The Sports Xchange
Nov 12, 2017
No. 16 Louisville trailed for most of the game against unranked George Mason in the Cardinals' season opener Sunday. But the Cardinals used a 12-0 second-half run and 20 points from junior wing Deng Adel to squeak past the Patriots 72-61.
In addition to Adel’s 20 points, the Cardinals (1-0) also got 17 points from Darius Perry and 10 each from Quentin Snider and Jordan Nwora. George Mason (1-1) was led by 20 points and 10 rebounds from Jaire Grayer. Justin Kier scored 18 and Ian Boyd had 12.
It was a struggle from the start for Louisville. The Cardinals missed nine of their first 12 shot, including all three three-point attempts, but only trailed 9-6 thanks to stingy defense. George Mason led 14-8 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half until a fast break dunk by Adel sparked a Louisville run.
After Adel’s dunk, Perry hit a three in the corner and the fans stood to cheer. A rebound putback by Anas Mahmoud gave Louisville a 15-14 lead with just over seven minutes left and Snider’s fast break layup forced a George Mason timeout.
The Cardinals missed eight straight field-goal attempts after Snider’s layup as George Mason came back to lead 27-24 at halftime. Louisville hit just 8 of 28 shots in the first half and missed 9 of its 10 three-point shots.
George Mason led 37-31 four minutes into the second half and 46-40 four minutes later. Louisville scored six straight points to tie the score and then took the lead on a three from Nwora. A three by Perry put Louisville up 52-46 with 8:28 left, and the Cardinals never trailed again.
NOTES: Sunday's game was the first for Louisville's David Padgett as interim head coach. Padgett, a former assistant at Louisville, was elevated to the head coaching post when Rick Pitino was suspended and then later fired in the wake of an FBI investigation into pay-for-play deals in college basketball. ... Padgett is Louisville's third head coach since 1971, following Hall of Famers Denny Crum (1971-2000) and Rick Pitino (2001-2017) ... Louisville leads the George Mason series 4-0. The last meeting prior to Sunday was a 132-87 win in Freedom Hall on Jan. 4, 1994.