LOUISVILLE, Ky. – I was the last writer to leave Freedom Hall last night, and when I walked out the building, there were just a couple of cars left in the parking lot.

One was my big 'ole Town Car that National gave me, the other was a brand-new Lexus I535C red convertible that belonged to Louisville's long-time sports information director Kenny Klein.

Klein drove a Chevy Impala until on Nov. 21 of this past year when he celebrated his 50th birthday.

On that morning, Klein walked outside to find the Lexus with a bow around it – a gift worth in the neighborhood of $50,000 courtesy of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

"I was shocked then, and I'm still shocked," said Klein, who has worked the past nine seasons with Pitino and is one of the best in the business at his craft.

Speaking of Pitino's Cardinals, they let one slip away last night.

They had a chance to get a résumé win that is lacking thus far and instead fumbled a 17-point lead away at home.

Louisville is 3-1 in league play, but the three wins have come against teams expected to finish towards the bottom of the Big East: St. John's, Providence and South Florida.

Pitino and Co. now begin a difficult five-game stretch that begins with two road contests at Pittsburgh and Seton Hall, then takes them back home against Cincinnati followed by a road contest against West Virginia and a date at home vs. UConn.

Louisville only made 7 of 33 shots from beyond the arc, but one of the issues has been shot selection. The Cardinals often aren't making the extra pass and are settling for contested shots.

The Cards also had a distinct size advantage, which they began to expose early in the game when Samardo Samuels blocked a couple shots and finished easily in the paint. But the Louisville big man took just four shots (and made all four) in the 92-84 loss.

Meanwhile, senior Edgar Sosa looked more like a freshman and Jared Swopshire and Jerry Smith couldn't make a shot.

But most of all, Louisville couldn't contain Scottie Reynolds in the second 20 minutes.

Just like that, Louisville went from getting a much-needed victory against a sure-fire NCAA tournament team to falling to 12-5 and still lacking anything significant on its résumé. 

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