Clark gives Louisville gift on his birthday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Pittsburgh’s perfect season unraveled in a perfect storm of missed shots, missed opportunities and one exquisitely timed birthday party by Louisville’s Earl Clark.

The junior forward scored 16 points – including the clinching jumper with 45 seconds remaining – and grabbed 11 rebounds on his 21st birthday to lift the 20th-ranked Cardinals over the No. 1 Panthers, 69-63 Saturday night.

“This game will help,” Pittsburgh guard Levance Fields said. “Nobody wants to lose, but it’s always good to get a loss on yourself so you know you’re not unbeaten – so you know somebody can beat you.”

Clark and the surging Cardinals (13-3, 4-0) left no doubt.

Louisville smothered the Panthers (16-1, 4-1) over the game’s final 8 minutes, holding Pittsburgh to 1-of-16 shooting down the stretch to end Pittsburgh’s first run at the top of the poll. The loss left No. 2 Wake Forest as the only unbeaten team in Division I.

“Give them credit, they beat us,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said after his team turned the ball over a season-high 20 times against Louisville’s fullcourt pressure. “We played well, they played well. They made shots down the stretch.”

The biggest came from Clark, who shrugged off a sluggish first half to lead Louisville on a 24-8 burst over the final 8:55 and lift the Cardinals to their first win over a No. 1 team since beating Florida on Dec. 13, 2003.

The normally modest Clark celebrated afterward by standing at midcourt next to coach Rick Pitino, blushing a little as 20,000 of his new best friends at Freedom Hall serenaded him with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

“It’s a great win, it just happens to be on my birthday,” Clark said.

“We made great plays,” Pitino said. “This is the fourth game in a row right now where we did really smart things down the stretch.”

The win capped a big week for Louisville, which beat No. 12 Notre Dame on Monday.