Cards get even in Big East
Chad | Jan 25, 2012 | Comments 0
The Cards topped a down Villanova team Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center, 84-74. U of L (16-5, 4-4) is now tied for ninth in the conference alongside Seton Hall, whom they will meet Saturday evening in Newark, NJ. Nova fell to 10-11 on the year, 3-6 in the Big East. Five Louisville players, four of them starters, scored in double digits, led by Peyton Siva’s 16.
The Peyton Siva Cards fans know and love is coming back.
Siva, Gorgui Dieng and Kyle Kuric each played 37 minutes or more in a game where Rick Pitino really only let the Cards go seven-deep despite a bevy of foul calls from the officiating crew. Twenty-one fouls were called against U of L, 20 of them against the starters, and Russ Smith and Chane Behanan each fouled out in less than 20 minutes of play.
Still, the Cards were able to defeat Nova by double digits behind 19 assists on their 26 field goals. Siva and Russ Smith each dished out five assists and grabbed four boards. Despite playing much of the game in foul trouble, Dieng finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Behanan finished with 14 points despite playing only 18 minutes due to several questionable foul calls. Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith each added 14 points.
Jared Swopshire hit a big three in the right corner with 1:13 left in the game to put the Cards up by nine and effectively end any chance Nova had of pulling off the upset. The field goal was only Swopshire’s second three pointer of the year, and first since the he hit one against Ohio on November 25.
Nova’s leading scorer Maalik Wayns also played much of the game in foul trouble. He finished with 19 points in only 23 minutes. James Bell added 14 points and 13 boards for the Not-So-Wild-Cats. Dominic Cheek was held to nine points, seven of them coming from the charity stripe, as he missed all six of his three-point attempts.
Louisville has now won two straight since the debacle in Milwaukee a week and a half ago. They will look to move into the top half of the conference with a road win Saturday night against Seton Hall, one of two teams (along with Notre Dame) that the Cards have not beaten on the road since joining the Big East in the 2005-06 season. Seton Hall reeled off four straight wins after dropping their Big East opener to Syracuse, but has since lost three straight to South Florida, Nova and Notre Dame. U of L will then have a week off before playing Rutgers back home in the Big Double Down on February 4.
Filed Under: Basketball
