Sunday brunch, who's got egg on their face?

Let's get one thing out of the way. He fouled him. I've heard some Cards fans try and break down the tape to prove that Knowles merely made some incidental contact with Truck Bryant with .6 seconds left, but such is not the case. It was a frustration foul, where Knowles came in too hard trying to make up for his missed, semi-questionable 30-footer to seal the win. He fouled him, period.

Once you can acknowledge that fact, the real question turns to whether the ref should have blown his whistle in that moment to decide the game, a game mind you, that had more closely resembled a rugby match at times. That's the issue, the one we're all still wrestling with.

But there were many mistakes that helped the Cards steal defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday. Here'a few I've been stewing on...

* Pitino's substitutions. It's hard to see why SVT never saw the floor until the second half. And I thought Pitino looked pretty foolish when Van Treese came in and immediately helped stop the child-abuse going on in the post. He did give George Goode a chance in the first half, I'll give him that, but as bad as the bloodbath was down low, he could have certainly afforded to send SVT in there as well. He's at least as good a player as WVU's fatter, slower doppelganger, Thoroughman, who was killing us on the offensive glass.

Two, Elisha Justice was forced into action yesterday, and looked like a deer in headlights. He looked nothing like the player that, at times, was outplaying Peyton Siva at the position early in the season. But as Mr. Black noted afterwards, what do you expect? Having been sitting on ice for the past 10 games, it's a little much to throw him into a defensive slugfest, in Morgantown of all places, and expect many positive results.

But the point is, having to sit his slaphappy point guard for long stretches of a game was an entirely forseeable possibility. If he wanted Elisha Justice to be the backup point guard, he should have been playing him like the backup point guard all along; rather than going with Preston Knowles at times and experimenting with Russ Smith.

* The refs. Yep, I'll be that guy, I don't care. For the second year in a row the Cards have left Huggy's Lair after hard-fought contests where they earned a win, only to have the refs push their big fat thumbprint towards the Mountaineers in the crucial moments.

Three bad calls stick out in my mind; the out-of-bounds off Knowles call that gave WVU the ball back when the Cards had them reeling. It was a close call, but the ref was staring at it from point blank range like a line judge in football, he should have gotten it right.

Two, the foul on Kyle Kuric that would be an insult to Tic Tacs to mention them in the same sentence, when he was called on a fastbreak that led to a 3-point play. Are you not allowed to even try and play defense anymore on a fastbreak, are you supposed to throw your hands high in the air so the refs can see lest you give them an and-one opportunity?

Three, the end of the game whistle on Knowles, which I said above, was a foul. But it should have never been whistled, not in this contest, not when WVU had gotten the benefit of their bruising reputation all-game and were allowed to play rugby-basketball.

Since Louisville is one of the "prettier" teams in the Big East in terms of style, I've come to expect at least one of these games a season, when a Cinci/Pitt/WVU is allowed, and in fact lauded for their physicality, while the Cards are left scratching their heads and sitting the pine with foul trouble. Siva missed most of the game the victim of quick whistles, and of course, Knowles was held to the letter of the law at the end of the game.

I don't mind physical scrums, it's part of the pleasure of the Big East even if the Cards come out on the losing end of many of these contests; but just call it both ways, that's all I ask.

The Cards choked away the end, but they at least earned the benefit of overtime to decide which team was truly better that day. Given that WVU had two key players already foul out, I would have liked Louisville's chances in OT.

* Leadership failure. Knowles was off for most of the day, but he wanted the ball at the end, I'll give him that. His decision to pop from long range has been critized by some, but it's okay in my book. It's his prerogative to take the open look, if that's what he wanted, rather than what would have been a contested shot. But the bump 75-feet from the basket after is inexcusable no matter what. He wasn't "trying to make a play", there was no time left to do so, he was just frustrated by his miss and let his emotions get the better of his basketball IQ.

Siva, likewise, didn't play most of the game like a leader. I disagree with many of the touch fouls that sent him to the bench for so long, but still, once it was clear that the refs were going to whistle his aggressive defense, he needed to dial it down a notch for the benefit of his team. He didn't/couldn't/wouldn't adjust his game, and his team suffered the consequences.

* Okay. Breathe...breathe...and time to move on.

As we knew going into the game, winning was not an absolute essential, the Cards already having locked their 3rd place Big East finish. But it would have been nice, nonetheless, if only as a cherry-on-top of their remarkable conference run, the improved NCAA seeding, and the overall pleasure of sweeping the utterly loathsome WVU Mountaineers for the season.

They didn't get it done. They choked.

But watching tears of frustration, anger, and passion well in Preston Knowles' eyes when he realized the consequences of his actions in the final moments, having Rick Pitino rip off his sportcoat and then skip the post-game media appearances, I'm hopeful that this disappointment may be the kick in the ass the team needed to re-light their fierce desire.

On to Madison Square Gardens.