Livescore
With the end of what’s widely considered the worst year ever for Louisville basketball mercifully approaching, the Cardinals decided to take a trip down a much sunnier memory lane for Saturday’s game against Clemson by honoring their 2012-13 national title team. Louisville had to get creative in doing so because the NCAA vacated that national title in 2018, leading to the unveiling of a banner that drew laughs throughout the college basketball world.
The banner that rose to the KFC Yum! Center rafters read, “Final Coaches Poll #1,” an image confounding on its own but only exacerbated by being sandwiched between banners celebrating the men’s team’s 1986 national title and the women’s team’s 2009 national championship appearance.
Louisville previously had a traditional championship banner, but had to take it down after the NCAA’s 2018 ruling, one stemming from a scandal in which a director of basketball was found to have arranged “striptease dances and sex acts” for Cardinals prospects and student-athletes.
Saturday’s celebration continued at halftime, when Louisville brought out members of the 2013 team — including Peyton Siva, Montrezl Harrell, Luke Hancock and Wayne Blackshear — to pump up the crowd. Siva, who led the team in assists over their national championship-winning campaign, shared a few words.
Louisville’s nostalgic tactics seemed to give the the team the juice they’ve lacked all season, as they pulled off an 83-73 victory to improve to 4-23 under first-year coach Kenny Payne. Next up for the Cardinals is a road matchup against Duke on Monday.
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