The non-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies traveled on the Lords day to take on the 11 ranked Louisville Cardinals. To put this bluntly, both teams did not get off to great starts, combining 0-8 from three before the Cardinals took a 5-2 lead 6 minutes into the game. Jalen Cone got the Hokies their first lead with his first three of the game 7 minutes into the game to get up 7-5. With 10 minutes gone in the first half, the Hokies had a 12-9 surprising lead with a nice dish from Nolley to Ojiako. The Cardinals said ‘NOT UP IN HERE’ and tied the game almost immediately with a three, 12-12. Louisville and Virginia Tech exchanged buckets back and forth, along with the lead going back and forth. The left handed assassin, Nahiem Alleyne decided to take over and make two threes within one minute to get he Hokies up to their biggest lead of the night, 20-16. Louisville utilized their size to get a bucket in the paint to get 20-18. Nahiem Alleyne wasn’t having any of it; comes down and hits another three to go up 23-18. The Cardinals were able to regain the lead by scoring 8 points off Hokie turnovers in the first half to go up 24-23 with less than 3 minutes to go. Virginia Tech rushed their offensive plays and missed a few opportunities, but to be tied at half time at 27-27 is something you would want going into the state of Kentucky. Both teams shot 40+% from the field in the first half, while the Hokies shot 33.3% from 3 while the Cardinals shot 20%.

Before the second half starts and I begin recapping that; did anybody else have questions about the Louisville mascot at half court? When did their bird learn how to tie shoes, let alone afford Adidas. His jersey was a football jersey, not even a basketball one. I was all kinds of confused. Now, back to the game.

Both teams missed their first shots to kick off the second half, but the Hokies took a lead 29-27 a little Tyrece Radford jump shot. When the Hokes move the ball around, they get opportunities for threes and BAH GAHD, THAT’S NAHIEM ALLEYNES MUSIC AGAIN AS HE BURIED ANOTHER THREE to get the Hokies up 32-29. Jordan Nwora tied the game with a free throw at 32-32 to get 1000 points for his Louisville career. As the Hokies went cold, Louisville got hot, making back to back field goals to take a four point lead, 38-34 with 14 minutes to go. The Hokies did not call a time out after a 9-0 run and Louisville just continued their flurry of domination in the second half getting up 10, 44-34. I’m not sure the Hokies even stood a chance once the cameras panned over to the Louisville fan with the WWE championship belt. The Hokies tried to inch closer, and hit a big three to get within with at 39-47, but the Cardinals would just come down and hit an easy two to get back up 10 with a little over ten minutes to go. Nolley, shooting 2-8 with 7 minutes to go, could not get it going tonight, and has been in a long slump for a while now. The aggressiveness is there, but his shot has not. Louisville continued to lay down the hammer and looked to cover that 12 point spread. Jalen Cone had an opportunity for a four point play, but missed the free throw. After that, the game got out of hand as Louisville took control, made multiple shots and thunderous dunks. On Senior Night, the Cardinals celebrated, defeating the Hokies, 68-52.