular-season home games.
The Cardinals are the No. 3 seed and will have a first-round bye in the Conference USA tournament, which begins Wednesday in Louisville.
"Our chances are good," said Gaines. "Hopefully, a lot of our bad luck is out of the way."
Luke Whitehead had 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Gaines scored 13. Kendall Dartez added a career-high 16 points for Louisville (21-6, 11-5), which won for only the third in eight games since the end of a 17-game winning streak.
"Everything was clicking. It was an incredible feeling," Whitehead said.
Demon Brown scored 12 points for Charlotte (13-15, 8-8), which lost for just the third time in eight games. The 49ers suffered their most lopsided defeat in coach Bobby Lutz's five seasons.
Charlotte is the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament and will play ninth-seeded UAB on Wednesday night.
"That was an awesome performance by Louisville," Lutz said. "There's not a whole lot to say about it. We weren't very good and now we just have to get ready for Wednesday night."
Louisville coach Rick Pitino has turned to a more guard-oriented motion offense in recent games to make up for the absence of Stone and leading rebounder Ellis Myles, who's out for the season with a knee injury.
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It worked perfectly against Charlotte.
The Cardinals hit 11 of their first 21 shots - and five of their first nine from 3-point range - to build a 32-24 lead in the opening 12 minutes.
Louisville was outrebounded by 20 in a 79-76 loss at DePaul on Wednesday, but the Cardinals grabbed 12 of the first 18 boards against the 49ers, who are ninth in the league in rebound margin.
"Tonight, we showed if you have a positive attitude, you can do anything," Whitehead said.
The 6-foot-7 Whitehead, pressed into the starting lineup because of Myles' absence, scored on an offensive putback with 7:44 left in the first half to put Louisville up 34-24, its first double-digit lead of the game.
Louisville finished the half with a 10-4 run, holding Charlotte without a field goal for nearly five minutes before Mitchell Baldwin's layup just before the buzzer.
The Cardinals dominated from there, starting the second half 8-for-11 from the field while holding Charlotte to a 5-for-15 start.
The lead was 27 when Gaines drew the loudest cheer of the game with a blind, over-the-head pass to Alhaji Mohammed for a fast-break layup.
Otis George, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, banked in a shot from the top of the key a minute later for an 81-48 lead. Pitino shook his head and cracked a smile after the basket.
"We're very excited with the way we played tonight," Pitino said. "21-6 is an unbelievable season. Things have to fall in our laps to win. Tonight, we made things fall into our laps."
Gaines, who reached fourth on Louisville's all-time scoring list last week, left the game with 3:13 left to a standing ovation. He embraced Pitino and many of his teammates before hugging Stone, who sat at the end of the bench in black warm-ups.
The Cardinals shot a season-high 59 percent (38-of-65) and went 13-of-25 from 3-point range (52 percent). Louisville also matched a season low with eight turnovers.
The Cardinals outrebounded Charlotte 37-30, only the second time in seven games they've had a positive margin on the boards.
"If you don't rebound, you don't win," Pitino said.
The NCAA has given Louisville no indication about when its investigation of Stone would end.
Pitino said he expected Stone would return for the conference tournament.
"Our journey is just starting," Pitino said. "We're going to be in the NCAA tournament. Before the season, I didn't believe we'd be in the tournament."
