January 22, 2013

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com

Louisville vs. Villanova Tuesday, Jan. 22 8:00 p.m. ET Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, Pa. (21,000) Television: BIG EAST Network Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Louisville plays its first of two straight on the road as the Cardinals play Villanova at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday. Louisville lost for the first time after winning 11 straight in falling 68-70 to No. 6/6 Syracuse last Saturday, despite 25 points and four steals from Russ Smith. The Wildcats (11-7, 2-3 BIG EAST Conference) had won seven straight before dropping their last three, including a 66-69 loss at Providence in their last game on Saturday as JayVaughn Pinkston led Villanova with 20 points. University of Louisville (16-2, 4-1) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 21 Chane Behanan F 6-6 250 So. 11.4 7.7 21 Wayne Blackshear F 6-5 230 So. 8.9 3.7 10 Gorgui Dieng C 6-11 235 Jr. 8.7 10.2 2 Russ Smith G 6-0 165 Jr. 19.3 3.4 2 Peyton Siva G 6-0 185 Sr. 11.3 2.3 RESERVES: Montrezl Harrell, F, 6-9, Fr.; 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) 290-108 in 12th season at UofL and 644-236 in 28th season as collegiate coach. Villanova (11-7, 2-3) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 13 Mouphtaou Yarou F 6-10 255 Sr. 7.8 5.9 23 Daniel Ochefu F 6-11 245 Fr. 4.2 4.9 4 Darrun Hilliard G 6-6 205 So. 9.9 2.9 15 Ryan Arcidiacono G 6-3 195 Fr. 11.6 1.8 32 James Bell G 6-6 225 Jr. 9.2 4.4 RESERVES: Henry Lowe, G, FR, 5-11; Tony Chennault, G, JR, 6-2; Mislav Brzoja, G, FR, 6-4; Nick McMahon, G, JR, 6-0; Patrick Farrell, F, FR, 6-5; JayVaughn Pinkston, F, SO, 6-6; Achraf Yacoubou, G, SO, 6-4; Maurice Sutton, F/C, SR, 6-11; Dylan Ennis, G, FR, 6-2 HEAD COACH: Head Coach: Jay Wright (Bucknell '83) 248-137 in 12th yr. at VU / 370-222 in 19th yr. overall About Villanova Louisville plays its first of two straight on the road as the Cardinals play Villanova at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday. The Wildcats (11-7, 2-3 BIG EAST Conference) had won seven straight before dropping their last three, including falling 66-69 at Providence on Jan. 19 in its last game. JayVaughn Pinkston led the Wildcats with 20 points in 24 minutes off the bench in that game, in which Villanova committed a season-high 25 turnovers. Pinkston is Villanova's top scorer, averaging 13.3 points per game. Ryan Arcidiacono is among the BIG EAST leaders in three-point goals, hitting 37-of-118 (.314). Villanova is No. 73 in the ratings percentage index and No. 87 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of Jan. 20. Louisville has a 9-8 series edge over Villanova and the Cardinals have won four of the last six matchups, including winning last year's meeting 84-74 in the KFC Yum! Center (1/25/12) as Peyton Siva's 16 points led five Cardinals in double figures. 16-2 Start For Cards Louisville's 16-2 record matches its best start since the Cardinals also opened with a 16-2 record in the 2003-04 season. The Cardinals were 13-4 through 17 games last season. It is the third time the Cards have won 16 of their first 18 games under UofL Coach Rick Pitino, also accomplishing that feat in the 2002-03 season when U of L started 18-1, second best ever at UofL (best: 19-1 in 1955-56 for UofL's NIT Championship team). 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. Cards Lead in BIG EAST Wins Louisville has the most BIG EAST Conference victories over the last six years during the regular season (since 2006-07), posting a league-best 79-32 record. Since the 2005-06 season when the Cardinals first joined the BIG EAST, Louisville (85-42) is just behind Syracuse (86-41) in league victories during the regular season, with both schools ahead of next-in-line Pittsburgh (82-44). Louisville has won or finished second in the BIG EAST on three occasions. Cards by Numbers 2 - Louisville is second nationally in turnover margin (+7.5). The Cards have forced an average of 19.7 turnovers a game, scoring 449 of their 1375 points off turnovers (33%). 2 - School with each of its football and men's and women's basketball teams in the top 25 in the AP poll. Louisville (MBB 5, FB 13, WBB 13) and Notre Dame are the only two. 3 - National rank for UofL in steals, averaging 11.4 per game. UofL has collected double digit steals in 15 of its 18 games. Two Cards rank among the national leaders: Russ Smith (2.4/game, 18th nationally) and Peyton Siva (2.2, 32nd). 3.41 - Collective grade point average for the men's basketball team for the 2012 fall semester, a school record. A total of 15 of 17 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 or better GPA and a dozen are above a 3.25 cumulative GPA. UofL has earned the last two BIG EAST Conference Team Academic Excellence Awards. 5 - Blocked shots by Gorgui Dieng vs. Syracuse, a season-high. It moved Dieng into second in all-time blocks for the Cardinals with 211 total. He has blocked a shot in 72 of 81 career games. Dieng added a career-high 6 assists vs. Syracuse. 25 - Points scored by Russ Smith against Syracuse, his fifth game in the last seven with 20 or more points. He added four steals, his ninth game this season with three or more thefts. Smith's 19.3 scoring average is 22nd nationally and he has led UofL in scoring 11 times. Special "Color" Events Set For Upcoming Home Games University of Louisville men's basketball fans can participate in two "color" events later this season. A "White Out" is scheduled for the Feb. 3 game against Marquette in the KFC Yum! Center on Super Bowl Sunday. The annual "Wear Red for the Seniors" game is set for March 9 when the Cardinals face Notre Dame in the final home game of the season. Cardinal fans are encouraged to wear white and red attire on those respective days Career Milestones Peyton Siva moved up to second in career assists at UofL with four at Connecticut (551 total now) and is 162 behind all-time leader LaBradford Smith (1987-91, 713 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 three steals at UConn, Siva moved up to sixth in career steals and passed 200 for his career vs. USF (204 now). Siva's 17 points vs. USF made him the 64th 1,000 point scorer for UofL. Siva needs three rebounds for 300 in his career. Russ Smith has 144 steals for his career (44 in 18 games this year, 2.4 average). His 87 steals last season set a new UofL record. Smith passed 800 career points at UConn. Gorgui Dieng 600 for his career with eight against Syracuse. He passed 600 career points with 16 at Seton Hall. Dieng blocked his 200th career shot against Providence when he had four rejections. Chane Behanan needs 29 points for 500 in his career. Series vs. Villanova Louisville has a 9-8 series edge over Villanova, with the Cardinals winning four of the last six meetings. Louisville won last year's meeting 84-74 in the KFC Yum! Center (1/25/12) as Peyton Siva's 16 points led five Cardinals in double figures. The Wildcats led 44-39 at the half, but a 12-2 UofL run to start the second half put the Cardinals in front for good. Maalik Wayns led Villanova with 19 points while James Bell added 14 points and 13 rebounds. On Louisville's last visit to Philadelphia, Corey Stokes scored 23 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures as No. 7 Villanova beat Louisville 88-74 (1/12/11). Villanova held a tight 42-41 edge at halftime before pulling away in the second half by shooting 60.7 percent from the field in the second period and holding a 41-25 rebounding advantage for the game. Preston Knowles scored 24 points, hitting 6-of-10 three-pointers, to lead the Cardinals. Five meetings between the schools have come at neutral sites in tournament action (KIT, Maui Classic, Great Alaska Shootout, NCAA Tournament, BIG EAST Tournament). The teams have met once in NCAA Tournament action, with the Cardinals winning 68-64 over the 10thranked Wildcats on March 17, 1996 in Milwaukee, Wisc. in the NCAA Midwest Region second round. DeJuan Wheat led U of L with 19 points and three assists in that game as the Cardinals advanced to their 13th NCAA Sweet 16. U of L Coach Rick Pitino has a 7-8 record against Villanova (2-3 at Providence, 1-0 at Kentucky, 4-5 at Louisville). Louisville opened its 1997-98 season with a 76-66 victory over Villanova Coach Jay Wright's Hofstra team in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout (12/27/97). Big Crowds Louisville fans have flocked to the KFC Yum! Center. In 20 home games in 2011-12, Louisville averaged 21,503 fans, topped only by Syracuse and Kentucky. A single-game record crowd of 22,814 witnessed the top-ranked Cardinals fall to No. 6-Syracuse on Jan. 19 this season. The top crowd last season came on Feb. 26 when the Cardinals faced Pittsburgh in front of 22,746 fans, sixth-largest ever in KFC Yum! Center. Three preseason intrasquad scrimmages, including one televised live locally, drew crowds of 10,355; 9,432 and 7,447 fans. Card File Gorgui Dieng has produced a double-double in three of five BIG EAST games this season and leads the league in rebounding for conference games only (13.0 per game). Louisville has outscored its opponent's bench in 14 of 18 games this season and has committed fewer turnovers than its foe in 17 of 18 games (all but vs. Duke). Louisville has had just single-digit turnovers in four games, including nine in its last game against Syracuse. Louisville's game against USF on Jan. 12 was its 50th in the KFC Yum! Center, where the Cardinals are 44-7 in three seasons. Louisville limited Seton Hall to 34.6 percent shooting from the field, including just 28.6 percent in the second half. UofL has held 10 of its opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field this season. Peyton Siva's 17 points against USF marked the fifth time in the last 12 games he has scored as many. He has hit 13-of-32 three-point goals over the last seven games (.406) 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. Russ Smith has scored in double digits in all but one game this season (8 pts. vs. USF). Despite scoring just 11 points at Seton Hall, he produced season highs of seven rebounds and six assists. Smith led the Cardinals with 25 points against Syracuse, his ninth game this season with 20 or more points. He has led the team in scoring in 11 of Louisville's 18 games and his 19.4 scoring average ranks among the top 30 nationally. Russ Smith has a steal in 57 of 73 career games. Peyton Siva has handed out six or more assists in nine of the Cardinals 18 games, including dishing out at least 10 on three occasions this year. He handed out six assists against Syracuse in his last game. UofL was down 10 in the first half at Connecticut and trailed 28-34 at halftime. Louisville has rallied from nine or more points down to win on 16 occasions over the last three seasons, including four times this season Doing It With D The Cardinals have scored 449 of their 1375 points off turnovers (33 percent). Louisville is averaging 24.9 points per game off turnovers. UofL turned 16 Syracuse turnovers into 21 points in the Cardinals' last game, collecting 12 steals in the game. As it did against Northern Iowa in its 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. Dieng Swats in Record Numbers Gorgui Dieng's 128 blocks last season set a new Louisville record, 26 more than Pervis Ellison's previous record of 102 swats in 1987-88. That will be tough to accomplish this season, since Dieng missed seven games with a broken wrist. Dieng's 211 career blocks are the second most all-time at UofL, passing Charles Jones' 208 career swats (1980-84) with five against Syracuse. Dieng has blocked a shot in 72 of 81 career games, including 52 with multiple blocks (7 of 11 this year, 32 of 40 in 2011-12). He swatted at least five shots on 11 occasions as a sophomore. Dieng led the BIG EAST and ranked eighth nationally in blocked shots last year, averaging 3.2 per game. He matched a career-high with seven blocked shots against Michigan State in the West Region semifinals, tying Pervis Ellison (7 vs. Illinois, 1989) for the most by a UofL player in an NCAA Tournament game. He also was productive on the boards last year, grabbing at least eight rebounds in 25 games last season -- including pulling down 12 boards against Kentucky in the national semifinals -- and was third in the BIG EAST in rebounding (9.1) Georgetown Awaits Next Louisville plays its second straight on the road and its third road game in the last four as the Cardinals play Georgetown at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on Saturday (Jan. 26, Noon ET, ESPN). The Hoyas (12-4, 2-3 BIG EAST Conference) have won three of their last four, but fell 58-61 at USF on Jan. 19 in their last game after leading 31-23 at the half. Georgetown will play at Notre Dame on Jan. 21 before facing the Cardinals. Georgetown is No. 57 in the ratings percentage index and No. 50 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of Jan. 20. Georgetown has an 8-4 series advantage over Louisville. The Hoyas have won the last three matchups, including a 71-68 victory over the Cardinals in the BIG EAST Conference opener last season as Markel Starks scored 20 to lead Georgetown (12/28/11). Louisville had won its first 12 games of the season before that loss. Ten of the Cardinals last 12 games will be on national television networks. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial

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