Full-strength Louisville sputters, then looks like title contender in Snider's return

The moment Louisville fans had been waiting for finally arrived midway through the second half. They had waited for almost a month as Quentin Snider recovered from a hip injury; they then waited for over an hour more as their Cardinals labored through a disappointing first half, and to an early 14-point deficit against unranked Miami on Saturday.

Their noise level — eerily low for the entire first half — reflected the surprise of the extended wait. It most often resembled a concerned murmur. Even with the home team down just seven with under 13 minutes to play, the reaction to a Miami turnover was casual and muffled.

Then Snider slid to the left wing, and the moment arrived. His triple was true. The Yum! Center rose. And although it would be forced to sink back into its collective seat by the two timeouts within a minute that followed, it was right back on its feet one possession later. Snider drilled another 3-pointer to cut Miami’s lead to one. His offense led a second-half comeback, and helped Louisville to a 71-66 win in its first game near full strength since Jan. 14.

With the announcement of Snider’s return came the return of the Louisville we have come to know and love. Its defense, even if only momentarily, became the top-ranked unit we know it can be. It held the Hurricanes without a single point over a five-plus-minute second-half stretch that nearly leveled the score. And after the visitors resisted Louisville’s ascendance, other Cardinals joined Snider in pushing the nation’s No. 4 team over the top.

Donovan Mitchell brought the crowd to its feet once again with a pull-up 3, and this time, he and his teammates wouldn’t let red-clad fans sit down. Mangok Mathiang towered above Miami’s front line for a rebound. Deng Adel rattled in a 3 through contact, and completed the four-point play. Then Mitchell zoomed coast to coast for a tumbling layup to give Louisville an eight-point lead.

Later, with Miami down two and looking to tie or take the lead with just over a minute to play, Mitchell and Mathiang swarmed Ja’Quan Newton and trapped him in the corner. Newton attempted to call a timeout the Hurricanes didn’t have, and was whistled for a Chris Webber technical. On the subsequent possession, Louisville’s ball pressure forced Newton to dribble the ball off his leg and out of bounds.

During their second-half surge, the Cardinals became the team their fans had been waiting for them to become since Snider went down with his injury almost a month ago. Snider didn’t look anywhere close to 100 percent, but his offense gave an already very good defensive team the boost it needed. As his health improves, so will the Cardinals; as he nears 100 percent, Louisville might even approach a level of play we haven’t seen it reach yet.

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Louisville is back. More specifically, its players are back. And most specifically, Snider is back. Because he and they are, Louisville looks like a national title contender.

The Cardinals’ performance, and that conclusion, didn’t flow seamlessly from opening tip to final horn. For 25 minutes, in fact, it was non-existent. Louisville’s offense was stagnant, and its defense solid but uninspiring. It shot 32 percent and scored 0.81 points per possession. Snider was neither explosive nor comfortable.

But the conclusion takes into account what the Cardinals did before they returned to full strength. Louisville played surprisingly well without its starting point guard for five games. It torched Clemson, Pittsburgh, NC State and Boston College, and hung with Florida State on the road. Adel and Mitchell elevated their play. Louisville looked like a top-10 team even without their star.

But its sixth and final contest without Snider exposed that Louisville team’s limitations. With Adel and Mathiang also out with suspensions, that team was noticeably inferior to Virginia, and was stifled by the Cavaliers’ defense. The need for Snider was clear.

With that need satisfied, with Mitchell having raised his game, and with more room for growth still present, Louisville can think big. This team — the one that came back to best Miami Saturday afternoon — has no such limitations when it plays like it did at times in the second half. It scored 1.5 points per possession in those final 20 minutes against a team that allows an average of 0.97 on the season.

This Louisville team is balanced, dangerous, and might be one that can win six games in a row in March.

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