62 - 52 
Just 14 hours after their most uninspired performance of the young season, the Louisville basketball team was able to earn their signature victory to date.
The Cardinals got 14 points each from the backcourt duo of Donovan Mitchell and Quentin Snider, and were able to secure a 62-52 victory over Wichita State in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. U of L will face Baylor in the tournament's championship game Friday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Remember this from last night/early this morning?
Look, we can talk about how abysmal that performance was all we want, or we can say that the national championship team gave a similar effort in its Atlantis opener four years ago (a 5-point win over Northern Iowa where several calls when U of L's way in the closing minute) and recognize the fact that this will all be forgotten if the Cards top Wichita State in about 14 hours. It's Thanksgiving, so I'm going with the latter route.
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
This wasn't an all-time performance from Louisville by any stretch of the imagination, but it was awfully inspiring to see the team play as well as they did against a quality opponent on such short rest. There's a reason Wichita State was favored to win the game.
Now we get to exorcise the demons of four years ago and go after a championship tomorrow. Although if losing means we go on to win a national title, then I'd be okay with that too.
