Louisville and West Virginia already have checked in with accomplishments in the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Now they’ll try to gain more momentum in Thursday afternoon’s semifinals.
While it’s no surprise that they’re meeting on the tournament’s second day, it wasn’t supposed to be on the winners’ side of the bracket.
Both teams posted upsets Wednesday to improve their records to 4-1 this season. Louisville hammered No. 14 Indiana 89-61, and West Virginia took down No. 3 Gonzaga 86-78 in overtime.
“Obviously, the caliber of teams in this tournament, you can enjoy the win for about one minute and 47 seconds,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “We’ll turn the page to get ready for our next opponent.”
Javon Small’s 31 points propelled West Virginia, which shot 41.3 percent from the field but sank 23 of 26 free throws.
“I thought I had a pretty good game,” Smalls said. “But like I said, the win is more important.”
For the Mountaineers, there was a sense that they hit their stride in clutch moments.
“I thought they were very composed and we had terrific senior leadership from our guys in the huddle,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. “Very poised, confident and matter-of-fact in what we needed to do.”
An area that could be of concern for the Mountaineers is depth, as only three players were used off the bench — and only one of them logged double-digit minutes. So there could be stress after Small, Tucker DeVries and Sencire Harris were on the court for 42 minutes in the opening round.
Louisville, which played in the first game, didn’t have a player log 30 minutes of court time. Much of that came from the lopsided score, with the Cardinals extending a 37-29 halftime lead.
“I’m so proud of our guys, their defensive effort,” Kelsey said. “I just thought they played with such tenacity and grit, so much activity.”
Wednesday’s result was the first time the Cardinals had defeated a ranked opponent since January 2021.
Noah Waterman and Chucky Hepburn each scored 16 points for Louisville, which shot 56.9 percent from the floor.
This is West Virginia’s first visit to the Bahamas for regular-season games. The Mountaineers were supposed to visit the islands in 2020, but that trek was nixed by the COVID pandemic.
–Field Level Media
