Louisville Rallies To Beat WVU 55-54

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KDKA/AP) - No. 23 Louisville Cardinals rallied from 11 points down to beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 55-54 on Wednesday night.

With 4.5 seconds left on the clock, sophomore guard Peyton Siva drove down the lane, tossed the ball over two defenders and off the top of the backboard, it then fell through the net to secure the win for Louisville.

"I was hoping," said Siva, "I looked up and I fell down and I just saw it fall through."

Siva finished the game with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Cardinals (16-4, 5-2 Big East) were trailing 37-26 after the first half, but it was their defense that helped the team to claw back into the game. The defense held the Mountaineers to just 17 points in the second half.

The Mountaineers (13-6, 4-3) collapsed in the second half, going more than 13 minutes without a field goal and missed free throws to secure the win.

"We just didn't make a shot," coach Bob Huggins said.

West Virginia was without their leading scorer Casey Mitchell and backup forward Dan Jennings. Mitchell was suspended earlier this week by the team and coach Huggins for violating team rules.

Jennings decided to walk away from the team during their game against South Florida.

Joe Mazzulla led West Virginia with 18 points, all in the first half. WVU will now face Cincinnati on the road this Saturday.

Chris Smith led Louisville with 15 points and Preston Knowles added 10, but it was Louisville's defense that led the comeback.