December 19, 2012

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com

FIU v. Louisville Wednesday, Dec. 19 7:07 p.m. ET KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. Television: WHAS-TV Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Florida International University Panthers in the 11th Annual Billy Minardi Classic on Wednesday. The Cardinals won 87-78 at Memphis last Saturday as Chane Behanan -- the BIG EAST Player of the Week -- scored a season-high 22 points. FIU (3-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) is coached by former UofL assistant coach Richard Pitino, son of Cards' coach Rick Pitino. FIU fell 73-76 at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 12 in their last outing. FIU (3-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 15 Tymell Murphy F 6-5 210 Jr. 14.0 5.7 33 Tola Akomolafe F 6-6 210 Sr. 5.7 4.6 34 Joey De La Rosa C 6-11 260 So. 3.7 2.0 12 Gaby Belardo G 6-2 180 Sr. 8.6 2.0 24 Malik Smith G 6-2 170 Jr. 16.9 2.4 RESERVES: Manuel Nuñez, G, 6-5, Sr.; Deric Hill, G, 5-9, So.; Marco Porcher, G, 6-4, So.; Jerome Frink, F, 6-6, Fr.; Cameron Bell, G, 6-3, Sr.; Juan Ferrales, G, 6-2, So.; Ivan Jurkovic, C, 7-0, Jr.; Dee Lewis, G, 6-3, Fr. HEAD COACH: Richard Pitino (Providence '05) 3-4 in first year at FIU and overall. University of Louisville (9-1) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 20 Chane Behanan F 6-6 250 So. 10.1 7.3 21 Wayne Blackshear F 6-5 230 So. 8.5 3.4 25 Zach Price C 6-10 250 So. 1.8 2.1 2 Russ Smith G 6-0 165 Jr. 20.2 3.0 2 Peyton Siva G 6-0 185 Sr. 11.7 3.9 RESERVES: Montrezl Harrell, F, 6-8, Fr.; Gorgui Dieng, C, 6-10, Jr.; Kevin Ware, G, 6-5, So.; Tim Henderson, G, 6-2, Jr.; Luke Hancock, G/F, 6-4, Jr.. HEAD COACH: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts '74) 284-107 in 12th season at UofL and 638-235 in 28th season as collegiate coach. Cards By Numbers 1 - Louisville leads the nation in turnover margin (+9.4). The Cards have forced an average of 22.3 turnovers a game, scoring 274 of its 780 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 AP poll. UofL (MBB 5, WBB 14, FB 22) and Ohio State are the only two. 3 - National rank for UofL in steals, averaging 12.1 per game. UofL has collected double digit steals in eight of its 10 games. Two Cards rank among the national leaders: Russ Smith (3.1/game, fifth nationally) and Peyton Siva (2.4, 17th). 17 - Wednesday's game will be the 17th time a father-son coaching matchup has occurred in college basketball and the first in 12 years. Dad has won 14 of the previous 16 matchups (list provided, p. 12 of these notes). 14 - Times over the last three years in which the Cardinals trailed by nine or more points and rallied to win. UofL trailed by 16 at Memphis. 69 - Points needed by Peyton Siva to reach 1,000 for his career. UofL has 63 1,000 point scorers, second highest in the nation to North Carolina. Siva is 34th nationally in assists with 5.8 per game. 1M - Attendance for UofL men's basketball games in the KFC Yum! Center will pass one million at the Cards' game vs. FIU. A total of 989,600 fans have attended 46 games to date in the facility's third year. About FIU Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Florida International University Panthers in the 11th Annual Billy Minardi Classic on Wednesday, Dec. 19 (7:07 p.m., WHAS-TV/BIG EAST Network). FIU (3-4, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) is coached by former UofL assistant coach Richard Pitino (2007-09, 2011-12), son of Cards' coach Rick Pitino. FIU fell 73-76 at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 12 in their last outing as Gaby Belardo had 17 points and seven assists to lead the Panthers. FIU hit 10-of-29 three-point goals in the game and are averaging 7.9 made threes per game. The Panthers are 46th nationally in steals (9.1). FIU finished 8-21 last year and is picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference East Division. Uof L will make it back-to-back games against Sun Belt competition when the Cardinals face Western Kentucky in Nashville on Dec. 22. UofL has a collective 81-44 series record against current members of the Sun Belt Conference, having previously faced 9 of its 12 members (Arkansas-Little Rock 1-0, Arkansas State 3-0, Denver 1-1, Florida International 1-0, Louisiana-Lafayette 8-0, Middle Tennessee 2-0, North Texas 18-3, South Alabama 11-1, Western Kentucky 36-39). Louisville won its only previous meeting against FIU 92-55 in the fifth game played in the KFC Yum! Center (12/1/10) as Preston Knowles' 18 points led five Cardinals in double figures. FIU is No. 229 in the ratings percentage index and 206 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of Dec. 16. Located in Miami, Fla. with an enrollment of 48,000, FIU is the alma mater of actor Andy Garcia, Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton, former Boston Celtics/Miami Heat guard Carlos Arroyo and former Miami mayor Manny Diaz. Tickets on Sale for Dec. 22 Game in Nashville Tickets are on sale now for University of Louisville's men's basketball game against Western Kentucky on Dec. 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Tickets are $35 for lower level seats and $20 for upper level seats and are on sale online only. Career Milestones Peyton Siva moved up to fourth in career assists at UofL with six against Missouri Kansas City (507 total now) and is 21 behind No. 3 Phil Bond (1972-77, 528 assists). Siva is just the fourth player in Uof L history with 500 career 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. With five steals at College of Charleston, Siva moved up to ninth in career steals (188 now). Siva recently passed 900 points for his career and is 69 short of 1,000. Russ Smith has 131 steals for his career (31 in 10 games this year, 3.1 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 needs 11 points to reach 700 for his career. Chane Behanan needs 19 points to reach 500 for his career and 29 rebounds for 400 in his career. Stephen Van Treese needs 22 rebounds for 200 in his career. One Millionth Fan Approaching In just its third year in the spectacular facility, fans attending UofL men's basketball games in the KFC Yum! Center will reach one million soon. A total of 989,600 fans have flocked to the arena to watch the Cardinals in 46 games to date. The one millionth mark will likely be passed in the next home game when the Cardinals face FIU in the Billy Minardi Classic on Dec. 19. 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 Cardinals Reached Ninth Final Four Louisville advanced to its ninth NCAA Final Four and its first since 2005. Only four coaches have coached more Final Four teams than Pitino's six, a feat matched by three others. Pitino is the first coach to lead three different teams to the Final Four. Louisville's NCAA Final Four teams: 1959, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986, 2005, 2012. UofL advanced to its 1986 NCAA Championship by way of the West Region, reached its 2005 Final Four through the West, and has a collective 14-5 record in that region. The Cards have reached the Sweet 16 on 18 occasions and have advanced to the Elite Eight three of the last five years. Western Kentucky Awaits Next Louisville will play its fourth neutral site game of the season as the Cardinals face the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU). WKU (8-3, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) has won six of their last seven games and is off to its best start in five years. The Hilltoppers fell 70-75 at Murray State on Dec. 16 and will play at VCU on Dec. 18 prior to facing the Cardinals. WKU leads the Sun Belt in rebound margin and field goal percentage defense. Western Kentucky is picked to finish third in the Sun Belt Conference East Division. Uof L will make it back-to-back games against Sun Belt competition as the Cardinals faced FIU on Dec. 19 in its game preceding Western Kentucky. Louisville has won three straight and 20 of the last 23 meetings, but WKU has a 39-36 advantage over Louisville in the series which dates back to 1926. In last year's meeting, Russ Smith scored 23 points and Gorgui Dieng added 13 points and 15 rebounds as Louisville beat the Hilltoppers 70-60 in the 10th Billy Minardi Classic in the KFC Yum! Center. Behanan Named BIG EAST Player of the Week Chane Behanan was named to the BIG EAST Conference weekly honor roll for the week of Dec. 10-16. In Louisville's only game of the week, Behanan scored a season-high 22 points and added three rebounds and two steals as the Cardinals overcame a 16-point deficit to win at future BIG EAST member Memphis. Behanan scored 16 points of his points in the second half, including his first three-pointer of the season during a 13-0 second-half run which gave the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish. He hit 7-of-12 shots from the field and 7-of-8 free throws. Behanan has grabbed six or more rebounds in 36 of 50 career games and has scored in double figures on 24 occasions in his career, including five games this season. Card File Over the last six games, Peyton Siva has averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.4 steals and shot 51 percent from the field (30-of-59, 7-18 three-point goals, .389). Siva had 19 points and seven assists at Memphis in his last game. Louisville made 38-of-46 free throws at Memphis, the most the Cardinals have made since converting 39 vs. Villanova on Jan. 11, 2010; and the most the Cards have attempted since also shooting 46 at Kentucky on Jan. 5, 2008. Russ Smith has scored at least 13 points in all 10 games this season. He led the Cardinals with 31 points and five steals against Missouri Kansas City, his fourth game this season with 20 or more points. He has led the team in scoring in six of Louisville's 10 games . Tim Henderson scored a career-high six points vs. UMKC on a pair of three-pointers. Montrezl Harrell scored a season-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench against UMKC. It was his fourth game with at least four rebounds and his .578 field goal percentage leads the team. UofL was down 13 in the first half against Illinois State and trailed 25-33 at halftime. Louisville has rallied from nine or more points down to win on 14 occasions over the last three seasons. Stephan Van Treese played a career-high 34 minutes off the bench against Illinois State, producing six points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. He followed that effort with four points and a season-best 10 rebounds at College of Charleston. Van Treese has averaged 4.4 points and 6.6 rebounds (11-of-15 FG, .733) in the last five games while sharing time at center with Zach Price and replacing injured center Gorgui Dieng. Van Treese played 33 minutes at USF as a sophomore when he totaled career highs of 12 points and 14 rebounds (1/9/11). Memphis shot 51.8 percent from the field against Louisville (29-56), marking only the 10th time in the last four seasons that a UofL opponent has shot at least 50 percent from the field (UofL is 3-7 in those games). Last Saturday's game at Memphis was UofL's second true road game. The Cardinals were 6-5 on the road last year and have won 28 of their last 47 on the road. Louisville is No. 12 in the ratings percentage index and No. 3 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of Dec. 16. The Cardinals' schedule to date is rated No. 32 in the RPI. Board Work Louisville is 20th in the nation in rebound margin (+7.4). The Cardinals have held a rebounding advantage in seven of 10 games this season (6-1 in those games), including four games with at least a 14-rebound margin. After being outrebounded 33-37 by Manhattan in its opening game, the Cardinals' 53-28 rebounding advantage over Samford was its largest in 14 years - - since holding a 56-26 edge over Morgan State on Dec. 30, 1998. UofL had as many offensive rebounds (28) as Samford had in the game and two Cards - Chane Behanan (18) and Gorgui Dieng (13) totaled more as a duo than Samford. The Cardinals had a 47-33 rebounding advantage over Missouri-Kansas City. Jan. 2 Time Change Louisville's Jan. 2 men's basketball game against Providence in the KFC Yum! Center has been moved to a 6 p.m. ET tipoff. The Cardinals' BIG EAST Conference opener, which was originally scheduled at 7 p.m., was moved up an hour so as not to conflict with UofL's Allstate Sugar Bowl football game against Florida on the same night. Coverage for the football game kicks off on Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN. The men's basketball game will be televised on the BIG EAST Network, including locally on WHAS-TV in Louisville. Nunez Departs Sophomore forward Angel Nunez will transfer from the University of Louisville to an undetermined school, a decision reached on Dec. 16. Nunez has not been available to play in any game this season. He missed the Cardinals' opening game against Manhattan with a stomach virus, and the remaining nine games UofL has played with a concussion suffered in practice on Nov. 13. A 6-8 forward from Washington Heights, N.Y., Nunez played in 12 games as a freshman last season, averaging 2.0 points and 0.7 rebounds. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial

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