Louisville and West Virginia have already reported success in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Now they will try to gain more momentum in Thursday afternoon’s semi-final.

While it’s no surprise that they’ll meet on the second day of the tournament, it shouldn’t be on the winning side.

Both teams pulled off upsets on Wednesday, improving their record to 4-1 this season. Louisville defeated No. 14 Indiana 89-61 and West Virginia defeated No. 3 Gonzaga 86-78 in overtime.

“Obviously with the caliber of teams in this tournament, you can celebrate the win for about a minute and 47 seconds,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “We will turn the tide to prepare for our next opponent.”

Javon Small’s 31 points paced West Virginia, which shot 41.3 percent from the field but sank 23 of 26 free throws.

“I thought I had a pretty good game,” Smalls said. “But as I said, the victory is more important.”

There was a feeling for the Mountaineers that they were really coming into their own in crucial moments.

“I thought they were very composed and we had great leadership from our guys on the team,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. “Very confident, confident and matter-of-fact in what we had to do.”

One area that could be a concern for the Mountaineers is depth, as only three players were used off the bench – and only one of them logged double-digit minutes. So there could be stress after Small, Tucker DeVries and Sencire Harris were on the court for 42 minutes in the opening round.

Louisville, playing in the first game, did not have a player log 30 minutes of playing time. Much of that was due to the lopsided outcome that saw the Cardinals build a 37-29 halftime lead.

“I’m so proud of our guys, their defensive effort,” Kelsey said. “I just thought they played with so much tenacity and courage and so much activity.”

Wednesday’s result marked the first time the Cardinals defeated a ranked opponent since January 2021.

Noah Waterman and Chucky Hepburn each scored 16 points for Louisville, which shot 56.9 percent from the floor.

This is West Virginia’s first visit to the Bahamas for regular season games. The climbers were scheduled to visit the islands in 2020, but that trek was canceled by the COVID pandemic.

–Field level media