David Padgett’s Louisville Cardinals once again fell to Virginia. After the game, he had a pretty awkward handshake with UVA’s Tony Bennett.
It is hard to have a program’s number harder than Virginia does with Louisville. At the ACC Tournament today, the Hoos beat Louisville for a third time on the year.
Virginia beat Louisville twice in 2017, and twice in 2016. The two sides split the season series in 2014-15, Louisville’s first in the ACC.
Today’s game was not as dramatic as the March 1 game. That day, Louisville somehow lost, despite having a four-point lead and the ball with just 0.9 seconds left.
Virginia knocked off the Cardinals 75-58, holding off a solid second-half comeback attempt to cruise to victory. UVA will face Clemson in the semifinal tomorrow.
Padgett isn’t as controversial a figure as his former boss and predecessor Rick Pitino. However, he’s catching heat for blowing by Bennett following the game.
Hey Coach Padgett. Stay classy. @LouisvilleMBB h/t @akaMeekster #Wahoowa pic.twitter.com/hudfBB7dzw
— John Schick (@JohnSchick) March 8, 2018
😂 Padgett literally turned his head to avoid eye contact. Classy. https://t.co/okewl7kHiZ
— AllThingsUVA (@AllThingsUVA) March 8, 2018
There’s some speculation that a late game garbage time dunk by Kyle Guy was the source of Padgett’s frustration. It came in the final minute, with the game in hand.
The loss could also keep David Padgett from coaching Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals entered the game on the bubble. A win over the nation’s top team, which had beaten the Cards twice, would have probably gotten Louisville into the field.
Instead, Louisville will be sweating it out hard on Sunday. And while Padgett’s done a nice job this year considering the adversity he faced from the moment he took over, there’s no guarantee that he will be given the full-time job.
Earlier, Yahoo’s Pete Thamel identified Chris Mack as the favorite for the job. It is unclear whether he’d leave Xavier for a Louisville program embroiled in the FBI controversy, but the job is one of the best in college basketball.