Drexel did everything they had to do to beat Louisville.
They controlled the tempo, they dominated the glass on both ends of the floor (46-26 rebounding advantage), and they forced Louisville into tough shots on the defensive end.
And what happened?
Drexel left the KFC Yum! Center with a 52-46 win.
This was far from a pretty affair. Neither team shot better than 39% from the floor. The two teams combined for 34 turnovers, 46 fouls, and 24-49 shooting from the charity stripe. It was Drexel down the stretch, however, that turned up their defense and won this game. Louisville was up 33-26 with 17 minutes left and 38-33 with 12 minutes left, but only managed to score 46 points on the night. Part of that was missed opportunities -- they left a lot of points at the foul line late in the game -- but the credit has to be given to Drexel.
Louisville only had one field in the last 8:30 of the second half.
You aren’t going to win many games that way.
“When you don’t get out on the break and don’t rebound and do the little things that help you score [you lose],” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “They deserve the victory and we didn’t. Give them the credit.”
He’s right. Drexel executed their game plan to perfection and played with pride, toughness, and poise. That’s a typical Bruiser Flint team.
“Everybody came in thinking we were better than them,” Drexel guard Gerald Colds, who had 20 points on the night, said. “We felt we could do it. We knew it would be physical. We had to rebound, be strong on offense and slow them down.”
They did.
And they won.
Hats off to Drexel.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.