No Cardinals a-leaping despite victory

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At halftime of Louisville’s game against Detroit, a video of the Cardinals players singing a particularly cringe-inducing version of the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” ran on the Freedom Hall scoreboard.

It was the only really good laugh the Cardinals enjoyed during their 56-48 victory Saturday.

Though the Cardinals (9-1) won their 12th straight home game thanks to 15 points from Taquan Dean and 12 from Brandon Jenkins, it was hardly the kind of dominant buzzer-to-buzzer performance coach Rick Pitino said his team needs to compete in the Big East.

“I’m not pleased with our improvement,” Pitino said. “All of our guys are having a difficult time playing for 40 minutes.”

The Cardinals only really needed 11 solid minutes at the end of the first half and a 16-5 advantage at the free-throw line to beat the Titans (6-7), who were led by Brandon Cotton’s 17 points.

Louisville won despite shooting just 27 percent from the floor in the second half and failing to use their size advantage inside. Detroit outscored Louisville 20-12 inside.