By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE — Off the court it had been a traumatic, emotionally-draining 24 hours, one that tested their resolve and resiliency. On the court, it was the same old University of Louisville basketball team, rolling past an overmatched opponent.
This time the victim was hapless Boston College (7-16, 0-10 ACC). Even with the pain of learning they were banned from postseason play still fresh in their minds, the No. 19/18 Cardinals (19-4, 8-2) easily dispatched the Eagles 79-47.
An appreciative crowd of 21,803 in the KFC Yum! Center cheered the rout and gave a pregame ovation to Damion Lee and Trey Lewis after the pair of graduate transfers had been shown on the video scoreboard during their Friday press conference discussing the school’s self-imposted ACC and NCAA tournament ban.
Then, UofL played a recording of Lee’s trademark saying, “Who’s got my back?” and the fans responded with, “I’ve got your back.”
Finally, Lee, who didn’t play due to a bruised left knee, walked onto the court in street clothes to toss up the basketball in an honorary, ceremonial tipoff and received another loud ovation.
“It was surreal,” Lee said later, sitting in his cubicle in the locker room with an ice pack on his knee. “Knowing going into the game that I wasn’t going to play and how much emotion the entire city, the whole Yum Center was gonna be filled with. And embracing it all really shows how much of an impact Trey and I have on this city and this team.”
UofL coach Rick Pitino said Lewis was the player he was most worried about going into the game. He needn’t have been concerned.
Lewis led UofL with 16 points, most of them coming from the foul line, where he hit all nine of his free throws. He also had three assists, two steals and two rebounds.
“I’m in a good place now,” Lewis said. “You can cry, you can feel bad and have an attitude of ‘what’s the point in playing?’ But you don’t want to continue feeling that way. I don’t want people feeling sorry for me anymore because I’ve already felt sorry for myself. I got that over with and now I’m just trying to enjoy each moment I have left. I have eight games of college basketball left and I’m trying to make the most of each one.”
Of the fan support, Lewis added, “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life, so it was awesome to feel that much love and support. Just continue cheering for us because we’re gonna give everything we’ve got these last games.”
From the jovial atmosphere in the locker room, one would never have guessed that the Cards had been jolted by the worst news they could have received from an athletic standpoint just the day before. Their demeanor was the same as always — smiling, cooperative and patiently answering questions from the media.
“You guys walked in and saw us laughing and joking,” Lee said. “For us, we know that we have less than a month (of the season) left, so we have to make sure we rally around each other and continue to support each other like we have been doing throughout the season.”
Lee, UofL’s leading scorer with a 17.0 average, said he didn’t want to miss the game, but that it was in his best interest to sit out and try to get ready for Duke Monday night in Cameron Indoor Arena.
“I have to make sure I’m 100 percent before I play again,” he said. “That’s one of coach’s rules — make sure you’re 100 percent, and today I didn’t feel like I was.”
Will he return to the lineup against the Blue Devils?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t really put a number on it. It’s definitely been feeling better the last couple of days, but it’s not something I want to rush if I’m not feeling it.”
Freshman Deng Adel started in place of Lee and turned in his best performance of the season, with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 34 minutes. Chinanu Onuaku grabbed 13 rebounds and added eight points, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Even without Lee, the Cards made short work of BC, racing to a 19-2 lead while holding the Eagles to one field goal in their first 13 possessions. UofL was on top 32-14 at halftime, then BC made a run at the start of the second half, closing to within nine, 37-28. But UofL quickly regained control and pulled away again with a 21-7 surge.
“I thought it was a very professional performance to get a win,” Pitino said. “I think after a certain period of time we were emotionally drained. I was tearing up at the national anthem, so it was very emotionally draining for all of us. But we got through it and now we move on and it’s probably very good that we don’t have a lot of time and can continue to play basketball. In the first seven-eight minutes the guys just played incredible defense.”
Freshman guard Donovan Mitchell dismissed any suggestion that it was difficult for the Cards to get motivated without the carrot of the NCAA Tournament dangling in front of them.
“The good thing about our team is it’s never tough to get motivated,” Mitchell said. “We have setbacks, but like Damion and Lee said yesterday, God’s got our backs, so we just focused on coming out and playing a great game and showing we can handle adversity, no matter how small or how big it may be.”
Now UofL moves on to its next test, at Duke, and it will be a more difficult challenge due to a much better opponent and the absence of an adoring home crowd to inspire them.
“It (the postseason ban) hurts, obviously,” Mitchell said. “It’s been up and down, but you can’t get too down. We’re still motivated to get nine straight wins; that’s our mindset. And let’s have fun along the way.”