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January 12, 2013
Game Day: Cards Welcome USF
Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com
USF vs. Louisville
4:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 12th
Television: Big East Network / WHAS-11
Radio: WKRD (840 AM)
Louisville returns home Saturday to face USF in the 50th game the Cardinals have played in the KFC Yum! Center (43-6 record there). Louisville won its ninth straight in beating Seton Hall 73-58 in its first BIG EAST road game as Gorgui Dieng produced his second straight double-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Bulls (9-5, 0-2) have won seven of their last 10 games, with two of those three losses to ranked opponents. USF fell 53-61 to Villanova in Tampa on Wednesday in its last outing.
USF (9-5, 0-2) | No. | Player | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Pts. | Rb. | | 2 | Victor Rudd | F | 6-9 | 235 | Jr. | 11.6 | 7.9 | | 32 | Toarlyn Fitzpatrick | F | 6-8 | 243 | Sr. | 11.3 | 5.6 | | 0 | Martino Brock | G | 6-6 | 205 | Jr. | 5.3 | 3.6 | | 5 | Jawanza Poland | G | 6-4 | 204 | Sr. | 10.6 | 5.1 | | 11 | Antony Collins | G | 6-1 | 175 | So. | 9.8 | 2.6 |
RESERVES: Musa Abdul-Aleem, G, 6-5, So.; Zach LeDay, F, 6-7, Fr.; Mike McCloskey, G, 6-0, Sr.; Shemiye McLendon, G, 6-3, Jr.; Shaun Noriega, G, 6-4, Sr.; Kore White, F, 6-8, Sr.; Jordan Omogbehin, C, 7-3, Fr.
HEAD COACH: Stan Heath (E Michigan '88) 82-96 in 6th year at USF, 194-173 in 12th yr. overall
University of Louisville (14-1, 2-0)
| No. | Player | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Pts. | Rb. | | 24 | Montrezl Harrell | F | 6-8 | 235 | Fr. | 7.1 | 4.3 | | 21 | Wayne Blackshear | F | 6-5 | 230 | So. | 9.3 | 4.0 | | 10 | Gorgui Dieng | C | 6-11 | 235 | Jr. | 9.3 | 9.0 | | 2 | Russ Smith | G | 6-0 | 165 | Jr. | 19.4 | 3.7 | | 2 | Peyton Siva | G | 6-0 | 185 | Sr. | 11.5 | 2.2 |
RESERVES: Zach Price, C, 6-10, So.; Kevin Ware, G, 6-5, So.; Tim Henderson, G, 6-2, Jr.; Luke Hancock, G/F, 6-4, Jr.; Michael Baffour, G, 6-2, Fr.; Stephan Van Treese, C, 6-8, Sr.
HEAD COACH: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts '74) 288-107 in 12th season at UofL and 642-235 in 28th season as collegiate coach.
About USF
Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face USF on Saturday. The Bulls (9-5, 0-2) have won seven of their last 10 games, with two of those three losses to ranked opponents (then-No. 23/22 Oklahoma State on Dec. 5, No. 7/7 Syracuse on Jan. 6). USF fell 53-61 to Villanova in Tampa on Wednesday in its last outing as Victor Rudd led the Bulls with 12 points.
Guard Anthony Collins is second in the BIG EAST in assists (7.5), ranks fourth in assists-to-turnovers ratio (3.03) and is seventh in steals (1.9). Forward Victor Rudd ranks fourth in the league in rebounding (7.9 rpg). While Louisville is among the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers, USF is 12th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.9, 2nd in the BIG EAST).
The Bulls are allowing teams to shoot just 39.0 percent from the field, ranking 49th nationally. USF is No. 96 in the ratings percentage index and No. 110 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of Jan. 9.
Louisville has a 25-4 series advantage over USF, winning 11 of the last 12 and 14 of the last 16. In last year's meeting in the KFC Yum! Center, Jawanza Poland scored 16 points off the bench to lead USF to a 58-51 victory over Louisville (2-29-12) and breaking an 11-game UofL winning streak.
Series vs. USF
Louisville has a 25-4 advantage over USF in the series which began in 1985. The Cards have won 11 of the last 12 and 14 of the last 16.
In last year's meeting in the KFC Yum! Center, Jawanza Poland scored 16 points off the bench to lead USF to a 58-51 victory over Louisville in the Cardinals final home game of the season (2-29-12). Chris Smith and Kyle Kuric scored 14 points each to lead the Cardinals, which scored a season-low 17 first-half points and produced its second-lowest field goal percentage of the season in the game (.340). USF claimed a 40-29 rebounding advantage.
U of L hit a then school-record 19 three-point goals as the Cardinals beat USF 96-77 on Feb. 1, 2002 in Freedom Hall. Reece Gaines (30 points) and Bryant Northern (21 points) hit seven three-pointers apiece for the Cards in that game.
U of L won nine straight in the series from 1993-1997 before the Bulls' 1998 win in Freedom Hall broke that string. Before last year's USF win, the Cardinals had won 11 straight between 2002-2011.
Louisville won the first meeting of the series 68-61 in Freedom Hall in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (3-20-85). The Cards reached the NIT Final Four that season in New York.
Former U of L Coach Denny Crum gained his 500th career coaching victory at USF, a 98-75 win on Jan. 7, 1993.
U of L Coach Rick Pitino has an 11-2 record against USF. In addition to his 11-1 mark while at U of L, his Boston University team fell 67-61 to the Bulls on Dec. 27, 1981.
USF Director of Basketball Operations Reggie Hanson played his junior and senior seasons at the University of Kentucky under U of L Coach Rick Pitino in Pitino's first two years with the Wildcats, as well as playing one season with the Boston Celtics (1997-98) under Pitino. Hanson was an assistant coach at UK for seven seasons before joining the USF staff.
14-1 Start For Cards
Louisville's 14-1 record is its best since the Cardinals opened with a 16-1 record in the 2003-04 season. The Cardinals were 13-2 through 15 games each of the last two seasons. It is the third time the Cards have won 14 of their first 15 games under UofL Coach Rick Pitino, also accomplishing that feat in the 2002-03 season when U of L started 18-1.
This season, UofL began 5-0 for the third consecutive year, the first time it has had three straight 5-0 starts since the 1949-52 seasons when the Cardinals won their first five in each of those years. UofL won its first 11 games last season and its initial eight games in 2010-11.
Remembering Newtown
As a unified show of support for the Newtown, Conn., community, BIG EAST men's and women's basketball teams will wear green ribbons during the first 26 games of conference play. Student-athletes will wear the ribbons on their shooting shirts during warmups, while coaches and administrative personnel will wear the ribbons throughout their respective games.
Behanan Out
Forward Chane Behanan suffered a sprained left ankle in practice on Jan. 7 and is likely out 7-10 days. He missed the Cardinals' last game at Seton Hall and is doubtful for the Jan. 12 game against USF.
Freshman Montrezl Harrell (7.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg) gained his second start of the season and first since the Cards' opener against Manhattan in place of Behanan. Harrell matched a season-best 14 points in the game, adding three rebounds and two steals against the Pirates. Harrell leads the BIG EAST Conference in field goal percentage (.634, 45-of-71).
Siva Needs 13 For 1,000 Points
Peyton Siva is just 13 points short of becoming the Cardinals' 64th career 1,000 point scorer. Louisville has 63 career 1,000 point scorers all-time, second-most in the nation to North Carolina (67). Russ Smith is the next closest Cardinal with 778 career points.
First Tight Turnaround
Louisville will experience the first of this season's three tight turnarounds in BIG EAST play this weekend. About 49 hours after facing USF on Saturday, the Cardinals will play a 7 p.m. game at Connecticut on ESPN's Big Monday. UofL will also experience Saturday-Monday games in late January and early March.
Career Milestones
Peyton Siva moved up to third in career assists at UofL with eight against Providence (540 total now) and is 5 behind No. 2 Terrence Williams (2005-09, 545 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 two steals against Western Kentucky, Siva moved up to seventh in career steals and needs two for 200 in his career (198 now). Siva is 13 points short of becoming the 64th 1,000 point scorer for UofL.
Russ Smith has 139 steals for his career (39 in 15 games this year, 2.6 average). His 87 steals last season set a new UofL record. Smith passed 700 career points against FIU and needs 22 for 800.
Gorgui Dieng passed 600 career points with 16 at Seton Hall. Dieng blocked his 200th career shot against Providence two games ago when he had four rejections.
Chane Behanan passed 500 career points vs. Western Kentucky and needs three rebounds for 400 in his career.
Stephen Van Treese needs 12 rebounds for 200 in his career.
Card File
Louisville limited Seton Hall to 34.6 percent shooting from the field, including just 28.6 percent in the second half. It was the ninth time this season the Cardinals have held their opponent below 40 percent accuracy from the field. Seton Hall made its second-fewest three-point goals of the season (4-of-16), a team which leads the BIG EAST in three-pointers (8.6 per game) and is second in the league in three-point percentage (.376).
Louisville has shot a collective 49.0 field goal percentage over the last seven games (199-of-406), including 39.0 percent from three-point range (46-of-118). The Cardinals' 78.0 scoring average this season is its highest in seven years. While UofL's defense is highly regarded, the Cards' scoring is just behind its 2005 NCAA Final Four team which averaged 80
Peyton Siva's 19 points against Kentucky marked the fourth time in the last 10 games he has scored as many. He has hit 8-of-18 three-point goals over the last five games (.444) and has made all 16 of his free throw attempts in that stretch. Siva had 15 points, a career-high 12 assists and buried a career-high five three-pointers against FIU, earning Billy Minardi Classic MVP honors.
Wayne Blackshear matched a career-high with 18 points vs. FIU and grabbed a career best eight rebounds. He followed that effort with 17 points and eight rebounds against Western Kentucky. Over the last eight games, he has averaged 10.9 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 48.4 percent from the field, including hitting 15-of-35 three-point goals (.429).
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