CardinalSports.com - Pitino not happy after 69-56 win over ETSU

November 21, 2009

Howie Lindsey
CardinalSports.com Managing Editor

An 18-0 first half run put No. 22 Louisville ahead of visiting East Tennessee State 25-10, and the Cardinals never trailed again during a 69-56 win Saturday afternoon at historic Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. Louisville improved to 2-0 on the season and ETSU fell to 1-3.

A lackluster second-half effort by Louisville kept the game from being a blowout. After the game, Louisville coach Rick Pitino kept his players in the locker room for about double the amount of time they normally take after a game.

"We struggled a lot shooting the basketball tonight because we took challenged shots," Pitino told the media after he finished talking to the players. "That's something we've been trying to stay away from - we were 1 of 10 on challenged shots. We didn't create good ball reversal and we didn't take them off the bounce. We paid for it by being sluggish. We didn't get into our press because of our low shooting percentage."

It wasn't the 30-point blowout the Cardinals had against Arkansas in the first game of the season. The Bucs kept within striking distance for much of the second half, but Louisville kept them at bay, scoring just enough to maintain a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

The Cardinals finished the game 6 of 30 from three-point range, including Pitino's aforementioned stat - 1 of 10 on challenged threes.

"We kept taking challenged shots instead of driving the close out," Pitino said. "Anytime we throw a skip pass you want to drive or close out and take the guy on and create a better shot. We didn't do that tonight which is disappointing."

The difference in the game was the first-half run. The score was tied 7-7 and ETSU actually took a 10-7 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half, but Louisville's run blew the game open and the Buccaneers weren't able to recover.

The sophomores started the Louisville run and the seniors kept it rolling. The run began with a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Jared Swopshire. A dunk by sophomore center Samardo Samuels put Louisville ahead 11-10, and the Cardinals pushed ahead 13-10 on a tip-in by sophomore center Terrence Jennings.

After the sophomore start, seniors Jerry Smith, Edgar Sosa and Reginald Delk scored the next 12 points in the game to put the Cardinals up 25-10. Smith hit back-to-back baskets to start the senior's portion of the run the Sosa hit a three at the top of the key and got a steal and a dunk to put Louisville up 22-10. A three by Delk with 6:55 to go put Louisville ahead 25-10.

That was about the only segment of the game Pitino was happy with in the post-game.

"We were playing good defense," Pitino said of the run, before launching back into the critique of his team. "We're getting to the offensive glass, but we're just painfully young. We're making a lot of mistakes."

Louisville increased the lead to 37-21 by halftime with Sosa leading the way with 13 points as 12 different Cardinals saw action.

But as good as Louisville looked during their 18-0 run, they couldn't make a second run in the second half to push the game into blowout territory. Plucky play by the Bucs kept the lead hovering in the teens, and ETSU actually had two opportunities to cut the lead to single digits in the final three minutes of the game.

Sosa led the Cardinals with 16 points while Samuels had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Cardinals 6 of 30 three-pointers included a dismal 0-7 from Smith and 0-4 by freshman point guard Peyton Siva.

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