Louisville coach Jeff Walz takes blame after collapse against Miami

Miami outscored Louisville 17-0 in the final five minutes of Friday’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal to pull off a stunning 61-59 upset.

No. 2 seed Louisville held a 15-point lead late into the fourth quarter before No. 7 seed Miami stormed back and sealed the win on Destiny Harden’s buzzer-beater.

MIAMI AT THE BUZZER 🚨@CanesWBB TAKES DOWN LOUISVILLE ‼️ pic.twitter.com/NV23jBpzTe

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 5, 2022

“I’ll take the blame for this,” Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said after Friday’s loss. “I’m not going to put the blame on these kids. It’s my fault … As a coach, I learned a valuable lesson there today.”

Waltz said the team took “poor shots, didn’t defend, didn’t guard,” but he ultimately bore responsibility for the upset loss, saying he “tried to sub a little bit there at the end” and the changes likely disrupted the flow.

The loss marked Louisville’s first defeat before the conference tournament semifinals since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2015.