Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Miami by 1.5.

—Jeff Walz is on the 2022 Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year late season watch list.

—If the ACC men’s basketball tournament began today, Louisville would be the No. 10 seed facing No. 15 seed Georgia Tech on the tournament’s opening Tuesday.

—Wild one last night at Cameron Indoor between Duke and Wake Forest.

First, Coach K was under the weather and missed the entire second half, handing the reigns to coach in waiting Jon Scheyer. Then, Wake overcame a 19-point second half deficit to tie the score at 74 with just seconds to play. Duke then took the lead with less than a second to go on this controversial putback by center Mark Williams.

The basket was originally waived off for offensive goaltending, then counted after a review which was only possible because of a rule change following Kentucky’s controversial loss to LSU in 2019.

And then after all that madness, Damari Monsanto almost made this:

It wouldn’t have counted, but Steve Forbes already knew that.

The win moved Duke back to the top of the ACC standings at 12-3, a half game ahead of 11-3 Notre Dame. Wake Forest fell to 10-6 in league play, putting them in a fifth-place tie with Virginia.

—Other ACC scores from Tuesday night:

Florida State 81, Clemson 80
NC State 76, Georgia Tech 61

—Valley High School is in immediate need of a baseball coach (practice was supposed to start yesterday). If interested, call the school at 502-485-8339 or email the athletic director at William.raleigh@jefferson.kyschools.us.

We got Doss a coach last month, let’s do the same for the Vikings.

—Spirit Airlines now has direct flights from Louisville to Myrtle Beach.

—Louisville baseball is No. 4 in terms of MLB draft production over the last decade.

—It’s Beach Night inside the KFC Yum Center this evening.

—Kentucky got smoked in Knoxville once again Tuesday night.

—Tubby Smith is stepping down as High Point’s head coach for the remainder of this season. His son, G.G., will lead the team for the rest of the year as well as next season.

I’ll say this about Tubby: For a period of time, he made a (very) small piece of me feel (very) slightly bad when Kentucky would lose a men’s basketball game. I think that’s probably the highest compliment I can pay anyone.

—Cardinal Authority highlights three potential breakout stars on the 2022 Louisville baseball team.

—Pour one out.

—Seattle O’Sullivan (incredible name) of Bettors Insider doesn’t understand why tonight’s spread is so tight and is all over Miami.

—Ian O’Connor’s new book on Mike Krzyzewski sheds new light on the highly strained relationship between Coach K and his former mentor, Bob Knight.

—U of L Health has plans for a new $144 million, nine-story building in downtown Louisville.

—Louisville is reeling and in the midst of its worst season in two decades, but Jim Larranaga won’t let his team overlook the Cards Wednesday night.

“Louisville is, physically, one of the most talented teams in the league,” Larranaga said. “Malik Williams is coming back, which gives them a high-quality big guy to go along with (Sydney) Curry and (Jae’Lyn) Withers, so they’ve got up front a three-headed monster. Their guard play, Jarrod West is outstanding and El Ellis, when he’s at the top of his game, makes Louisville hard to guard.”

The Cardinals will be back home for the first time in 15 days.

“They’re back home after being on the road, I think they’ll play with a great deal of passion,” Larranaga said.

—Asia Durr is speaking out about her lengthy battle with Covid and everything it took to get back to the WNBA.

—Despite being in the midst of the program’s first six-game losing streak since 1991, Mike Pegues says “all hope isn’t lost” for this year’s Louisville men’s basketball team.

—Elsewhere in the ACC this evening:

Boston College at Notre Dame (7 p.m./ESPNU)
Pittsburgh at North Carolina (8 p.m./ACC Network)

—Wild finish last night in Oxford:

—You can find live updates on Louisville’s performance at the ACC swim and dive championships here.

—Canes Warning previews tonight’s contest inside the Yum Center.

—And finally, beat Miami.