UVA vs. Louisville: Score and Reaction from 2016-17 Regular Season

Wednesday's purported clash of ACC titans proved to be anything but, as No. 12 Virginia put together a two-way virtuoso performance on its way to a 61-53 romp over sixth-ranked Louisville. 

The Cavaliers led by as many as 21 points and never trailed after opening the game on a 12-2 run. 

Devon Hall led the way with 10 points, but it was an overall team effort. Virginia shot 49 percent from the floor and had seven players with at least six points. Leading scorer London Perrantes overcame a 2-of-10 shooting night to finish with nine points and seven assists, and the Cavaliers bench scored 29 points in a dominant effort.

Jerry Ratcliffe of the Daily Progress was impressed with their unselfishness:

Louisville looked more like a Top 10 team in the second half but suffered through a miserable first 20 minutes. The Cardinals put up just 21 points in the first half, clanging shots, coughing up turnovers and folding to Virginia's defensive pressure. Their pressure defense did little to stop Virginia's ball movement, as the Cavs poked and prodded their way to good shots near the basket.

Louisville finished shooting 43.2 percent from the field—a fine mark against Virginia—but couldn't overcome the foibles of its first 30 minutes of futility. Nick Burch of 93.9 The Ville seems to think it's a schematic problem for coach Rick Pitino:

The Cardinals did find a way to make things respectable down the stretch, bringing Virginia's lead down to as few as eight points. Virginia went on a seven-minute field-goal drought after a Mamadi Diakite dunk put the Cavs ahead 56-35, making only a single free throw as Louisville went on a 13-1 run. The Cavaliers made only three shots outside the paint in the second half and one field goal overall in the final 9:08.

The Cardinals' offensive effort was led by Deng Adel, Quentin Snider and Tony Hicks, who finished with eight points apiece. Jaylen Johnson was the only starter who made half of his shots. The unit shot 10-of-29 from the field overall. 

Leading scorer Snider shot just five times in an eight-point effort. Two days removed from being named conference player of the week, Snider looked far more timid than in his breakout performance against Kentucky a week ago. Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal noted Snider was still playing hard despite his poor numbers:

Adel needed nine shots to make his eight points, missing all four of his shots from beyond the arc. Donovan Mitchell shot a team-high 11 times but made just three, including a 1-of-6 mark from three-point range, as part of a seven-point night. Louisville assisted on just seven of its 19 field goals, shot 59.1 percent from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 14 times.

Mark Ennis of the Card Chronicle highlighted Louisville's difficult schedule:

"

Is it possible for a team to get greater opponent style whiplash than playing Kentucky, UVA, and Indiana in succession?

— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) December 29, 2016"

The Cardinals will have to pick themselves up quickly, as they'll play 16th-ranked Indiana on New Year's Eve. The Hoosiers have been one of the nation's most wildly inconsistent teams, picking up wins over Kansas and North Carolina while also losing to Fort Wayne and Nebraska. There is really no telling what version of the team will show up to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the neutral-court clash.

Virginia is also in action on New Year's Eve, hosting 20th-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles defeated Wake Forest in their ACC opener.

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Post-Game Reaction

Rick Pitino told reporters he was frustrated with his team after the game: "We just don’t play well against them. It takes two skills to play well against Virginia. It takes really good passing and we were very careless. And it takes very good shooting and we didn’t have either tonight. We had zero assists at halftime, shooting air balls and passing up open shots. We missed too many free throws, didn’t pass the ball well enough and didn’t get to the floor for loose basketballs.”

Pitino complimented the Virginia defense: “You’ve got to pass the ball right away to the other big and then the guy has to roll and create movement. Their the best defensive team in the country. They do that to almost every opponent they play against. But you have to shoot it to be able to beat Virginia. If you don’t shoot it you have to be just as good defensively and we’re not. Not this team.”

He was also annoyed with his team's poor practice habits: “We had two of the worst practices coming off the Christmas break we’ve had all year and we weren’t prepared to play defense like we normally are capable playing. Not that we’re a great defensive team, we don’t force the turnovers that we need to force and we don’t get the deflections.”

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.