Sports
 

Cards fall out of top tree

Louisville loses five of its last six games, goes into freefall in poll

by Daniel Huron
The Daily Cougar

Remember when the Louisville Cardinals were the talk of NCAA men's basketball? 

After losing their season opener, Rick Pitino's Cardinals won 16 consecutive games. Pitino's coaching ability was being praised nationwide, and to pencil Louisville in as a Final Four team wouldn't have been too far-fetched.

Remember when?

From the top five, the Cardinals have gradually fallen to No. 21 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, and a trip to San Antonio now seems like a distant dream.

One of the victims in Louisville's winning streak, the No. 15 Cincinnati Bearcats, had a chance to avenge themselves on Saturday. On January 21, the seemingly invincible Bearcats destroyed the Cardinals.

Cincinnati trailed by two as time ticked away. Less then a second remained when Field Williams launched a desperate fade-a-way jumper to tie the game at the end of regulation. The Bearcats' Tony Bobbitt responded in overtime with a three-pointer and two free throws that helped seal a 66-61 victory.

At least Pitino's team had a chance on Saturday. Tuesday's game against Texas Christian was a laugher.

Louisville shot 29 percent as the team lost to the Horned Frogs 71-46. Larry O'Bannon's nine points led the way for Louisville. Not one Cardinals player scored in double figures.

TCU's victory marked head coach Neil Dougherty's first win against a top-25 team in his career.

With their 0-2 week, the Cardinals have now lost five of their last six games.

No. 25 Texas Tech was another team whose early-season success had many people excited about a good showing in March. But since the start of the Big XII season, and since Bobby Knight's now infamous salad bar incident, the Red Raiders have struggled, losing five of their last eight.

Against Colorado on Wednesday, Texas Tech could find no answer for center David Harrison.

The 7-footer scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked seven shots, dished out two assists and added a steal.

Texas Tech fought hard in the second half but two scoring runs by Colorado squashed any hopes of a comeback. Tech lost 85-75.

Saturday, the Red Raiders jumped to a double-digit lead against Texas A&M. But the struggling Aggies fought back.

The Aggies trailed 50-29 with 15:09 left in the game when they made a 19-8 run. They closed the game to 10 with 5:20 remaining, but could not break the Raiders any further.

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