The Cardinals have hit the road and won’t play another home game for several weeks. They are currently in Miami and will play the FIU Panthers on Saturday . Tip-off is set for 6:07 p.m. and the game will be televised on FOX Sports 1. The Cardinals lead this series 2-0 and won 79 to 55 last December when the teams played. Louisville has won five straight heading into the game Saturday. It will be the highest ranked team that FIU has ever hosted and the only defending national champion.

This FIU basketball team had a pretty rough off season losing Richard Pitino to Minnesota and also had several transfers after finding out that they would be getting a post season ban this year due to academic issues. They did hire another good coach in Anthony Evans and despite losing three starters and seven letter-winners from last year’s team they do return 46.5 percent of their scoring from the 2012-2013 campaign.

FIU comes into Saturday’s game averaging 73.7 points-per-game, while shooting 46.4% from the floor and 34.6% from 3-point range. The Panthers are converting 68% of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, FIU is allowing 65.5 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 39.1% from the floor. The Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 415-335 with a rebounding margin of +8 averaging 41.5 boards-per-contest. FIU’s 493 total rebounds currently 5th in the nation.

Leading the Panthers offensively is SR Tymell Murphy (16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds), SR Rakeem Buckles (14.7 points, 10.5 rebounds), JR Dennis Mavin (10 points, 4 rebounds) and SR Raymond Taylor (12.2 points, 2.7 rebounds). Both Murphy and Buckles have combined for 45 total blocks – the most by any duo in C-USA this season and both are very good rebounding and offensive threats. Mavin enters Saturday’s game as the team’s leader in steals with 21 and is averaging 1.8 steals-per-game. Taylor a transfer from FAU was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection and posted a top-35 assist rate. He is averaging a impressive 6.2 a game this season.
Other contributors are SOPH Jerome Frink (9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds) who’s big on the offensive boards, Seven-foot SR Ivan Jurkovic who was starting at the end of last season, but the Croatian has played reserve minutes this year, and JR guard Marco Porcher Jimenez (7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds) has proved to be a reasonable 3-point threat at 35%.

Florida International
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
72.3
204th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
41.1
25th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
11.8
261st
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.461
114th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #215
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-104.6 ranks 193rd
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-101.1 ranks 222nd

I would be lying if I said that this game didn’t loom in my mind a little. This FIU team is very athletic and their hustle stats are off the charts. This is one of the top rebounding groups in the nation. The game Saturday is literally going to be their NCAA. They don’t get a chance for post season play so this is it for them. They are also throwing out all of the stops as the game is a white out. That little gym where the Panthers are 210-170 all-time, had 17 winning seasons including a perfect 13-0 mark during the 1992-93 campaign will be as hostile as the Cardinals will see this season. Coach Pitino wanted a good road test before Kentucky and he will get it in this game. Our guys have been trending upwards and Saturday they will have every facet of their game taken to task. I really feel like this one will be close for a bit, but do think the Cards overall talent at every position will win out in the end. Toughest challenge yet for our team other than UNC. Will be exciting…. Go Cards!

Our Louisville Cardinals will play in front of a national audience at 9:00pm Tuesday night on ESPN 2 when they face the Missouri State Bears. This will be the second game in the series between these schools. The Cardinals have met the Bears just once on the hardwood coming away with a 74-56 Cardinals victory at Freedom Hall in the quarterfinals of the 2006 NIT (3/22/06). The Cardinals come into this game on a four game winning streak and 9-1 on the season. The Bears have won their last two games, are 8-1 and were picked to finish 5th in the Missouri Valley conference.

Coach Paul Lusk has a roster deep with talent and rich with potential. And last season’s most inexperienced Valley team boast one of the deepest benches in the country, sharing the national lead with 12 players averaging 10.0 minutes per game or more. The Bears reserves have accounted for 322 points this season which translates to 46.4 percent of the team’s 694 total points. MSU is getting 35.8 points per game from its bench players. After an 11-22 rebuilding campaign a year ago, Paul Lusk’s troops have turned things around with their first 8-1 start since 2006-07. The club’s current .889 win-loss percentage is an increase of .556 over last year’s .333 percentage.

Leading this team is Sr Jarmar Gulley (13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Soph Marcus Marshall (13.4 points, 2.6 rebounds). Marshall last year’s Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year is a decent scorer, who can hurt you with his jump shot and ability to get to the rim, whereas Gulley is a powerful inside scorer and the team’s best rebounder who missed last season as a medical redshirt.
Other players who are big for the bears are Sr Keith Pickens (5 points, 4.2 rebounds) a decent scorer, but his real ability lies in his defensive prowess, Jr Christian Kirk (8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds) the most productive player coming off their bench, Fr Austin Ruder (8 points, 1.8 rebounds) has knocked down multiple 3-pointers in six of his first nine college ball games. He ranks 6th in the MVC in 3-point accuracy (.442) and 3rd in treys per game (2.1). Jr Ron Mvouika (6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds) a community college transfer who has a size advantage over many at his position and injects offense into this team.

This team is averaging 77.1 points a game with a scoring margin of +8.2 and they average 7.2 three pointers a game at 37%. They have a -0.6 rebounding margin. They do a good job at sharing and taking care of the ball averaging 12.3 assist a game, just 9.9 turnovers a game with a turnover margin of +3.4. Their assist/turnover ratio is 1.25.

Missouri State
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
77.1
93rd
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
34.9
212th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
12.3
219th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.449
170th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #123
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-102.4 ranks 150th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-105.6 ranks 130th

Coach Pitino was emphatic in his post-game on Saturday about Cardinal Nation being at the game on Tuesday night saying this would be one of our toughest games up to this point in the season. Deep teams are always a little more dangerous because they can keep fresh guys coming into the game and it takes away that fatigue factor. This is an aspect of the ball game the Cardinals emphasize. Chris Jones is expected to play in this one so the Cards will have their second leading scorer back. His minutes may be limited in his first game back and if so it will be another opportunity for some other guys to step up and get quality time. This is going to be a game that will test the Cardinals efficiency and we’ll see if Mango can keep trending upwards. Since being injected into the Cardinals line-up he is starting to measure up to some of Gorgui’s numbers. Dieng had a block rate of 9.4 percent and committed 3.3 fouls per 40 minutes, and Mathiang’s block rate is 8.2 percent and he’s fouling 3.6 times per 40 minutes. This game might be close and competitive for the first half but eventually the Cards have too much talent and will run away with this one.

After a week without any basketball games the Cardinals will return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon to face in-state rival Western Kentucky. Surprisingly the Hilltoppers lead the series against the Cardinals 39-37. Like our other instate rival up the road they were a solid program during the 30’s and 40’s and beat the Cards up during those two decades. But the Cards have won 21 out of the last 24 games in this series. The Hilltoppers come into this game 5-3 and they were picked to finish 3rd in the Sun Belt Conference.

Coach Ray Harper’s roster offers perimeter shooting, shot blocking, on-ball defense and most importantly he’ll tell you heart. They return four starters from last season’s NCAA tournament team including 72 percent of their scoring and 66.1 percent of their rebounding, led by junior guard T.J. Price (15.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assist a game) and junior forward George Fant (13.9 points, 6 rebounds a game). Price leads the team in scoring, and, is the Hilltopper with the highest usage rate, he is the spearhead of the offense. Fant also is a high usage player, though less efficient. He is the team’s best rebounder and shot-blocker, and excels at getting to the line, though he sinks just 54% of his free throws. Their other starters are Aaron Adeoye (5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds a game) was a third team All-American last year at John A. Logan College, Brandon Harris (9.8 points, 5 rebounds a game) the primary ball handler on this team he was named Sun Belt conference player of the week after scoring 30 in the last game, and Payton Hulsey (5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds a game).

They are getting good bench minutes out of Center Aleksej Rostov (3.6 points, 3.1 rebounds), Kevin Kaspar (3.4 points, 1.5 rebounds), Brandon Price (2.5 points, 1 rebound), and will be getting more help as transfers Trency Jackson and Chris Harrison-Docks will become eligible before Saturday. Jackson played 11 games at Texas Tech and averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 22 minutes per game. Harrison-Docks is a transfer from Butler and is the son of former UK player Chris Harrison. Both will be backing up the PG spot.

The Hilltoppers are scoring 63.6 points a game with a scoring margin of +1.3, grabbing 36.6 rebounds a game with a +4.1 margin, sharing the ball with 11.3 assist per game and Turning the ball over 15.6 times a game for a assist/turnover ratio of 0.6.

Western Kentucky
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
63.6
330th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
36.6
160th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
11.3
287th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.390
339th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #174
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-98.4 ranks 61st
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-98.0 ranks 281st

In my opinion this Western Kentucky team will be a NCAA Tournament team. They have the parts but just have to get them all working together. I think the versatility of their line-up will be a good challenge for the Cardinals defense and Fant down low will be another great test for our front-court. Coach Pitino has had the Cards in the gym for a week and I expect to see this team to look very sharp on Saturday. This one really shouldn’t be that close.

The Basketball team will return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon at 1PM in the Yum Center. They will face the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns. The game can be seen locally on WHAS TV or on ESPN3. The Cards have won 19 straight over unranked opponents and 24 straight non-conference home games. The Ragin Cajuns have dropped 12 straight against ranked opponents. Louisville is 8-0 in this series against Louisiana-Lafayette and the last time these teams played was on Dec. 23, 2009, in Freedom Hall.

“We’re excited about those guys (Payton and Long) and our new guys, too,” Bob Marlin said. “We’ve got some depth and some guys who can step in and play. We’re deeper at guard than we’ve been and deeper on the frontline than we’ve been.”

Picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Head Coach Bob Marlin is optimistic as the Cajuns seek their first winning season since 2005. That’s also the last year the program made the NCAA tournament another thing on the Cajuns list this season. This team doesn’t do anything exceptional but they do a lot of things well. They are averaging 84.4 points and shooting 47.5 percent, 36% from the three. They take pretty good care of the ball averaging 15 turnovers to 14 assist. This will be one of the better rebounding teams that the Cards have faced this season averaging 41 a game.
This team returns all their major contributors from last season including their two best players and two of the Sun Belt’s top players in preseason all-conference first-team selections Elfrid Payton (19.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5 assist) and Shawn Long (20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds). Payton is the team’s star and his performance last year helped earn him a spot on the U-19 USA team this summer at the World Championships. He’s also excellent at reaching the free throw line and his offensive output could be even higher if he makes more than 64 percent of his free throws. Long is less efficient than Payton but is a phenomenal rebounder and is ranked 6th in the nation in that category. Still, Marlin will need other players to step up if UL-Lafayette is going to contend with the Cards. Starters Elridge Moore (7.1 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Steven Wronkowski (6 points, 3 rebounds) both recorded sub-90 offensive ratings last season. They have been better shooters and had fewer turnovers this season making them more effective. Starter Kevin Brown (6.8 points, 1.6 rebounds) has also stepped up for this team. Their key reserves are Kasey Shepherd (6.9 points, 2.1 rebounds) and Xavian Rimmer (8.6 points, 2 rebounds).

The Ragin Cajuns
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
84.4
28th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
41.4
29th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
13.6
125th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.475
77th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #84
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-99.1 ranks 75th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-106.1 ranks 122nd

Our Cards are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now and this will be a good test to see just how good that is. With two sound play-makers in Payton and Long, the Ragin Cajuns might be able to compete seriously for an NCAA tournament berth. These guys will challenge the defense in the Cardinal back-court Russ and Chris will get a good work-out. With the way Long goes to the glass he will be a good test for the Cards wing players. They’ll have to find this guy and get a body on him. We’ve witnessed what an exception rebounder can do for a team that is slightly undersized a few years ago in the NCAA tourney. Long has a Kenneth Faried type of edge about him. It will be a good battle on the boards on Saturday. The competition goes up a notch with the Cajuns but I expect them to be another notch in the Cardinals belt after this one is over. The only question in this one will be Louisville’s starting line-up.

Back in March Louisville assistant basketball coach Kareem Richardson was hired to become the next head basketball coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and on Wednesday night he returns to the Yum Center with the Roos to face his old team. The Cardinals lead this young series 1-0 winning the only game ever played between these teams back on Dec. 8th 2012 99 to 47. The Roos are 1-5 and are picked to finish last in their first season as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Game time is at 7PM and can be seen locally on WHAS TV or ESPN3.

“Being at the University of Louisville and working under future Hall of Famer Coach Pitino, it had to take a special situation for me to leave, but I know the vision that Leo Morton and Tim Hall have for the program makes UMKC a special situation,” Richardson said. “It is extremely exciting to have the opportunity to lead the UMKC men’s basketball program and to be back in the wonderful city of Kansas City.”

First-year head coach Kareem Richardson lost the team’s two most effective offensive players in the off-season, and he inherits a mixed collection of pieces and a solid recruiting class of his own. The Roos are struggling early on this season because of a turnover-prone offense averaging 16.5 a game with a turnover margin of -0.3 and middling defense allowing their opponents to score 89.8 points a game with a scoring margin at -18.8. They are also a team getting beat up on the boards averaging 34 a game with a rebounding margin of -6.5.

UMKC returns 47% of their scoring from last year and the Roos have six seniors playing this season. The starters for their last game included four seniors, and a freshman. Interesting fact from their roster is that NBA Atlanta Hawk player Kyle Korver’s brother Kirk Korver is on the team, but I don’t believe he has played a single minute this season. Their top players appear to be Brewster Academy product freshman Martez Harrison (17.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3 assist) who runs the point, flanked by returning wing Nelson Kirksey (11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds), along with returning role player Aaron Washington (2.7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assist), and both starting front-court players wing Trinity Hall (11.7 points, 7 rebounds) and center Fred Chatmon (9.8 points, 5.8 rebounds). Chatmon enters this game as one of the teams and WAC’s best rebounders, a strong shot-blocker, and a 56 percent field-goal shooter. He pulled down 212 rebounds last season ranking seventh in a single season in the schools history.

UMKC Kangaroos
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
71.0
231st
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
34.0
245th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
12.0
228th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.423
263rd
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #312
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-107.5 ranks 256th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-94.5 ranks 319th

UMKC’s lack of proven Division I contributors doesn’t bode well for its success against our Cards on Wednesday night. But their coach does know the Cardinals very well so the Roos will be up for this challenge. Chatmon is a guy that will bang with our front court players and will make them work for their shots and rebounds. It’s a good thing when Mango, Behanan, and Harrell go up against a decent player. They need all the practice they can get especially Mango. This is another one of those games that will be a good opportunity for Hancock and Behanan to work on their condition to get back up to game shape. Both of them appear to be only at about 60% to where they finished last year. It’s also a great opportunity for guys like Rozier and Jones to continue to build their confidence. Should be another productive blow out win on Wednesday.

Friday night the Cardinals will return to the hardwood for the first time after losing their first game of the season. This game can be seen at 7pm on WHAS 11 locally or on ESPN3. The Cardinals will be looking to start a new winning streak when they do battle with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. This will be the 42nd meeting between these teams and Louisville holds the series lead 30 to 11. The last time these teams played was on Jan. 11, 2005, in Hattiesburg and it was the Cards who won that game 107-62. Southern Miss comes into this game 6-0 and were picked to finish first in Conference USA.

The head coach of the Golden Eagles will be a familiar face to Louisville fans and one that brings back some not so good memories. Southern Miss Coach Donnie Tyndall and his then Morehead State team knocked our Cardinals out of the NCAA Tournament three seasons ago in one of the biggest upsets in Cardinal history. Now Coach Tyndall and his prowess has Southern Miss back on the right track. A season ago Tyndall did a masterful job of blending the old with the new mixing new players with returning starters and getting them to all buy into his system and begin building the program. This season he has a group of transfers giving him some good minutes. Aaron Brown (11.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assist) who transferred from Temple is a good scorer and a lanky defender who can get into passing lanes. He is leading the team in scoring this season. Chip Armelin (5.2 points, 2 rebounds, 0.6 assist) the transfer from Minnesota is providing great back-up minutes at the guard spot. He’s a good ball handler and tough rebounder. Matt Bingaya (5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds) and Ude Ifeanyichukwa (0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds) give them size, quality, and depth on the wing. Ude was ranked as a top-80 prospect by JucoRecruiting.com.
Southern Miss does return four players who started at least ten games last season. Neil Watson (10.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.5 assist) and Jerrold Brooks 9.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3 assist) are back for their senior seasons in the back-court. Both put up offensive ratings that topped 113, and Watson’s 59 eFG was in the national top 70 last season. Both of these guys are great outside shooters. In the front court Michael Craig (9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds) a 6-foot-5 swing-man can fill up a stat sheet fast, and Daveon Boardingham (10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds) a former junior college transfer is an efficient scorer in the paint and will be asked to take more shots as a senior. He had an offensive rating near 116 and an offensive rebounding rate in the top 100 last season.
This Southern Miss team is going to come at our Cards with a potent mix of turnover-forcing zone defense (a plus 4.5 turnover margin with 8.8 steals per game) and even better offense (shooting 48% from the field, .386% from 3pt line and .663% from free throw line, averaging 12.7 assists).

Southern Miss
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
74.0
193rd
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
34.5
237th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
12.7
189th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.482
74th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #72
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-98.2 ranks 63rd
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-107.7 ranks 83rd

It will be the day after Thanksgiving and we will all be full of turkey. I will still be hungry for another Cardinal win and will be watching to see if this group can be more mentally and physically better on the defensive end of the floor this time out. This will be a good test and the Golden Eagles offense will challenge the Louisville transition defense. They will get up and down the court. Scoring hasn’t been an issue for the Louisville backcourt but the front-court offense disappeared last weekend. Will Harrell, Behanan, and Mango have better games this week? More importantly will Wayne Blackshear get his head out of the sand and get things back on the right track? This team has had a week in the practice gym and I hope to see some positives from that Friday night. It will be a good test coming off a loss and I think the Cards will send November out on a winning note.

On Sunday at 1pm the Louisville Basketball team plays their toughest game of the season taking on the Tarheels for the Hall of Fame Tip Off Championship. North Carolina leads this series 8-3 and won the last time these teams met in the NCAA East Regional Final 83-73. The Cards will be looking to go 6-0 and to win their 22nd straight game. The Tarheels are ranked 24th in the country and were picked to finish 3rd in the ACC. This game can be seen on ESPN.

There are a lot of good basketball players on this North Carolina basketball team, of the 11 players that see most of the minutes in the North Carolina rotation, 10 were four-star recruits and they’re led by a head coach that’s won two national titles since 2005. Their biggest challenge of this season so far is getting their pieces all working together and finding their identity. Roy Williams is known for playing a certain style, one characterized by a fast tempo, offensive rebounds, exceptionally tall front lines and shooting a lot of free throws, to name a few. They also do a great job of playing defense on the ball. Leading the fast tempo offense is Nate Britt (2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2 assist a game) a talented freshman with the quicks to really push the ball up and down the floor. He has struggled with his defensive responsibilities this season but does lead the team with six steals. And Marcus Paige (18 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.3 assist a game) who was moved to shooting guard when Britt arrived and has taken off in this role. He’s a solid shooter and was 6-9 from 3 point land with 26 points in his last outing. The guys crashing the boards for this team and filling the role of that tall, athletic front court are James Michael McAdoo (19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds a game), Brice Johnson (12 points, 6.3 rebounds a game), J.P. Tokoto (9 points, 6.3 rebounds a game), and Joel James (4 points, 4.3 rebounds a game).
McAdoo has all the talent and potential in the world, and can do some good things in transition, Johnson is big for them on the defensive glass, and James and Tokoto are big for them on the defensive end and offensive boards. This team also has some very promising freshman bigs in Isaiah Hicks (1.3 points, 2 rebounds a game) and Kennedy Meeks (6.7 points, 5.7 rebounds a game). They are both good inside scorers.
This team can hurt you in many ways when they put it all together.

North Carolina
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
75.3
176th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
41.3
65th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
17.0
36th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.486
74th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #26
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-94.1 ranks 24th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-109.9 ranks 49th

The Cards will be ready for this one and they might have been looking ahead to the match-up during their game against Fairfield. UNC can match the size and the talent of the Cardinals. It will be a tough battle on the glass as Carolina has been the better team in that category this season. And our front-court will have to step up big in this one. Montrezl, Chane and Wayne will all have to hit the boards and be aggressive on the defensive end. I think our back-court has the advantage with the depth. Russ and Chris are slightly ahead of their duo but they’ll need to take care of the ball and make good decisions. I do think our bench will also be big in this game especially Luke. This is the one we’ve been waiting for Cardinal fans, and it will be a great opportunity for the Cardinals to send a message to their future conference foes that they are ready for the ACC. It will be a great early season match-up that goes down to the wire. Cards win a close one…

Our 4-0 Louisville Cardinals are set to do battle again on Saturday at 2:00 PM EST in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. This will be one of two games the Cards will play at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut this weekend. The Fairfield Stags are up first and this will be the first time the Cards and Stags have met on the hardwood. The Stags were picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Fairfield is a team that likes to run the Princeton offense. They like their back door cuts and want to slow their opponents down and pick them apart. They have succeeded in slowing teams down this season holding them to around 59 points a game. These guys did have the 27th ranked defense in the country last season. On the offensive side of the ball they have struggled to pick teams apart and make shots effectively. They have made 80 field goals this season on 40% shooting and 24 three pointers on 32% shooting. They are also having trouble taking care of the ball averaging 18 turnovers a game. Not good when facing the Cards. Marcus Gilbert (11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds a game) is their leading scorer. He made the MAAC All-Rookie team last season. His brother Malcolm Gilbert (4.2 points, 5.2 rebounds a game) a former top-20 center by multiple recruiting services, transferred from Pitt to play with him. He provides size and athleticism for the Stags when he’s in the game giving starting center Amadou Sidibe (7 points, 6.8 rebounds a game) a rest. The Stags also get quality minutes from another player who transferred from the Big East in Sean Grennan (3.8 points, 2 rebounds a game). He played for Seton Hall as a freshman, and has made an immediate impact on a Fairfield backcourt that was left bare thanks to graduation. Grennan is regarded as an excellent shooter and can get hot from behind the arc. The guy running the point for this team is K.J. Rose (7.5 points, 2.5 rebounds a game). The leader of this team is senior Maurice Barrow (6.2 points, 5 rebounds a game). He was named to the All-MAAC Preseason Third Team.

Fairfield
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
55.3
345th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
39.8
106th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
11.0
275th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.398
304th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #255
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-98.5 ranks 80th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-91.6 ranks 340th

This is the weekend that the Cards should get a chance to play a quality opponent in North Carolina. But first the Tarheels must get past Richmond and our guys have to take care of business against the Stags. An article was written in ESPN stating that it was time to start talking about Louisville. They are rolling right along this season with one of the lowest turnover rates in the country averaging just 6 a game and according to Kenpom are the top team in the nation with a 116.9 offensive adjustment efficiency and a 87.9 defensive adjustment efficiency. The Cards will have to be on their toes to guard the back door cuts in the Fairfield game and should get their toughest test of the season against UNC if all goes as expected. Im looking forward to two great days of basketball. Go Cards.

The Cardinals Basketball team is #3 in the new AP Poll and #2 in the Coaches Poll this week. They return to the court on Tuesday night at 7pm to face the Hartford Hawks in their second game of the Hall of Fame Tip Off. The game can be seen locally on WHAS 11 or ESPN 3. This will be the second time that these teams have played each other. The Cards won the only other meeting in this series 104-69 on Nov. 17, 2007. The Hawks are 2-2 this season and are picked to finish 4th in the American East Conference. They have never beaten a team ranked in the top 25. The Cards are going for 20 straight wins.

Hartford had one of the youngest rosters in division 1 college basketball last year and that will be beneficial to them this season as they do return some guys with good experience. The best of those returning players is preseason first-team all-America East honoree Mark Nwakamma (18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds a game). He has been big for them so far this season leading every category, shooting 54 percent and is the only player averaging double figures. The Hawks are averaging 63 points this season. Their offense is based on the use of the three point shot and they ranked fifth in the nation last year in 3-point attempts/field goal attempts. 44.6 percent of their field goals were from behind the arc. They will need consistent perimeter shooting from Wes Cole (7.8 points, 1.3 rebounds a game), Evan Cooper (5.8 points, 1.5 rebounds per game), and Taylor Dyson (4.5 points, 1.3 rebounds per game) to pull off the major upset on Tuesday night. This group is hovering around 30% collectively so far this season. The Hawks Point guard Yolonzo Moore II (9.5 points, 4 rebounds, 1.8 assist a game) is fully healthy after playing through a sports hernia injury for the majority of last season. He is the guy they will look to run the offense and provide more balance. The guy holding down the paint area for this team is Yasin Kolo (8.5 points, 2.3 rebounds a game). He’s an active big man who feels comfortable playing post up basketball and will shoot it from behind the arc like the rest of this team. Coach John Gallagher said about his team: “We have nine or 10 guys who can really play right now. We’ve never had that, so to take that step everybody just has to trust each other.”

Hartford Hawks
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
66.3
291st
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
29.8
328th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
10.0
294th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.457
153rd
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #191
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-99.5 ranks 102nd
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-98.2 ranks 257th

The Cardinals are 3-0 and are beating teams by an average of 31.7 points. They are back to full strength after getting Luke, Chane and Kevin back and acclimated to the team last Friday night. They will be looking to keep things rolling in the right direction and will take on the first top 25 opponent this weekend if they and North Carolina can advance in this tournament. I look for Coach Pitino to start getting his sub pattern more resolved and he said today in his press conference that he’d like a 9 to 10 man rotation. I will be watching to see if the guys can do a better job from the charity stripe. This game should provide a little bit of a challenge as our defense will be extended to cover the three point shot and every player on their team will chuck it up from deep. And they will have to do a good job covering Nwakamma. This kid is one of the best players this Louisville defense has went up against so far. This game should be another opportunity for this team to work on some things. Cards will win big.

The Cards hit the hardwood again on Friday night at 7pm looking to win their 19th straight game and 1700th overall. The game can be seen on WHAS and on ESPN 3. They will play the Cornell Big Red from the Ivy League. This will be the first time that Louisville has ever played a game against the team from Ithaca. The Big Red are 0-3 in the early season and are picked to finish 6th in the Ivy League. They are 5-68 all-time against teams ranked in the top 25.

When I think of Cornell I automatically hear Ed Helms character “Andy Bernard” playing his banjo and singing some silly song. Yup the Nard Dog is Cornell. But apparently they do have a basketball team and one that had the lead 36-22 with 4 minutes left in the first half last Friday against #8 Syracuse. Cornell was 13-18 last season and Coach Bill Courtney has had to replace four starters. Their best player returning first-team All-Ivy forward Shonn Miller continues to recover from offseason surgery to his right shoulder that sidelined him in the preseason. This is a young, inexperienced team but do have some talent on the squad and it starts with knockdown sophomore shooter Nolan Cressler (18.5 points, 5 rebounds a game). The rookie had a very solid 2012-13, shooting over 40% from three-point range. He is the Big Red’s best scoring option and lit up Syracuse last week in that stunning first half scoring 20 points. He shares the backcourt with point guard Devin Cherry (2 points, 4 assist a game) he’s the player in charge of running the offense, guard Robert Hatter (20.5 points a game) another scorer, and senior guard Dominick Scelfo (4.5 points, 1.5 rebounds a game).
The Big Red Front-court is young and depleted. Their go to guy down low early this season has been senior Dwight Tarwater (12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds a game), he is their best rebounder. Their other guy holding down the paint is David Onuorah (6.5 points, 4 rebounds a game), a 6′ 8″ freshman from Atlanta who turned down an SEC offer from Auburn to play in the Ivy League.

Big Red
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
74.5
182nd
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
36.0
212th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
14.0
122nd
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.441
175th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall- #299
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-113.8 ranks 350
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-102.1 ranks 180

It is hard to imagine the Cardinals having any trouble with Big Red. Especially with the mismatch in the paint. Not to mention the talent gap. They did have some success and shot 7 of 17 from the 3-point line over the Cuse zone in the first half of that wacky game last Friday, but the Louisville defense won’t give them those looks so I don’t even see a scenario like that happening. It should be another night of getting guys like Luke and Chane some conditioning and another game for this Cardinal group to work on their stuff against another team. I will be watching to see if the rebounding is any better in this game. That has been one area where the Cards have struggled. This Big Red group out-rebounded the much taller Orange 19-16 at one point so they will go after it. I’m looking forward to it. Go Cards!

Coach Pitino Talks Cornell: