Louisville first-round loss prolongs miserable drought in Rupp Arena

Louisville isn’t particularly fond of Rupp Arena, for the obvious huge reason.

The venerable basketball arena is where hated rival Kentucky makes its home, and while the place has wonderful history, that history isn’t something Louisville likes to grab hold of. It’s where the Wildcats have had so much success throughout the years and it’s conversely where the Cardinals have melted throughout the years.

But Thursday afternoon was different. This wasn’t a regular-season loss to Kentucky that Louisville could just brush off and move on to the next game.

There is no next game this time. That’s because this was an NCAA Tournament game that the Cardinals played, and they didn’t play well. No. 9 seed Creighton took apart 8th-seeded Louisville rather easily, 89-75, bringing a sudden end to a pretty nice season for the Cardinals, who finished second in the ACC. Yes, the ACC is way down this season, and that’s another developing story that’s continuing in the NCAA Tournament, but Louisville’s latest demise at Rupp furthered another theme.

Louisville hasn’t won a game at Rupp Arena since 2013. Kentucky site CatsPause247 was quick to point this stat out after Thursday’s game, of course, but it also qualified it by saying it wasn’t trash talk, just a statement of fact. While that’s to be debated, what can’t be debated is that Louisville just doesn’t play well at Rupp, whether it’s against Kentucky or in this case an NCAA Tournament game with everything at stake.

There is no next game now for the Cardinals. This time, a loss at Rupp signaled the end of their season.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.