Hunter Takes Out Frustrations On Louisville In Second Half

By Jerry Ratcliffe

LOUISVILLE — De’Andre Hunter was so mad that he resembled one of those old-fashioned cartoon characters, the ones with steam blowing out of both ears and blowing their top.

Virginia’s big-time guard had just been sent to the bench less than seven minutes into the first half, having been whistled for back-to-back personal fouls within 30 seconds. The star sophomore knew exactly what that meant.

Tony Bennett’s steadfast rule is that two fouls will put you on the bench and that’s where you’ll stay for the remainder of the first half no matter what.

Hunter had to sit there and watch as host Louisville scorched the nets with 10 — count ‘em, 10 — 3-pointers in the first half as the No. 18 Cardinals rolled to a 37-27 lead at the break.

“That’s super frustrating, one of the worst feelings because you know you’re going to have to sit for the rest of the half and can’t help your team,” said Hunter’s best friend and teammate, Ty Jerome. “I know what Dre’ was going through.

“When he came out for the second half, he looked a little mad,” Jerome said.

Mad indeed.

Hunter came back with a controlled rage, a fury unleashed on Louisville and the Cardinals didn’t know what hit ‘em.

In what Bennett described as a special performance, Hunter scored a career-high 26 points, 19 of those in the second half as the super sophomore took over the game and left Louisville’s upset thoughts in No. 3 Virginia’s wake, 64-52.

“We knew Hunter was going to be on the floor [for the second half],” said Cardinals coach Chris Mack.

He knew that with Hunter on the floor, it was going to be a huge matchup problem for his defense, a sometimes 1-3-1 scheme, sometimes a “pack-line” alignment. Hunter’s length, ability to defend, ability to drive, or shoot the 3, was something of which Louisville had no answer.

It’s difficult to determine exactly what end of the floor Hunter’s presence was more impactful. At 6-foot-7, he’s the same height as Louisville’s star player Jordan Nwora, who had been on a tear the past few weeks, one of the most improved scorers in the nation.

But, and it’s a big but, Hunter’s length, wingspan and quickness afoot can shut down most anyone his size.

Nwora found out the hard way.

After scoring 12 points — including a pair of big 3-pointers — in the first half, Nwora was silenced in the second, handcuffed by Hunter’s smothering ‘D.’

In fact, Louisville’s top scorer was held to five points after the break, shooting only 2 for 9 overall, 1 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, Hunter went on a personal scoring tear that left Louisville bewildered.

Hunter, whose most recent memory of Louisville’s Yum! Center was knocking down the stunning game-winner from 30 feet in last year’s miracle comeback by Virginia with 0.9 seconds remaining in the contest, just couldn’t be stopped in the second half Saturday.

“Look at his stat line,” Bennett pointed out. “He was so efficient, about as efficient as it gets.”

Bennett was correct.

Hunter didn’t miss a single shot from anywhere on the floor the second half. He went 6 for 6 overall, 2 for 2 from the 3-point line (where UVA struggled all day), and hit all five of his free throws for 19 points. Meanwhile, he played smothering defense against Nwora.

“Whether he was guarding on the switch, a perimeter guy or Nwora,” Bennett said. “We needed his drives, drawing fouls. We needed his 3’s.”

Virginia needed the very best of Hunter and it got just that. He simply took over the game.

“He’s multi-talented, he’s smart, he lets the game come to him but also stays aggressive so he has a feel that some scorers don’t have,” Jerome said. “He never forces but just naturally scores. Today, he dominated the game.”

Hunter, who is a modest sort, kind of admitted his dominance afterward, but in a very humbling manner.

“I just get a little mad,” he said about sitting out most of the first half. “I just want to be out there, so when I get a chance, I just want to be aggressive.

“When I make my shots like that (second half), I was feeling good and wanted to keep shooting and my teammates kept feeding me the ball,” Hunter said.

He had this fire in his eyes that every time the ball came to him, he looked so determined that he was not going to be denied, particularly as he knifed through Louisville’s defense en route to another bucket-producing drive, often accompanied by a Cardinals foul.

“I was getting it,” Hunter said, cracking a smile, a sparkle in his eye that indicated he knew down deep that nobody was going to stop him.

Bennett and Hunter’s teammates see it every day in practice. The rest of us have to wait for the next game.

“He’s just continuing to evolve his game,” Bennett said of Hunter, who is projected to be an early first-round choice in this spring’s NBA Draft. “You can see it. He’s improving. He’s just playing at a high level.

“In practice he shows signs of that, but to do it in games is a little different, when we need it and there are other really good players on the floor,” Bennett explained. When he’s on the floor, he’s a matchup problem, just like when Nwora at the four is a matchup problem. That’s the way the game is kind of going.”

Hunter said he and his teammates figured that even though they trailed by only 10 at halftime, they were still in good shape. They knew Louisville’s blistering pace from behind the line (10-16) was not going to continue in the second half, and they were right. The Cardinals hit only 2 of 17 from 3’s after the break.

Everyone figured Kyle Guy and Jerome would heat up from that range, but that didn’t happen as Guy’s 25-game, 3-point streak came to an end. Still, UVA got heroic performances from 7-1 center Jay Huff (12 points, 6-8, two blocks, seven rebounds) and 6-9 Mamadi Diakite (sporting a new, orange-tinted hairdo) with 14 points (7-10 and three blocks).

This time, no miraculous deeds were required of Hunter, who still remembers being buried under a human dogpile of celebrating teammates after hitting the winning basket here a year ago.

“I thought about it when we walked back in [the building],” Hunter said of the shot. “I thought about how we celebrated in the locker room, but this is a different year, a different game.”

Bennett preferred it this way.

“That was so improbable last year,” the coach said. “This one was the way you’re supposed to come back.”

In doing so, UVA continued its dominance over Louisville, having now reeled off eight consecutive wins over the Cardinals, including four in a row in this building.

YUM. YUM indeed.