March 9, 2013

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com

Notre Dame vs. Louisville Saturday, March 9 4:05 p.m. ET KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (49-7, 3rd yr.) Television: CBS Radio: WKRD (790) Game Preview Louisville will play its final regular season game on Senior Day in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face Notre Dame on Saturday. A UofL victory on Saturday would provide at least a share of the BIG EAST Championship. Fans are encouraged to "Wear Red for the Seniors." Louisville won its sixth straight and ninth in the last 10 games in beating Cincinnati 67-51. Notre Dame (23-7, 11-6 BIG EAST Conference; 24th AP & USA Today), has won five of its last seven games. Notre Dame (23-7, 11-6) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 24 Pat Connaughton F 6-5 212 So. 8.2 4.6 25 Tom Knight F 6-10 258 Sr. 4.9 3.5 45 Jack Cooley F 6-9 246 Sr. 13.8 10.7 0 Eric Atkins G 6-2 182 Jr. 11.8 2.8 22 Jerian Grant G 6-5 202 Jr. 13.5 2.7 RESERVES: Zach Auguste, F, Fr., 6-10; Patrick Crowley, G, Jr., 6-3; Garrick Sherman, C, Sr., 6-10; Scott Martin, G, 6-8; Eric Katenda, F, Fr., 6-9; Austin Burgett, F, Fr., 6-9; Joey Brooks, G, Sr., 6-6; Mike Broghammer, F, Sr., 6-9 HEAD COACH: Mike Brey (G. Washington '82) 283-137 in 13th yr. at ND/382-191 in 18th yr. overall University of Louisville (25-5, 13-4) No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Pts. Rb. 21 Chane Behanan F 6-6 250 So. 10.5 7.1 20 Wayne Blackshear F 6-6 230 So. 8.3 3.4 10 Gorgui Dieng C 6-11 235 Jr. 9.9 10.0 2 Russ Smith G 6-0 165 Jr. 18.4 3.7 2 Peyton Siva G 6-0 185 Sr. 9.8 2.2 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.; Michael Baffour, G, 6-2, Fr.; Stephan Van Treese, C, 6-8, Sr.; Luke Hancock, G, 6-5, Jr. HEAD COACH: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts '74) 300-111 in 12th season at UofL and 654-239 in 28th season as collegiate coach. About Notre Dame Louisville will play its final regular season game on Senior Day in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame (23-7, 11-6 BIG EAST Conference; ranked No. 24 AP, No. 24 USA Today), UofL's fourth repeat opponent this season, has won five of its last seven games, including a 66-40 victory over St. John's on Tuesday in its last game. The Irish outscored St. John's 44-14 in the second half as Jerian Grant led Notre Dame with 21 points and seven assists. Notre Dame leads the nation in assists/turnovers ratio (1.58) and is 24th nationally in field goal percentage, burying 47.3 percent of its shots. Notre Dame is No. 46 in the ratings percentage index and No. 22 in the Sagarin Ratings through games of March 5. Louisville has an 18-12 series advantage over the Irish, with eight of the last 13 meetings have been decided in overtime. The Cardinals fell 101-104 to Notre Dame in five overtimes earlier this season (2-9-13). Cards vs. Notre Dame Louisville has an 18-12 all-time record against Notre Dame. The Cardinals have won 13 of the last 18 against the Irish. Eight of the last 13 have been decided in overtime. In the BIG EAST semifinals in New York last year, Peyton Siva produced a nearly triple-double performance with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to lead Louisville to a 64-50 victory over No. 23 Notre Dame (3/9/12). Gorgui Dieng scored 16 points to lead the Cardinals, who shot a season-best 56 percent from the field while limiting the Irish to 35.8 percent. Jerian Grant scored 12 to pace Notre Dame while Jack Cooley added 11 points and 11 rebounds. UofL went on to win the 2012 BIG EAST Championship with a 50-44 victory over Cincinnati in the title game. The teams also met in the 2011 semifinals as Louisville recovered from a 16-point first-half deficit vs. No. 4 Notre Dame to claim an 83-77 overtime victory (3/11/11). The teams have met once in the NIT, with Notre Dame prevailing 79-71 in the quarterfinals on March 20, 1973. The Irish lost to Virginia Tech in the NIT championship game that year. Notre Dame was the Cardinals' first-ever opponent in Freedom Hall -- its home for 54 years -- on Dec. 22, 1956 when U of L won 85-75. U of L Coach Rick Pitino has a 10-7 record against Notre Dame (0-1 at Boston U., 0-1 at Providence, 4-0 at Kentucky, 6-5 at Louisville). Pitino Wins 300th at Louisville Louisville coach Rick Pitino claimed his 300th coaching victory at Louisville in his 12th season with the Cardinals on March 4 vs. Cincinnati. The Hall of Fame finalist has averaged nearly 25 victories at Louisville with a 300-111 record, 10th best in the nation over the last 12 years. He gained his 650th career collegiate coaching victory with the Cardinals' victory at USF on Feb. 17. Pitino has a 654-239 record in his 28th collegiate season. He has led the Cardinals to 20 wins for the 11th straight season and his 21st overall, sixth among active coaches. Cards Have Won Last Six In winning its last six games, Louisville has limited its opponents to 35.5 percent shooting from the field and 53.7 points per game, forced an average of 17.8 turnovers and collected an average of 10.5 steals. Over the last six, the Cardinals have shot 74.1 percent from the free throw line and have a +15.3 scoring margin, with three of the six victories coming on the road. Individually in that stretch, Russ Smith is the scoring leader, averaging18.5 points per game, and Gorgui Dieng has averaged a double-double (11.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg). Wear Red for the Seniors March 9 University of Louisville men's basketball fans are encouraged to wear red for the Cardinals' March 9 home finale against Notre Dame in its annual "Wear Red for the Seniors" game in the KFC Yum! Center. The team will wear special adidas uniforms as well. Fans participated in a "White Out" for the Feb. 3 game against Marquette this season. Senior Day for Marra, Siva and Dieng It will be Senior Day for the Cardinals when Louisville closes its season against Notre Dame, with a pregame ceremony honoring those players participating in their final home game in the KFC Yum! Center. Cardinal fans should be in their seats by 3:45 p.m. for the video presentation and live ceremony for the seniors. The trio which will participate in Saturday's Senior Day -- seniors Mike Marra and Peyton Siva, as well as junior Gorgui Dieng -- have helped the Cardinals win 100 games over the last four years (100-38 record, .724) and have been a part of three straight NCAA Tournament squads, reaching the Final Four last year. Louisville has won 10 of its last 11 Senior Day games. 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 18.8 turnovers and have collected double-digit steals in 23 of its 30 games. UofL, which is third in the nation in turnover margin (+6.0) and is second in steals (10.8), is rated as the top defense in the nation in Ken Pomeroy's rankings through March 4. Louisville forced 21 turnovers and collected 12 steals in its last game against Cincinnati, led by Chane Behanan's four steals. Russ Smith has at least three steals in 12 games this season and Peyton Siva has three or more in seven games. 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. Cardinal opponents have had more turnovers than field goals in 11 games this season. Manhattan's 27 turnovers were the most for a Louisville opponent since Morehead State had 30 errors on Dec. 27, 2004. The Cardinals matched those 27 forced turnovers at College of Charleston. Louisville limited Samford to just 13 points in the first half, the lowest since Arkansas St. scored 12 in the first half of a 54-27 victory last season on Nov. 22, 2011. Cards Clinch Louisville has clinched one of four double byes in the 2013 BIG EAST Championship to be played March 12-16 in New York's Madison Square Garden. The Cards will play their first game in the quarterfinals. Brackets will be set on Saturday Cards Will Wear Special Red Uniforms March 9 The UofL team will wear new adidas red Cardinal uniforms for its March 9 game. Designed and developed by adidas, the special uniforms feature solid color blocking of team logos, word marks and numbers with minimal accent color and shimmer finish for a bold on-court look. The uniform content is similar to the Cardinals' regular white uniforms, with a monochromatic approach. The design is similar in spirit to those worn by select NBA teams on Christmas Day 2012 and UofL's "White Out" uniforms worn at home since its Feb. 3 game. Career Milestones Peyton Siva moved up to second in career assists at UofL with four at Connecticut (626 total now) and is 87 behind all-time leader LaBradford Smith (1987-91, 713 assists). Siva is just the fourth player in Uof L history with 500 career assists and became just the second with 600 when he handed out six against St. John's. Siva's 211 assists in 2011-12 were the second most ever in a UofL single season and his 177 this year already rank sixth. With two steals against Seton Hall, Siva moved up to third in career steals (225 now). He is just five short of the career record of 230 by Darrell Griffith. Siva passed 1,100 career points against Cincinnati(1,108 now, No. 49 at UofL). Russ Smith has 163 steals for his career, 19 short of breaking into the career top ten at Louisville. His 87 steals last season set a new UofL record and his 63 this year are five short of the single-season top 10. Smith's 17 points at DePaul made him the 65th career 1,000 point scorer at UofL (1,138 now, No. 60 at UofL). Gorgui Dieng passed 700 career rebounds with 14 at Syracuse. He needs 44 points for 800 in his career. Chane Behanan needs 16 points for 800 in his career. He grabbed his 500th career rebound with nine at DePaul. Magnificent March Over the past nine years (since 2005), Louisville has a collective 43-18 record during the month of March. UofL coach Rick Pitino has a 111-40 collegiate record in the month of March (.733), including a 54-25 mark at Louisville. UofL has a 12-5 record in regular season games in March over the last nine years (since 2005). Add in another closing month of February and the Cardinals are 62-20 in those two closing months in the last nine years during the regular season (.753). UofL has a 36-9 record (.800) during the month of February over the last six years, dating back to the 2007-08 season (6-1 this season, 5-2 each of the last two years). Cards Fall in Five Overtime Battle Louisville fell 101-104 in five overtimes at Notre Dame on Feb. 9 in the longest game in both UofL and BIG EAST history. The Cardinals had previously played in four triple-overtime games, the last a 77-74 victory at Marquette on Feb. 24, 2001. The previously longest BIG EAST game was a 116-11 four overtime Notre Dame win over Georgetown on Feb. 9, 2002 -- 11 years to the day prior to the Cardinals' five OT game. It was the first game the Cardinals ever lost when scoring 100 points. Louisville has an all-time 104-1 record when hitting the century mark. It was the first time the Cards had allowed 100 points in a game since a 101-80 loss at Cincinnati on Feb. 22, 2003. Three Cardinals produced double-doubles in the game. Chane Behanan scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Russ Smith scored 21 points and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds, and Gorgui Dieng produced his 18th career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Luke Hancock scored a career-high 22 points off the bench to give the Cardinals three players with over 20 points. Eight players fouled out, including four from each team. Louisville had held a 56-48 lead with 51 seconds remaining in regulation. The score was tied at 60-60 at the end of regulation. UofL held a lead in each of the overtime periods. The game lasted three hours and 36 minutes. Louisville scored a season-low 24 first-half points. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial

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