We head to the tape to see what happend in U-M's 58-33 loss at Louisville on Tuesday night. We also look at a positive from the game, that is a great sign going forward for the Wolverines.
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Louisville's Defense
Louisville's defense was impressive in making U-M uncomfortable right from the jump. The pack line style of defense that the Cardinals play had the intent of keeping U-M from penetrating the paint. The hard hedge on ball screens forced senior point guard Zavier Simpson, and others, to pick up their dribble, giving Louisville time to recover on defense, and taking away any chance at getting in the lane.
"Give them credit," head coach Juwan Howard said postgame. "They do a great job of defending, overall. We knew that their fives like to hedge on ball screens. Our goal was to make sure that we could get those paint touches that we were comfortable with getting throughout the year, thus far. We practiced it. Unfortunately, they did a really good job of compacting the paint, keeping us out of the paint and from getting downhill."
It wasn't just the pack line scheme, but there was also great individual efforts from Louisville in one-on-one situations. They were dialed in on making life miserable for U-M. The on-ball defense was very tight, not giving the Wolverines any room to create off the bounce. Louisville held U-M to just .672 points per possession. The Wolverines made 15 of their 58 looks from the field (26 percent).
Here's some examples of U-M's struggles on offense:
