Rick Pitino changed the mood inside the Louisville basketball program. He backed off. He lightened the mood. He had a laugh. It was a welcome change, apparently. If you watched the Cardinals the last few games, one thing was obvious. Nobody was having any fun. Not the fans. Not the players. Not the coach.
Beating downtrodden Pittsburgh last Saturday was a step in the right direction, but last night in an 84-74 win over Villanova, U of L looked like a different team. They ripped. They ran. They actually scored points — 84. That’s the most Pitino’s team has scored this year since it beat Memphis 95-87 to go 10-0 way back on Dec. 17.
Let’s not get carried away here. Pittsburgh is a mess. Villanova is having an atypical down year. Louisville’s schedule grows tougher, starting with a trip to Seton Hall on Saturday. But if the Cards are going to have a shot at climbing back up the Big East ladder — they are 4-4 after last night’s win — they needed to shake out of the depressing funk that began with the home loss to Georgetown way back on Dec. 28. Looks like they at least done that.
- Louisville’s next five games
- Sept. 28 at Seton Hall
- Feb. 4 at home vs. Rutgers
- Feb. 6 at home vs UConn
- Feb. 11 at West Virginia
- Feb. 13 at home vs. Syracuse









