This was the ACC opener for both the Louisville Cardinals and Wake Forest Demon Deacons, luckily for Louisville they were able to get conference play kicked off at home. Wake came into the game with three losses to their name but have some quality wins as well against Indiana, Arkansas and UCLA. The Cardinals have only lost at Michigan State and at Kentucky, both close losses that gives you a sense this team is very good but has room for improvement to take that next step in becoming an upper echelon team.
Guard Trey Lewis tweaked his ankle during practice this week so Donovan Mitchell got the start tonight and really stepped up for the Cardinals.
Donovan Mitchell Shined Bright Tonight
This game was all about freshman guard Donovan Mitchell. How would he perform in a starting position was a big question coming in. Mitchell would do his best impression of Lewis with a career-high 18 points. If Lewis continues to have ankle problems, the freshman will have no choice but to continue to step up. He’s the most athletic guy on the court who can provide a spark when running the lane. Mitchell was arguably the best player on the court tonight and that’s a good sign for the Cardinals in their ACC opener.
Louisville Won The Battle Of The Big's
Wake’s forward Devin Thomas dominated UofL last season, scoring 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. But Chinanu Onuaku was an absolute monster tonight for the Cardinals. He scored 12 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and blocked four shots. What allowed Onuaku to play aggressive and dominate was his ability to stay out of foul trouble, picking up zero fouls in the first half. Despite that, he did commit four fouls in the second half but it still allowed him to stay on the floor longer than usual. Onuaku gave Thomas a bit of his own medicine from last season and proved that he can be one of the best big men in the ACC if he stays out of foul trouble.
Free Throws Mean Everything
Down the stretch, in a close game, there is nothing more important than free throws. Louisville went 10-of-14 from the line and was able to hit all of their free throws for the most part toward the end of the game, while Wake Forest was an atrocious 3-of-12 from the charity stripe.
In the final three minutes of regulation, Louisville would connect on 7-of-9 free throw attempts while Wake would go 1-for-6. Louisville only led by one with 2:50 remaining, and because of their late game execution they would come away with a 65-57 victory.
Louisville was able to pull through for their first ACC win of the season against a quality Wake Forest team. Donovan Mitchell and Chinanu Onuaku stepped up to lead the Cardinals to victory. They return to action on Thursday at NC State.