Well, that was a beating.
St. John's (11-6, 4-3 Big East) came out decently, snagging some offensive boards and drawing some fouls - playing with their own level of chaos. And then the Louisville Cardinals (15-3, 4-1) got their run on. There was an 18-2 run that featured a whole lot of Kyle Kuric's sweet shooting and Peyton Siva and his ballhandling.
The Red Storm looked buried, and buried deep. The Cardinals called off the dogs at the end of the first half, allowing the Johnnies to sneak close. That's good; according to John Gasaway, the Cards shot an effective field goal percentage of over 75% in that first half.
It was 44-31. And the wheels came flying off after about a minute or two of a tenacious Red Storm attack in the second. That was a lot of garbage time; the Cardinals started off with energy, turning over the Red Storm early and often. There were alley-oops (to Siva!), bad turnovers, slippery hands, more open shots for the Cardinals, more Preston Knowles...
While I thought the game would be closer, this isn't a game I expected to see a W next to. Dwight Hardy got injured in the second half, but should be okay - looks like he turned an ankle. The ball protection was terrible - Sean Evans, in garbage time, didn't make his case for more playing time, but point guard Malik Boothe wasn't great at keeping things secure. And boy, did St. John's get their #$%^ blocked by Gorgui Dieng often.
Interesting to NOT see Dwayne Polee II, even in garbage time - he only had 3 minutes of playing time. The only player who looked intriguing was probably Malik Stith (13 points, 2 steals, only 1 turnover), who kept battling, playing strong, and took a steal right from the hands of a Cardinal player.
More postgame notes in the morning, but for now, let's put this one to bed and read a book or something. St. John's was led with 13 points from Paris Horne which included a filthy dunk early in the second half. St. John's turned the ball over on over 30% of their possessions... that, my friends, is a problem. More tomorrow.