Final Four
There are just four games left in the 2012-13 season and the Cards look to be one of a dozen teams that could challenge for this year's National Championship.

The most encouraging sign is the play of big man Gorgui Dieng. He looks to have finally put his wrist injury behind him and has been playing aggressively over the past three games. Dieng had a career outing on Saturday against Seton Hall when he tallied a career-high 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds. He ended the game by hitting his last eight shots in a row.

Just 24 hours after Coach Pitiino said Luke Hancock would likely miss the game against Seton Hall, Hancock responded with his best game of the season. Coming off the bench to sub for Wayne Blackshear, Hancock posted 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc in the win over Seton Hall. It marked the seventh time in 27 games that he has reached double figures.

One time this season, both Hancock and Blackshear are going to have good games at the same time and that will be truly special. Blackshear was virtually non-exsistant against the Pirates. He played 18 minutes, but didn't score and was forgettable most of the game.

While Blackshear continues to cool, it's a promising sign that Kevin Ware is starting to heat up. Saturday's game was the first time we saw Ware on the floor at the three spot, playing alongside Peyton Siva and Russ Smith. The sophomore connected on a career-high 2-of-5 from behind the arc and also made some great plays on defense.

NFL Combine Update
Adrian Bushell is Louisville's only player at this year's NFL Combine. Part of that is due to the youth throughout Charlie Strong's football team and part of that is because a couple of UofL's offensive linemen were snubbed.

Bushell has done well thus far and looks to be a likely first day draft pick. NFL.com listed his player comparision to that of Tramon Williams. Here's what else NFL.com had to say about Bushell.

STRENGTHS
Confident outside cornerback with good length. Good short-area quickness to adjust to receiver moves off the line, stay with them on double moves, and avoid their blocks in the run game. Gives good effort as a tackler, fights through stiff-arms from larger receivers to drag them down and will shove ball carriers out of bounds-not simply escort them.

WEAKNESSES
Possesses only adequate size to play man-up against more physical receivers, who can also carry him for a few yards after contact if he isn't the aggressor. Lacks explosiveness, will dance instead of hitting a lane hard on kick returns.

BOTTOM LINE
Bushell started his college career at Florida, and then transferred to a junior college to get things in order before re-joining his old coach in Gainesville, Charlie Strong, in Louisville. The 2011 and 2012 All-Big East pick's lean fame belies his persistent and confident nature, and may remind scouts of former Louisville corner Johnny Patrick, who was a third-round pick for the Saints in 2011 with similar size and speed. Bushell has the versatility to play both inside and out, and could be a potential weapon out of the slot due to his blitzing ability.

Speaking of Bushell…
Let's not let the opportunity pass to acknowledge that Bushell was recognized earlier this month by the Scholar-Baller program as one of 63 student-athletes to receive an Academic Momentum Award, which honors academic improvement Bushell is an Administration of Justice major, graduated from Louisville in December. He earned the award because of the amount of credit hours he took over the last two years so that he could earn his degree upon completion of his athletic eligibility.

NBA Update

Coach Pitino is just three wins away from reaching 300 at Louisville in just his 12th season, where he has averaged 25 per season. Pitino has won at least 20 games in a season on 21 different occasions, which ranks sixth among active coaches in 20-win seasons and 15th overall.


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