December 1, 2012

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com

Illinois State vs. Louisville Saturday, Dec. 1 1:07 p.m. ET KFC Yum! Center Louisville, Ky. Television: WHAS-TV Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Game Look Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center after a week off as the Cardinals face Illinois State on Saturday. UofL was the runner-up in the Battle 4 Atlantis, falling to then-No. 5 Duke 71-76 in the championship game. Peyton Siva and Russ Smith were all-tournament picks and Smith was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this week. Illinois State (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, falling to Northwestern 69-72 in overtime as Tyler Brown led the Redbirds with 36 points. Illinois State (5-1) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 10 Jon Ekey F 6-7 220 Jr. 8.5 5.5 32 Jackie Carmichael F 6-9 240 Sr. 16.2 6.8 0 Kaza Keane G 6-1 185 Fr. 4.5 2.7 1 Tyler Brown G 6-4 185 Sr. 18.8 3.3 2/td> Bryant Allen G 6-0 180 Jr. 13.0 2.5 RESERVES: Anthony Cousin, 5-11, G, SR; John Jones, 6-9, F, SO; John Wilkins, 6-9, G, SR; Nick Zeisloft, 6-4, G, FR; Geoffrey Allen, 6-6, G, SO; Zeke Upshaw, 6-6, G, JR; Jordan Threloff, 6-10, C, SO; Johnny Hill, 6-3, G, SO HEAD COACH: Dan Mueller (Illinois State '98) 5-1 in first year at Illinois State and overall. University of Louisville (5-1) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 20 Chane Behanan F 6-6 250 So. 8.5 8.5 21 Wayne Blackshear F 6-5 230 So. 8.7 3.8 25 Zach Price C 6-10 250 So. 1.0 1.6 2 Russ Smith G 6-0 165 Jr. 19.2 3.2 2 Peyton Siva G 6-0 185 Sr. 10.3 2.0 RESERVES: Kevin Ware, G, 6-5, Fr.; Angel Nunez, F, 6-7, Fr.; Russ Smith, G, 6-0, So.; Zach Price, C, 6-10, Fr.; Tim Henderson, G, 6-2, So.; Jared Swopshire, F, 6-8, Jr.; Elisha Justice, G, 5-10, So.; Wayne Blackshear, G/F, 6-5, Fr. HEAD COACH: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts '74) 280-107 in 12th season at UofL and 634-235 in 28th season as collegiate coach. About Illinois State Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center after a week off as the Cardinals face Illinois State on Saturday. Illinois State (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, falling to Northwestern 69-72 in overtime as senior guard Tyler Brown led the Redbirds with 36 points. Former UofL forward Jared Swopshire, who is using his final year of eligibility as a graduate student at Northwestern, had 15 points and 10 rebounds in that final game of the South Padre Island Invitational. Illinois State returns four starters from its successful 20-14 team a year ago that participated in the NIT, returning 84 percent of its scoring and 92 percent of its rebounding. The Redbirds are picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference. Senior forward Jackie Carmichael is a preseason All-MVC selection. Louisville won the only previous meeting 117-107 in Freedom Hall on March 4, 1974 as Bill Butler and Allen Murphy led the Cardinals with 24 and 20 points, respectively. It was a UofL single-game record for most points scored by both teams (224). Louisville was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1964-75, winning or sharing the league title six years (1967, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975). The Cardinals are 90-39 all-time against current schools in the MVC, having faced all of its 10 league members (Bradley 27-9, Creighton 1-2, Drake 19-7, Evansville 12-13, Illinois State 1-0, Indiana State 6-1, Missouri State 1-0, Northern Iowa 1-0, Southern Illinois 3-2, Wichita State 19-5). The Cardinals beat MVC member Northern Iowa 51-46 last week in the Battle 4 Atlantis (11/22/12). Located in Normal, Ill., Illinois State is the alma mater of Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins, San Diego State men's basketball coach Steve Fisher, PGA golfer D.A. Weibring, Microsoft Senior Vice President Paul Flessner and actors John Malkovich, Jane Lynch and Gary Sinise. By the Numbers 7 - Louisville's rank nationally in turnover margin (+7.3). The Cards have forced an average of 21.0 turnovers a game, scoring 154 of its 445 points off turnovers (35 percent). 2 - Schools with each of its football and men's and women's basketball teams in the top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. UofL (MBB 5, WBB 6, FB 23) and UCLA are the only two. 12 - National rank for UofL in steals, averaging 11.3 per game. UofL has collected double digit steals in five of its six games. Two Cardinals rank among the national leaders: Russ Smith (3.0 steals per game, 10th nationally) and Peyton Siva (2.8, 21st). 20 -Number of games this season that the Cardinals will play against teams that reached postseason competition in 2012, including at least 13 in the NCAA Tournament. 119 - Points needed by Peyton Siva to reach 1,000 for his career, scoring a season-high 19 vs. Duke. UofL has 63 1,000 point scorers, second highest in the nation to North Carolina. Siva is 20th nationally in assists with 6.3 per game. 9 - Division I schools in the nation, including Louisville, which have won 20 or more games in each of the past 10 seasons. Kansas tops the list with a current string of 23 consecutive years, followed by Duke (16), Gonzaga (15), Syracuse (15), Florida (14), Texas (13), Utah St. (13), Pittsburgh (11) and UofL (10). Smith Named to BIG EAST Honor Roll Russ Smith was named to the BIG EAST Conference weekly honor roll for his performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Smith averaged 17 points, six rebounds, 3.3 steals and three assists in three games of the Battle 4 Atlantis as the Cardinals reached the championship game before falling to then-No. 5 Duke. Smith and backcourt mate Peyton Siva were both honored on the Battle 4 Atlantis all-tournament team. Smith had 18 points, six rebounds and six steals in Louisville's victory over then-No. 13 Missouri and produced 17 points and a career high seven rebounds against Duke. Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick was honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Week. Dieng Out 4-6 Weeks With Broken Wrist UofL center Gorgui Dieng will be out 4-6 weeks while recovering from a broken wrist he suffered Nov. 23. Dr. Luis Scheker of the Kleinert Kutz Hand Care Center in Louisville surgically inserted a screw on Nov. 27. Dieng, who has a broken scaphoid bone in his left wrist, fell while taking a charge early in the first half of the Cardinals' 84-61 victory over No. 13 Missouri on Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis. He returned to the game with his wrist taped and played a total of 24 minutes, but sat out the championship game against Duke on Saturday. Dieng is averaging 8.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and two blocked shots through five games this season. He produced his 13th career double-double against Samford with 10 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals. Dieng is a preseason All-BIG EAST selection and is among the top 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award and Naismith Award. Thieving Cardinals Louisville's defense picked up where it left off with last season's stellar effort as the Cardinals have forced an average of 21 turnovers and have collected double-digit steals in five of its first six games. Louisville forced 23 turnovers and grabbed 12 steals against Missouri, led by Russ Smith's season-high six thefts. Smith has at least three steals in four of his five games this season. The Cardinals forced 22 turnovers and had 13 steals against Northern Iowa, with Smith grabbing four steals. UofL had double-digit steals on 16 occasions last season and Smith had three or more steals in 14 games in 2011-12 when he produced a UofL single-season record 87 steals. Manhattan's 27 turnovers were the most for a Louisville opponent since Morehead State had 30 errors on Dec. 27, 2004. The Cardinals collected 16 steals, including five by Russ Smith, and had 11 steals vs. Samford. UofL limited Samford to just 13 points in the first half, the lowest since Arkansas State scored 12 in the first half of a 54-27 victory last season on Nov. 22, 2011. Doing It With D The Cardinals have scored 154 of its 445 points off turnovers (35 percent), including nearly half of its offense against Northern Iowa (25 of 51 points). UofL turned 23 Missouri turnovers into 31 points in the Cardinals' 84-61 victory in the Battle 4 Atlantis. As it did against Northern Iowa in the 51-46 victory, Louisville scored under 60 points to win in seven games last season, including three occasions during its eight-game run to win the BIG EAST Conference Championship and reach the Final Four. High Production Returns While the Cardinals will miss departed starters F Kyle Kuric (12.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 76 three pointers) and G Chris Smith (9.7 ppg, 67 threes), a large percentage of their total production will return. Louisville returns 61 percent of its scoring from the 2011-12 squad (1663 of 2727 points), 63 percent of its rebounding (958 of 1512), 70 percent of its assists (370 of 532) and 60 percent of the total minutes played (4825 of 8100). Louisville returns 10 lettermen and three starters. All-America Siva Louisville senior guard Peyton Siva was named to the All-America team by 2012-13 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Siva joins Indiana's Cody Zeller, Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas, Florida State's Michael Snaer and Creighton's Doug McDermott on the publication's All-America first team. All five grace the cover of this year's Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Siva is also a third-team All-America selection by The Sporting News. Louisville Unique Accomplishment Louisville is the only university in the nation which over the last six years has reached each of the men's and women's Final Four, a BCS bowl game, the College World Series and the Men's Soccer College Cup. Louisville was national runner up in the 2009 Women's Final Four and 2010 Men's Soccer College Cup, won the 2007 Orange Bowl, and participated in the 2012 Men's Final Four and 2007 College World Series. Career Milestones Peyton Siva moved up to fifth in career assists at UofL with six against Missouri (487 total now) and is 12 behind No. 4 DeJuan Wheat (1993-70, 498 assists). Siva's 211 assists in 2011-12 were the second most ever in a UofL single season, 15 behind LaBradford Smith's 226 record assists total in 1989-90. Siva's 181 steals are one short of the career top 10 at UofL; Nate Johnson had 182 steals from 1996-2000. Siva needs 24 points to reach 900 for his career Russ Smith has 118 steals for his career (18 in six games this year, 3.0 average). His 87 steals last season set a new UofL record, previously held by Darrell Griffith (1979-80), Tick Rogers (1994-95) and Terrence Williams (2008-09). Smith passed 600 career points with 17 against Duke in the Cards' last game. Smith reached 100 career assists when he handed out three against Missouri. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial

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