(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

It was an icy afternoon in Louisville but the Cards were red hot in the Yum Center today beating the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns 113-74. The Cardinals missed the highest point total ever in the Rick Pitino Era by one point but did break the Yum Center scoring record. The Cards have now won 26 straight against non-conference teams at home. They have also won 20 straight against unranked teams. The Cards now move to 8-1 on the season.

You name it and the Cards did it today. They played a very complete game in the Yum Center and picked a good opponent to do it against. The Cajuns were a very good offensive team and did a very good job at keeping the pace with the Cards in the first half. The Cards gave up 47 points to the Cajuns in the first half but only gave up 27 points in the second half. The Cajuns shot 7 of 10 from the 3 point line in the first half but just managed 2 of 16 in the second half. For the game the Cardinals forced 17 turnovers and scored 32 points from them. Coach Pitino said in his post-game that the Cardinal defense still has a long way to go, but they did a pretty good job in the second half against a very efficient offense.

Speaking of offense the Cardinals were lighting it up today in what was probably the best offensive performance of the year for them. They shot 71.4% from inside the arc, and had six players in double figures. Montrezl lead the way with 20 points on 9-10 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Followed by Chris Jones 19 points, Russ with 16 points, and (Welcome back Wayne) with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in what was his best effort of the season. Coach Pitino said in his post-game that he told Wayne he needed to step it up and it looks like he got the message. Coming off the bench Rozier had 11 points and Luke Hancock had 10 points. With his 10 points Luke now has 1000 points in his Cardinal career. These guys had the best effort of the year on the charity stripe shooting 82.5%. The Cards crushed them in the paint outscoring them 60 to 34.

The Cajuns came into this game as a very good rebounding team ranking in the top 70 averaging 41 a game and their best rebounder Shawn Long is ranked 6th in the nation. Today the Cardinals out-rebounded this team 41 to 29 holding them well under their season average and only allowed Long to grab 5 for the game. To me this is one of the most important stats to come out of this win. The Cards had been struggling in this area but today they dominated a very good rebounding team. Rebounding is going to be crucial as the season moves on. We will face a top 3 rebounding team in UK on the 28th. Very happy with this effort today and it’s a hustle stat that shows just how bad this team wants it right now.

With the defensive effort, the offensive out-put, the free-throw shooting, and the rebounding this team took a gigantic step forward this afternoon against what will likely be a NCAA Tournament team in the Cajuns. Players like Rozier and Mango are gaining more confidence, the go to guys like Montrezl, Russ and Chane are really starting to come into their own, Wayne and Luke are starting to get more into the flow of the offense, and Chris Jones is becoming a solid player at the point. Our role player Van Treese is giving his best effort coming off the bench. The depth of this team is starting to become more obvious and nobody played more than 23 minutes today and I can only imagine how great it will be when Ware can get back into the mix. It was a really promising day if you are a Louisville basketball fan and a great game to build from for this team going into the long week off. Its Hoops season… GO CARDS!

Coach Pitino after game:

Wayne Blackshear after game:

Montrezl Harrell after game:

Luke Hancock after game:

Russ Smith after game: