Monday evening Cardinal news and notes

—Highlights from the U of L women’s team’s Sunday win over Duke are here.

—Pro Football Focus ranks every offensive line in college football and has Louisville at No. 64.

—The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has a good profile of Ryan McMahon.

Perhaps his teammates voted him captain because he’s still at Louisville to accept it.

“I think it shows that when the going gets tough, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m going to stick around and figure out how to make it work. That rears its head when we’re faced with adversity on a much more minor scale.

“When stuff’s not going well, I’m not going to run. I’m not going to hide. Maybe that did make an impact.”

On the court McMahon came to Louisville with a reputation as a shooter. With that already established it allowed him to develop the other parts of his game. Though he’s third on the team in minutes, he’s attempted 10 shots in a game just once.

“I pride myself on making the right play,” he said. “I’m not a perfect player so I don’t always make the right play, but I genuinely try to. A lot of people tell me, ‘You should shoot more.’

“It’s not always what the game is presenting and I think that’s a reason why the coaches have me on the floor so much and trust me out there because they know I’m going to try to make the right play and I’m not going to make plays for myself or my own stats.”

Earlier last year McMahon earned his degree in marketing with a minor in finance. He’s taking just four classes and 12 credit hours this semester and all the classes are online.

He also met someone, Rose Crombie, a recent Louisville grad who was a member of the school’s famous Ladybirds Dance Team.

Another reason McMahon is glad he hung around.

“If I didn’t stay here,” he said, “I would not have this awesome light in my life.”

After his classes end he’s got an internship lined up with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. He’s realistic about his chances of playing in the NBA — “I know what an elite level that is” — and doesn’t want to accept a paltry salary to travel overseas just to continue playing.

“I’m not going to force anything,” he said. “Basketball isn’t my end-all, be-all. I’ll have other opportunities in life that I know I’ll be really good at because of the life lessons and the work ethic I’ve learned through basketball.”

And always remembering the cliché of who might be watching you. It could change a life.

—High Post Hoops has the U of L women’s team as a No. 2 seed in its latest mock bracket.

—Florida State basketball continues to surprise and succeed.

—”He wanted the smoke, and he got smoked.” —Eric Crawford

—Ten takeaways here from your boy on the first weekend of conference play in college hoops.

—The home opener for Lou City in its new stadium is now set for April 11.

—Seth Davis is holding (Athletic link) on Louisville’s stock.

Louisville: Hold

If the Cardinals (11-3, No. 7 AP, No. 6 KenPom) hadn’t lost at home to Florida State on Saturday, I would have rated them a sell, but now I believe their stock has been appropriately corrected. Louisville has been in the top 10 for most of the season and it has a legitimate All-America candidate in 6-7 junior forward Jordan Nwora, but if the Cardinals are going to challenge for the ACC title and make a run at a Final Four, they are going to have to get much better point guard play. Fresh Kimble, a grad transfer from Saint Joseph’s, has brought some Philly moxie, but he is not a great playmaker and is only shooting 23.8 percent from 3. Darius Perry makes 35.5 percent but only shoots 2.2 attempts per game. The Cardinals are also last in the ACC in steals at 4.9 per game. If your point guards aren’t making 3s, dishing a lot of assists or forcing turnovers, then it’s hard to make up for it elsewhere.

—U of L signee JJ Traynor is having a stellar senior season for Bardstown High so far.

—Congrats to U of L women’s golfer Lauren Hartlage, who won the Women’s Orlando International Amateur over the weekend.

—A woman is suing over injuries she sustained during an escalator mishap at the KFC Yum Center last year.

—Forty-eight straight weeks in the top 10 is absurd.

—Montrezl Harrell dropped 34 points for the Clippers Sunday night.

—Louisville football signees who arrived on campus and moved in over the weekend:

Kobe Baynes

Jadarien Boykin

Henry Bryant

Christian Fitzpatrick

Lovie Jenkins

Duane Martin

Zay Peterson

Braden Smith

Brock Travelstead

Tee Webb

Kam Wilson

Marvin Dallas and Marqui Lowery are both expected to arrive this week, and YaYa Diaby will arrive later this semester.

—Chris Mack’s refusal to instruct his guys to use the glass more from the perimeter continues to hold this team back.

—The 2020 U of L lacrosse schedule is here.

—Forty-seven of 50 voters selected Lamar Jackson as their All-Pro quarterback. One of the three who didn’t vote for Jackson was Bill Polian, who infamously opined that Jackson should play wide receiver. Solid LCPT work here.

—Incredible execution here.

—Pick Six Previews has Louisville as the 32nd-best college football program of the last decade.

—Jazmine Jones and Jordan Nwora both hit the 1,000-point mark for their college careers over the weekend.

—WKU’s AD is coming for heads.

—Rick Bozich says that despite what you may have heard, Louisville has the guards to win in March.

—And finally, Louisville checks in at No. 7 in Jay Bilas’ power rankings.