Three Takeaways From Louisville's ACC Tournament Run

After making it to the ACC Championship last season, the Louisville men's basketball program's run in this season's ACC Tournament lasted just two games. They won 62-58 in the second round against SMU, but then fell 78-73 in the quarterfinals against Miami.

Here are three takeaways Louisville's two games down in Charlotte:

No. 1: Ryan Conwell is ready to lead next week.

Arguably the biggest question surrounding the program right now is the health is Mikel Brown Jr., and if he'll be able to play in the NCAA Tournament. But even if he can't, we already know who will be Louisville's leader when it's time for the Big Dance - Ryan Conwell.

Sure, that shouldn't be much of a surprise considering he took home Second-Team All-ACC honors. But the shooting guard was Louisville's best players in both games, and made clutch plays when they mattered most.

In the win against SMU, Conwell didn't have the best shooting night overall, going 6-of-15 from the field for a team-best 16 points - but he made the two biggest plays of the night. His step-back three with 1:17 left to go gave Louisville the lead, then his driving layup with 29 second to go wound up icing the game.

Conwell was still a little streaky from the field in the loss to Miami, going 8-of-20 overall, but still put Louisville in position to win. With the Cards down nine at the 8:21 mark, he scored nine of their next 14 points, helping make it a one-point game with 1:23 left. Even after McKneely's disastrous turnover helped push Miami's lead out to five with a minute left, he still made a driving jumper to keep UofL in the game.

He'll have to reign in his his shot selection a touch, as he shot just 3-of-19 on threes in these two games, but he's shown the clutch gene needed for big time games.

"(We) just having the utmost confidence in him," Adrian Wooley said of Conwell after the SMU game. "Him being a senior, leader on the team, whatever he do is fine with me, as long as we sticking to what we work on. He works on those shots each and every day, so I trust him with whatever he does.

No. 2: The defense still isn't great, but it took a step forward.

Most Louisville fans have bemoaned the Cardinals' defensive efforts against upper tier opponents this season, and for good reason. While UofL's efforts on that end of the floor likely won't be what anchors them on a potential NCAA Tournament run, they did look a little better defensively than they have in most of the regular season.

SMU entered their game against Louisville as one of the top offenses in the ACC, and all the motivation in the world to light them up considering they are sitting squarely on the bubble. Instead, Louisville held them to 42.9 percent shooting, 9-of-27 on threes, and forced 14 turnovers. The Mustangs hadn't scored less than 68 point all season, and they could only get 10 points from that mark.

Even in the loss to Miami, Louisville held their own in the first half of what was basically football on hardwood. This game was essentially an old Big East showdown, and they still held a one-point led at half. Less than a week ago, the Canes hung 89 on them, and the Cards shaved 11 points off that in the rematch.

Of course, some defensive bugaboos still persisted. Reminiscent of the games at North Carolina and Clemson, Louisville quickly let Miami pulled ahead early in the second half with a 12-3 run right out of halftime - thanks in part to some defensive breakdown. They were able to rally and respond, but the Canes still shot 46.6 percent from the field and an even 50.0 percent in the second half.

"There was that lull in the second half when they were -- they rammed the ball at the rim constantly," Kelsey said of Miami's surge to start the second half. You could see they put -- to their credit. To their credit, they do it really well. But they put the officials in a really tough position. They do. It's one of the things that make them really good because they are attacking you and driving you even when nothing is there."

No. 3: Streaky three-point shooting and turnovers could doom them next weekend.

During several pockets of the regular season, Louisville found themselves playing behind the eight ball due to either streaky three point shooting or an influx of turnovers. Well, their time in Charlotte certainly didn't do much to quell those worries.

Louisville went just 6-of-26 from three-point distance against SMU, then only 6-of-24 vs. Miami, bringing their ACC Tournament shooting to just 12-of-50 - or 24.0 percent. Settling for threes is part of the reason why the Canes went on their run to start the second half, as eight of the Cardinals' first nine attempts after halftime were threes, and they made just three of them.

Sure, part of this is because Brown did not play, but he has certainly had his streaky tendencies this season as well. For as many threes as this team takes, and as many capable shooters as they have, is incredible how they can continue to be so hot-and-cold from deep.

Then there were the turnovers. Louisville had 10 of them for 13 points the other way against SMU, and then followed that up with 13 - most of which were live ball turnovers - for 17 Miami points.

"But in any sport when you lose the turnover battle, it's not all the time, but that's a lot of times tough to overcome," Kelsey said.

Louisville has shown great things at times this season. But if they continue to be up-and-down on three pointers and fail to take care of the basketball, it could be another short NCAA Tournament run for the Cards.