Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Canes surrender 14-point lead to Cardinals in the second half
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Quentin Snider was especially eager to contribute for No. 4 Louisville after missing six games with a hip injury. Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang were just happy to still be around after each was suspended for a game for missing curfew.
All three needed time to make their impact in a stunning comeback that required everybody to make the Cardinals feel normal again.
Snider returned after nearly a month away to score 13 points, including a big 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining, and Adel and Donovan Mitchell added 18 points each as Louisville rallied past Miami 71-66 on Saturday.
Despite being outscored 34-18 in the paint and shooting just 39 percent, the Cardinals (20-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) fought back from a 14-point first-half deficit and finally drew even on Mitchell’s 3 with 6:12 left, part of a 13-0 run for a 61-53 lead. Louisville’s surge included Adel’s four-point play.
Miami rallied to tie it at 61 with 1:56 left, before Snider made two free throws and then the long 3 from the left side of the arc as he returned from a sixgame absence with a hip injury. Mitchell followed with three free throws before Jaylen Johnson made two with 5 seconds left to seal the hard-fought victory.
“They were the better basketball team tonight,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said of the Hurricanes. “But we showed incredible character to win this game and I’m real, real proud of that. We didn’t shoot well; we didn’t pass well. But then, when the game was on the line, we did all of the above.”
The Cardinals were obviously elated to win a wild, tense game in which a spectator stormed the court and got near Miami’s huddle during a first-half timeout. Most satisfied was Snider, the junior point guard who watched Louisville go 4-2 without him as he recovered from a strained hip flexor.
Especially after scoring his biggest points when Louisville really needed them.
“I just stepped in on the line and [Adel] made a great pass,” Snider said of his 3, “and I just stepped up and made the shot.”
Ja’Quan Newton had 15 points and Bruce Brown added 10 for the Hurricanes (16-8, 6-6), who had won four of five.
Miami hosts Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.