StraitCards Previews: Louisville Cardinals (21-6, 9-5) at Cincinnati Bearcats (19-8, 9-5)
Date – Thursday, February 23, 2012
Location – Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Oh.
Time – 9:05 p.m. ET
Television – ESPN, Mike Patrick (pbp), Len Elmore (color)
Radio – WHAS (840 AM), SIRIUS/XM Ch. 91, Paul Rogers (pbp), Bob Valvano (color)
Series – 53-41 Louisville (last: UC 63, U of L 54, 2/16/11 in Cincinnati
Officials – John Cahill, Jamie Luckie, Bryan Kersey
The Cards head up to the Queen City for their second straight road game following the overtime(?) win at DePaul Saturday afternoon. They will head to Fifth Third Area on the campus of Cincinnati to face the nemesis Bearcats, led by former Rick Pitino assistant Mick Cronin. The old rivals (and Louisville’s most-played rival) meet for the only time in the regular season in 2012, tied at 9-5 for sixth in the Big East. The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight and Cincinnati has won four of their last five.
These teams met once last season. U of L fell by nine at UC while the Bearcats outscored the Cards at the free throw line 16-4. Now a junior, guard Cashmere Wright scored 20 for Cronin’s squad in last year’s contest.
Something something Mick Cronin something Cincinnati "pointed in the right direction."
Pitino will look to get his defense back on track against UC. The Cardinals are sixth in the nation in field goal defense (37.6 percent), but allowed DePaul to make a whopping 51.7 percent in regulation before shutting them down in the overtime period. Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng, Louisville’s shortest and tallest players, respectively, and most important players, collectively, once again got into foul trouble against DePaul and will need to avoid losing minutes against the Bearcats, who start four players averaging double digits in scoring. Siva fouled out in last year’s loss to Cincinnati in only 22 minutes on the floor. The opposition is sure to go right after him this time as well.
Chane Behanan returns to his hometown for the first time as a Cardinal and will look to make Bearcat fans of all ages cry and regret staying awake past their bedtimes for the late tip. Chris Smith, Russ Smith and Kyle Kuric will look to stay hot after lighting up the scoreboards in Rosemont last weekend. The Cards have now won 33 of their last 40 February games since 2006-07 and will look to beat the UC on their campus for the first time since 2009 when the Bearcats tried to unsuccessfully “redout” U of L. This time, a “blackout” will be in order, but the Cards will look for the same result.
The Bearcats will look to jump ahead of Louisville for sole possession of sixth place in the Big East with a win Thursday night. Cincinnati is among the national leaders in turnover margin (+3.4, 19th in the nation), assists-to-turnovers ratio (1.22, 29th) and scoring defense (61.5, 45th). Cronin is 3-4 against Pitino and anticipates evening the count.
UC’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Sean Kilpatrick (15.0 PPG), also leads the Big East in threes made per game (2.67). Kilpatrick scored 18 in last season’s game. Better known for his thuggish attitude and dirty play (and the fact that his name is Yancy, to boot), senior Yancy Gates is actually a pretty good big man, averaging 12.4 PPG and 9.2 RPG. Gates is an inch shorter than Dieng, but has about 25 pounds on him. Gates, who served a six-game suspension earlier in the season for his role in the brawl with Xavier, will be physical with Dieng and it remains to be seen how well Dieng will react and avoid foul trouble. Wright (10.9 PPG) and guard Dion Dixon (13.6) can also fill it up.
Pitino may choose to go with a four-guard lineup against the undersized Bearcats. The lineup worked well to help the Cards come back in the second half at DePaul and may serve a similar purpose on Thursday if UC jumps out to an early lead behind the home crowd.
Both teams want this game for the repercussions in the standings. The fans of both teams want this one because… well because we’re rivals and that’s what we do, even if we’d rather stomp and mud hole in Kentucky or Xavier more than each other. Louisville may have another large contention of fans in the building to boost the team. They certainly needed it against DePaul, but hopefully playing for the standings, seeding, momentum and pride will be enough to motivate U of L on Thursday night.
Louisville Stats
Cincinnati Stats
Jordan Whiting Transferring to Louisville?
Could Ohio State linebacker, and former Trinity Shamrock, Jordan Whiting be coming back home? According to The Lantern, the redshirt sophomore is considering it. A final decision has not been made, but Whiting has been a backup during his time in Columbus and did not record a tackle in 2011. A move to Louisville could be made in order to increase the always coveted playing time.
Here is what Whiting had to say about a possible transfer:
“(A transfer) is not yet set in stone and isn’t on my mind at this time. I’m focused on my school endeavors, keeping in shape with tough workouts and strict nutrition and most importantly letting God direct me in the right direction.”
Jordan was a four-star recruit when he came out of Trinity in 2009. If he were to head to UofL, he would definitely add a great deal of talent to an already young and talented defense. Also, as a Trinity alum myself, I would personally love to see him suit up in red. We will continue to monitor this situation and provide any updates when available.
Join the World’s Biggest St. Patrick’s Day Party Ever
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So, celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day in true Irish fashion – with Guinness, your Pinkie Up! and of course remembering to always drink responsibly.
YOU COULD EVEN WIN A TRIP TO DUBLIN!
Please, say you’ll join us. I promise it won’t be the same without you!
Anton Gill Named TISAC Player of the Year
Louisville commit Anton Gill has been named Triangle Independent School’s Athletic Conference boys player of the year. Gill, a top 40 player in the 2013 class, led his Ravenscroft team to their sixth strait conference title last week and now sets his sights on the state tournament. I could not find a complete stat guide, but according to an article from the Charlotte News-Observer, Anton is averaging 18 points a game this year.
Also, if you get a chance, check out this story about Gill and his teammate Isaac Copeland. These two play together at Ravenscroft, but the interesting part involves their fathers, who played basketball together at East Carolina in the early 90s. It’s a pretty cool story.
SECOND GENERATION HOOP DREAMS
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/02/1824254/second-generation-hoop-dreams.html
Tickets still available for Cincinnati
There are still a number of very cheap ($12 + fees) tickets available for the Cards’ trip to Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Thursday evening. Get your crew together and help Card Nation invade UC with force for ESPN’s national telecast. Also, be sure to wear white so your cheap friends that stayed back in Louisville to watch on TV will be able to pick you out in their blackout crowd.
Grab your tickets straight from the source right here.
2/20 Bracketology: Cards Still a 4 Seed
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his newest Bracketology today and the Cards are still sitting on the four line. Lunardi has Louisville as a 4 seed in the Midwest region, opening play against 13th seeded Iona in Nashville. If UofL were to win, according to Lunardi, they would face the winner of Temple vs. the winner of a projected Miami (FL)/Northwestern play-in game.
Here’s how the rest of the Midwest region looks in terms of seeding:
1. Missouri
2. Ohio State
3. Marquette
4. Louisville
5. Temple
6. New Mexico
7. Vanderbilt
8. Southern Miss
9. California
10. Harvard
11. Washington
12. Miami (FL)/Northwestern
13. Iona
14. Belmont
15. Valparaiso
16. Mississippi Valley State/UNC-Asheville
Obviously, there is still a long way to go in the season, not to mention the Big East tournament, so a lot of movement will still occur. But, if this were to be how Louisville’s tournament shakes out, I wouldn’t be mad at it.
Louisville vs. DePaul Highlights
Want to relive Louisville’s comeback win over DePaul? Well here you go. Enjoy.
Pitino Watches Parker, Other Prospects
Rick Pitino was a busy man this weekend. While in Chicago for Louisville’s match-up with DePaul, Rick also checked in on top 2013 prospect Jabari Parker. The 6-7, five-star forward played in the finals of the City-Suburban shootout and had quite a game. Parker tallied 23 points and 14 rebounds in leading the Simeon Wolverines to a 59-51 win over De La Salle.
Naturally, Jabari has his pick in terms of schools. He’s being recruited by nearly every top program in the country. He plans to trim his list over the summer and will reportedly sign somewhere next November. There’s still a long, long way to go with his recruitment.
However, Parker wasn’t the only prospect Pitino watched during that contest. Also participating in the game were four-star shooting guard Kendrick Nunn, as well as rising power forward Gavin Schilling. The 6-2 Nunn scored 14 points, to go along with 3 steals. The 6-9 Schilling had 10 points and 8 rebounds. You can read about their performances here.
SIMEON HOLDS ON TO DOWN DE LA SALLE
MAXPREPS: NO. 4 SIMEON, NO. 14 PROVISIO EAST WIN IN CHICAGO SHOWCASE
Sunday Morning Hangover – 02/19/12
This Sunday we talked U of L’s win over DePaul and UK’s win over Ole Miss. We were also joined by Louisville women’s basketball head coach Jeff Walz, Mo Egger of ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati and Bellarmine junior guard Chris Dowe. Andrew Miller, of StraitCards.com, was MIA because he lost his voice screaming like a little girl at the Van Halen concert.
The Sunday Morning Hangover with StraitPinkie.com airs every Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon on ESPN 680 and espnlouisville.com.
Listen up!
