Maryland and Louisville are two of the most historically great college basketball programs. Both account for three national titles — four if you include the 2013 National Championship — and over 3,500 wins combined. However, it is no secret both programs in the past few years haven’t been as great as they once were. New chapters were started for both this season, with Kevin Willard leaving Seton Hall for Maryland, and Kenny Payne getting his first head coaching job at Louisville. One chapter has started excellent. The other is a completely different story. Those chapters stayed the same after Maryland beat Louisville 79-54 inside the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday night.
Willard has his new program at a 7-0 record, with two double-digit wins over top 50 KenPom teams, and an average winning margin of 21.9 points per game. This is the first 7-0 start for Maryland in program history and they are now No. 22 in the AP poll. Returning big Donta Scott is averaging 15.9 points per game, and has three teammates alongside him who are each averaging over 13.0 points a game.
As for Louisville’s start, it is the complete opposite from Maryland’s. The Cardinals are 0-7 to start the season, and dating back to last season are on an eight-game losing streak. This is the longest losing streak for Louisville since a 12-game losing streak that ended on Feb. 12, 1941. On Saturday, the Cal Golden Bears became the first Power Five college basketball team to ever start a season 0-7 after losing to Clemson. Louisville unfortunately joined them on Tuesday as the second to ever do it. On the bright side though, at lease they were not the first.
The problems for the Cards just keep adding up game by game. No focus, energy and confidence has plagued the program for a couple of seasons now, dating back to when Chris Mack was still the coach. Fans and media alike thought this attitude would change though with Payne as the coach. It has not though. However, Payne still has confidence in his players and his own abilities to working this out this season. “I’m not in anyway discouraged. Am I hesitant about it? Not at all. Do I feel like we’re not going to get it done? Not at all,” Payne said. “I know I am going to flip this program around.”
Regardless of what happens in the future, as of right now Maryland is the far better team and program. They proved that on Tuesday after their 25-point win over the Cards. Scott led all scorers with 18 points and also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots. Jahmir Young had a nice stat line as well for the Terps with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. El Ellis was the only double-digit scorer for Louisville with 15 points. Ellis is about the only consistent scorer for Louisville as he averages 16.9 points per contest, making him the lone double-digit average scorer.
After the game, during his post-game press conference, Willard was asked about Louisville and the current state of the program. He kept his answer short and not-so-sweet about the subject. “It’s not my issue. I have no comments on it.” His answer might imply some distaste towards the UofL administration after the coaching search back in March. Three days after Payne was announced as the Louisville head coach, Willard was announced as the new head coach at Maryland. Willard was an assistant at Louisville from 2001-2007 under Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino. He was also on Pitino’s staff at the Boston Celtics from 1997-2001.
Maryland looks to improve its 7-0 start and opens conference play on Friday against No. 16 Illinois. Louisville opens conference play as well facing Miami at home on Sunday.
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- Source: https://thegamehaus.com/college-basketball/maryland-crushes-louisville-on-the-road-79-54/2022/12/01/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=maryland-crushes-louisville-on-the-road-79-54
