If you were like me today after watching the first half of the game you were already preparing yourself for not only another loss to North Carolina, but also for an early exit in March. The Cardinals were playing the most uninspired basketball of the season in that first 20 minutes. After the final media time-out of the first half UNC was up 30-18, Louisville was 7 of 14 from the free-throw line, and the Cardinals guards/wings were a combined 3 for 18. At the half UNC led 36-25, had the rebounding advantage 27-16, and had scored 11 second chance points. Things were looking pretty grim…

The start of the second half wasn’t much better and the Tar Heels added to their lead scoring the first seven points. Then at the 17:49 mark Coach Pitino called a time-out and reportedly told his team that if they didn’t start giving more effort they were going to lose by 30. That talk must have registered because they came out of that time-out and never looked back. The Cardinal defense stepped up holding UNC to no second chance points, two offensive rebounds, and their second fewest points in the paint this season. The Cardinals outscored them 28-24 in the paint, scored 17 second chance points themselves and out rebounded the Tar Heels 30 to 17. In the end our Cardinals came back from 18 points down to give them one of their best comeback wins since the miracle on main back in 2011 against Marquette. The final score Louisville 78 North Carolina 68…

I wrote an article earlier this week about the White-Out games. In that article I looked back at some of the White-Out games in the past that had provided some unexpected drama. Now we have a new one to add to that legacy. The Cardinals improve to 6-3 in White-Out games giving Coach Pitino his first win over the Tar Heels in seven tries, and also ended a three game losing streak to the guys in powder blue.

To win this game our big three would have to step up big. Montrezl Harrell had the alley-oop dunk of the year, his 20th career double-double with 22 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and no turnovers. He played like an All-American for the first time in weeks. Both coaches called him “possessed” after the game.
Terry Rozier hit some very big shots in the second half with a double-double of his own 22 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, one block, one assist, and three turnovers in 43 minutes.
Chris Jones kept plugging away after several frustrating moments and had 17 points to go along with 5 rebounds.

He has received much criticism this season and some of it earned but Mango always gives his very best and brings energy every time he is on the floor. Today that energy is what sparked the big second half comeback. Mango had 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 4 points. Sometimes he makes Cardinal fans pull their hair out but he does a lot of little things that make a difference. Today he made a big difference.

The win today will do a lot for the confidence of this team. It’s just the kind of boost they needed heading into the final months of the season. They still have a lot of things to improve on but all of the intangibles are there. The grit they showed today in this remarkable comeback is something you can’t teach. Teams either have it or they don’t. These Cardinals may not be the most talented group in the country but they are fighters. Looking forward to the home stretch… Go Cards!

(Video Courtesy TheCrunchZone.com and ACC.com)

The build-up for this game really didn’t live up to the hype on Saturday afternoon in the Yum Center. The ceremony honoring the 1980 team was awesome; the uniforms were awesome but the game itself not so much. The Blue Devils and Cardinals played for the first time as conference foes and for the 10th time in their history. It was the Blue Devils that would walk away with the win 63-52 and now lead the series 6-4. The Cardinals have won 4 out of the last 6 in the series. Saturday was the first time in the last 3 years that the Cardinals lost by 10 plus points, they are now 77-11 all-time at the Yum Center and they are now 151-68 all-time vs the current ACC teams.

In my pre-game breakdown I felt like the Cardinals would have a great chance to win this game if they rebounded the ball well and was able to stop Duke’s offensive attack that is the most efficient in college basketball. The Cardinals had 18 offensive rebounds to their 5 and won the rebound battle 38-32. The Cardinals defense held a team averaging 83.2 points a game to just 63 points, and a very good three point shooting team to 4-15 from behind the arc for 26.7%. They also forced 10 turnovers and had 6 steals.

What I didn’t consider in my pre-game is that Louisville would come out and shoot 29% their second worst performance on the season. The Cardinals were 18-61 from the field, and 4-25 from behind the arc. The Cards were also outscored in the paint 32-24. This program has thrived on those fast break points and points off of turnovers and they got just 12 points from this combined. A lot of this has to do with just having a team full of streaky shooters but let’s not forget that on the other side today was one of the greatest coaches ever. Coach Krzyzewski hasn’t won 998 games without coming up with a way to shut teams down. He made a great decision having the Dukies play zone defense and he devised a scheme to completely shut Chris Jones down. A guy who was one of the hottest players in the ACC coming into this one had just 5 points and had just as many turnovers with 5.

Out of the Cardinals big four who had been averaging double figures only Montrezl and Terry came through today. Rozier led the Cardinals in scoring with 17 points. Harrell had his 19th career double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. He now leads the ACC in double-double games. Wayne did score 7 points and 4 rebounds today but was 0-5 from behind the arc. I have to give kudos to Mango for playing as hard as he could for 26 minutes today and for crashing the boards grabbing 7 rebounds. He was just over-matched on the defensive end of the floor trying to contain Okafor. A problem a lot of other players will have. Another thing that may have gone unnoticed is that the Cardinals have been shooting it great from the free-throw line. They shot 75% from the line today and have made above 70% in the last nine games. They are 14th in the nation in free throw attempts.

If I could offer any words of encouragement to discouraged Cardinal fans it would be to remember that 2012 group that was one of the worst offensive teams in history to make it to a Final Four. I’m not saying that this group can replicate that but they do play defense as hard as that bunch did and when you do that there’s always a chance. This team will continue to get better and learn to be more effective playing to their strengths. I also think that there are a few more guys on this team who will be devloped into effective offensive threats. The sky isn’t falling the shots just aren’t right now. It’s all about the journey… Go Cards!

(Video Cred TheCrunchZone.com)

(Louisville’s Chris Jones walks off the court following Louisville’s 72-71 loss to North Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

In sports you win some tough ones and you lose some tough ones. The Cards have done both in the last ten years but this one was gut wrenching. Coach Pitino said after the game that this loss ranks in his top 10 as toughest of career, “it stings” he said. Well I concur this one did sting and will for a few days. North Carolina with a late rally today beat our Cardinals 72-71. North Carolina now leads the series 10-3, have won three in a row and the last six out of seven. Coach Pitino is 0-6 against the Tar Heels. The Tar Heel is more like the Achilles Heel to the Cardinals.

COACH PITINO POST GAME

In Greek mythology a guy named Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after. We aren’t talking about life or death here but it felt like an arrow had been shot through my heart when our Cardinals surrendered a 13 point lead in the final 8 1/2 minutes of the game today.

Our Cardinals fought a great battle today but ultimately their Achilles Heel was the lack of a great performance from Montrezl Harrell who seemed to disappear towards the end of the game. He only had 5 rebounds and 9 points to go along with three turnovers. The teams lack of production at the 5 spot, with 12 rebounds and 8 points. The Cardinals were outscored in the paint 40-26. Their lack of production from the bench hurt and they were outscored 20-0. The team’s loss on the glass 40-30. Carolina had 17 second chance points.

TERRY ROZIER POST GAME

CHRIS JONES POST GAME

There were also some positive things from this game today. Terry (25 points, 5 assist, 3 steals) and Chris (19 points, 5 assist) played incredible and both hit big time shots in clutch situations. These guys kept the Cardinals in a position to win this game all day. It’s on a stage like today when great players make great plays and these guys did that proving to the rest of the country why they are one of the best back-courts in college basketball. I also thought Wayne (10 points, 4 rebounds) had a solid game. Other positives included the Cardinals defensive effort that held one of the best transition teams to just 4 fast break points and got 10 steals.

Some of us take these losses harder than others do and I am one of those people. I had my very first ACC melt down today and this loss really put a damper on my Saturday. But when looking at the overall performance of the team it really was one of the best efforts of the early season. Also we’ll get the Tar Heels again here in a few weeks on January 31st, so the thought of revenge helps. Coach Pitino took this loss as hard as any of us and he knows what has to be done to fix this team shortcomings. The college basketball season is a process and we are still in the early stages of that process. I have total confidence in our players and our coach. There is still a lot to look forward to this season. Go Cards!

On a very cold evening in Louisville the Cardinals overcame some cold shooting to claim their second victory of the early conference slate. The Cardinals are now 2-0 in ACC play after beating Clemson tonight 58-52. This is the third straight season that the Cardinals have started 2-0 in conference play. They previously started 2-0 in the Big East, and the American Conference last season. The Cardinals now lead the series against Clemson 4-0 and after the win tonight they are 76-10 all-time at the Yum Center. They move to 150-66 all-time vs current ACC teams.

At times it wasn’t very pretty to watch especially in the first half. Clemson had the Cardinals well scouted, shut down the inside game with their zone, and controlled the pace throughout. Clemson came into this game holding seven out of the last ten teams they’ve played to 65 points or less. They held the Cardinals to 22% on 6 of 27 shooting from the field in the first half and held them to 32.7 % shooting for the game on 18 of 55 from the field. The Cardinals were 6 of 24 from the three point line for 25% for the game. The Cardinals used a 17-0 run at the start of the second half to propel them in the win. They have used the “BOOM” producing over 30 runs of 8-0 or better this season in their 15 games.

The Cardinals were without Anas tonight who had a migraine, Shaqquan had a knot on his head that he got in practice limiting his time, and Montrezl got into foul trouble sitting most of the first half. These things certainly didn’t help the Cardinals on the offensive end of the floor. The Cardinals looked a little better on the defensive end of the floor forcing the Tigers into 15 turnovers and getting 11 steals. The Cardinals have now produced double-digit steals in 12 of their last 15 games and they have now had fewer turnovers than their opponents in 13 of their last 15 games.

For the second straight game it was Chris Jones who was this team’s saving grace. He led all scorers with 22 points. He also had 2 assist and 5 steals. He is ranked in the top six in the ACC in steals. For all the hard time he gets from some fans this Cardinal team would be in big trouble without him. I really think he has turned the corner and now fully understands the role he plays on this team.

Terry Rozier is another guy that continues to come through in the clutch when the Cardinals need a basket. He had 15 points to go along with 6 rebound, 4 assist and 3 steals. He currently leads the ACC in Steals. He has been the most consistent player in a Cardinal uniform this season.

I was hoping that Wayne Blackshear would be pushed by the recent play of Shaqquan Aaron. Tonight Wayne had a nice game scoring 11 points, to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 steals. He is another player that is among the top 6 steal leaders in the ACC. He was 3-10 from behind the arc tonight.

Montrezl had his mildest performance of the season. He got into foul trouble early in the game sitting for most of the first half and really never got it going like we are used to from him. He did have some moments in the second half and did end up scoring 6 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. He is now just 32 points shy of becoming Louisville’s 66th career 1000 point scorer. His 6 double-doubles this season is tied for the ACC lead.

If you have been watching some of these conference games this season then you know how much of a grind it’s been for all of the top teams in the country. When teams get into the conference part of the schedule the scouting report really finds their weaknesses. Louisville did get 15 rebounds from the five spot on Wednesday night and Mango really was going hard to the glass on both ends of the floor. I was very impressed with his effort. Despite the rebounding efforts the Cardinals only got 4 points from the five spot. Teams are going to keep playing to this weak spot.

Regardless of the teams shortcomings they keep finding ways to win games and guys are stepping up and making plays when they need to. I’ll take a 2-0 start to conference play and run. Things are going to get tougher in the coming weeks but the Cardinals are going to keep getting better. Bring on the Tar heels…

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The Louisville Cardinals have played in and won their first ACC game beating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons tonight 85-76. No matter what happens now the Cardinals can always say that they won the first one. They say first impressions are always the most important and while the Cards weren’t overly impressive tonight they did let the conference know that they are here. The Cardinals have now won their first conference road game for the 8th straight season. Louisville now leads the series over Wake Forest 3-1 and their record against the ACC is now 149-66.

The Cardinals are 1-0 in the ACC, ranked #5 in the country and things appear to be on the right track. I still have a lot of optimism about what this team can achieve over the next 3 months. Instead of worrying about the things that need to be fixed I’m just going to enjoy watching the progress every week. It’s going to be a fun conference season folks. Go Cards!

On Saturday I decided for the first time in a very long time not to attend the Louisville vs. Kentucky game in person. Instead I opted to watch it with family during our annual Christmas gathering. It was a house divided as most are in this state especially during this game. I had high expectations for our Cardinals and while they gave a valiant effort on the defensive end of the floor their poor passing and poor shooting ultimately led to their losing for the seventh time in eight games to the arch rival Cats in recent history. Not long after the game had ended I came down with one of the worst stomach viruses that I’ve ever had in my life. So to say it wasn’t a very good weekend for this Cardinal fan would be a major understatement.

As I was lying in bed as sick as I’ve ever been in my life I thought about the game and how sick Coach Pitino must be that he had just lost for a third straight time to Calipari and the Cats. And how sick he must be that his team had just lost after playing one of their best defensive games ever. But no matter how well a team plays on the defensive end of the floor they have to pass the ball and have to score points. Coming into this game the Cardinals ranked 149th overall in assist, and 151st overall in field goal percentage. A common theme in the Pitino post game press conferences this season had been about his team hunting points instead of the open man. They had one assist against Kentucky. Coach Pitino had also talked about his team making the extra pass to get the open look and the better shot. They were 15 of 58 for 25% from the filed against Kentucky. Coming into the game against the Cats the Cardinals numbers associated with assist and field goal percentage were dismal, and after this game they are disgusting. The Cardinals currently rank 207th in the nation averaging 12.3 assist a game this season, and they currently rank 217th in the nation in field goal percentage averaging 42% a game. While these numbers coupled with good defense will beat the FIU’s of the basketball world the Cardinals found out on Saturday they won’t beat the better teams in the nation.

Talk about sick.. there can’t be anyone who is as sick of losing to Kentucky as Wayne Blackshear. He lost his first game he played against the Cats in the 2011-12 Final Four by 8 points and lost his last game against them by 8 points. In total Wayne lost to Kentucky 5 times and averaged 6.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in the games he’s played against them. When he came down the lane and had that monster slam dunk in the Final Four game Cardinal Nation had high expectations of what was to come in this young mans career. It just hasn’t played out like that. I’ve been one of his biggest supporters, but time is running out for him to be that guy. All of his injuries and setbacks have really hurt his consistency and grit in big game situations.

Chris Jones had one of the better defensive performances of the college basketball season against Kentucky, but he may have also been one of their best defensive players. He did have the Cardinals only assist in the game but he also threw up 24 of their 73 total shots. Not great numbers for a point guard. He is one of the best on ball defenders in college basketball but until he learns to share and make better decisions with the ball that won’t mean much big picture. During his Juco days Chris averaged over 4 assist a game and was always making the big play for his team. Sure would like to see that version of him during the next two months.

Other than a great defensive effort for 36 minutes of the game there really wasn’t much to get excited about with the Cardinals performance on Saturday. Terry and Montrezl played hard and got their share of rebounds and points but even they could have played better from a team perspective. I was impressed with how Shaqquan Aaron looked coming off the bench. He wasn’t intimidated by the Kentucky size or talent and went right at them. He is going to be very good and will get more chances at the Cats.

The battle was lost on Saturday and I know every Cardinal fan felt the same way I did all weekend minus the stomach virus. While frustrated about being 1-7 recently to our rivals just remember Cardinal fans that we are headed into the exciting new challenge of the ACC, still have a great team and still have an excellent program. The battle has been lost for now, but the Cardinal fight lives on. It is still December and we have one of the best Coaches in college basketball. He knows what needs to be done and has told us from day one what this team lacks. He will get it fixed. And as I learned over the weekend.. Family and health are some of the most important things in this life and when it all comes down to it basketball is just a game.

The Louisville and Western Kentucky basketball programs have now played 78 times and the series is tied at 39 wins for each. After today I don’t know if we will see these teams play many more in the near future as ugly as it got in Diddle Arena. Nevertheless the Cards win a good battle in a hostile crowd and are now 10-0 on the season with a big game looming next weekend.

Would have loved to hear from Coach Pitino after the game, but he headed directly to the airport to catch a plane and headed out recruiting. It’s probably for the best. He wasn’t completely thrilled about his trip to Diddle Arena. Will be interesting to hear what he has to say this week.

I knew that the Western Kentucky team would come out today and play like a group of starving dogs, but I didn’t think they would literally be like a bunch of starving dogs. It was pretty obvious that part of their game plan today was to get into the heads of the Louisville players and especially Montrezl Harrell. In no way do I condone throwing a punch in a basketball game and think it was way out of Montrezl’s character to do it. Looking at some of the post-game pictures of that incident I don’t know that I would have done any different had I been put in that situation. He is a kid that really respects the game and himself. It was announced after the game that he was given a flagrant 2 and was not thrown out for fighting which means he will not be automatically suspended for the next game. The ACC will review the tape and determine if there needs to be further action. Even though he only played the first half he still scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

With Montrezl out of the game in the second half it really tested the metal of this team and I really think it gave some other guys the chance to step up and prove their worth. One of those guys was Anas. He had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 23 minutes of action. I think that is the most time he has logged in a game this season. He gained some more confidence today and that could pay off later in the season. I really liked his effort, and the moxie he showed by holding Montrezl back so he didn’t get himself into more trouble.

Many of the “so-called” professionals in college basketball said in their pre-season assessments that this Louisville team would be missing a superstar and leadership. Well today a superstar and a leader emerged for this basketball team. Terry Rozier rose to the occasion under hostile circumstances. He is not a vocal leader but one that lets his game do the talking. He’s been pretty consistent all season but today he took over this game and the stage was his and his alone. He scored 32 points on 9-16 shooting from the field for 56%, 3-6 from the three for 50%, and 11-13 from the free-throw line for 84%. He also had three steals. A basketball player must have different areas of expertise. These areas of expertise include but are not limited to, rebounding, shooting, dribbling, communicating, playing defense, cheering, knowing the game, knowing the plays, boxing out, screening, and hustling. All of the players on the team must possess some ability in each, but it is only the very special player who has a vast amount of ability in all of them. Terry is that player. The running story-line throughout Rozier’s career is that he idolizes and molds his game after Dwyane Wade. He looked like him today for sure.

Those really were the biggest story-lines in the game today, but the biggest takeaway from today is that this team was put into a situation where they were forced to come together to win the game with one of their teammates not on the floor. This game was huge for this team in terms of bringing them together. Nothing brings a team together more than when that us vs them mentality plays out as hostile as it did today. It wasn’t very pleasant to watch at times and nobody wants to see a basketball game or any sport get out of hand, but it’s just what the Cards needed. One of the biggest games of the regular season looms. And it will take a team effort to beat that Kentucky bunch. Go Cards!

The Cardinals edged out UNC Wilmington on Sunday evening 68-57 in what was a very lackluster performance. It might have been the most uninspired basketball that the Cardinals have played all season. The positives are that the Cardinals are 9-0, have won 34 consecutive games at home against non-conference opponents, and coach Pitino got his 350th win as head coach. His record at Louisville is now 350-117. With the win over coach Keatts he is also 38-10 over his former assistant coaches.

Coach Pitino was interested in any silver lining tonight and his disgust with his team was very evident in his post game press conference. It was his shortest one of the season. In his post game radio interview with Paul Rodgers he said the team “would pay tomorrow”

Montrezl Harrell had his 5th straight double-double in this game and was really the only guy in a Louisville uniform that went all out from tip to the final horn. He had 17 rebounds, 19 points, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. He is putting up all-American type numbers and the Cardinals needed them in this one. As the leader of this team he was also very upset in his post game interview.

Terry Rozier hit some big shots to break up that late 15-0 run by UNC Wilmington and also grabbed a few big rebounds in the game. He helped Montrezl carry the load tonight scoring 19 points but did have a few turnovers and not a single assist. He was not happy in his post game either.

Wayne Blackshear has been playing like a battle tested senior this season, and in the first half of this game he was resembling that player a little. He grabbed 8 rebounds and scored 11 points most coming in that first half. Then he disappeared in the second half. He had 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 rebounds in the second half.

The big win in MSG against Indiana had this team and the fans feeling pretty good, but they and the fans were quickly reminded on Sunday night that there’s always work to be done. The silver lining in this game may be the fact that coach Pitino now has the full attention of his team again. He is going to have them for one full week before they head to WKU next Saturday. It’s not going to be a fun week at that practice facility.

One of coach Pitino’s former players and current Samford Coach Scott Padgett tweeted out the hash tag #DeadMenWalking knowing what is in store for the Cardinals.

If our guys were going to throw a clunker I’m just glad it was against a team where they were still able to get an 11 point victory. The game against WKU will be the first true road game of the season and our guys will need the focus they will gain this week. And UK is right around the corner. So the timing of this wake up call couldn’t have come at a better time really.

Looking forward to some of the big games ahead and think our guys will be fine. Go Cards!

A little late with my post game due to a great night of television. Before the beat downs on the series finale of Sons of Anarchy and before Jax Teller met Mister Mayhem it was Indiana who was catching the Beat down and dealing with the Mayhem of the Cardinal defense. Our Cardinals looked great on the grand stage of The Garden last night beating the Hoosiers 94-74. With the win the Cardinals cut the Hoosiers lead in the series to 10-7, and our Cardinals have now won 9 straight games in MSG. The Cardinals have the highest winning percentage in the nation in neutral site games at 83.3%.

For all of the talk about Platoons in college basketball I think folks need to start paying a little more attention to what looks to be a pretty good Bird Battalion in Louisville. This is a team that comes at you in waves. If they aren’t confusing teams with their multiple defensive sets they are dominating them on the glass and are currently #1 in the country in that category. Last night it was the Indiana Hoosiers who were the latest casualty of the Bird Battalion. The Cardinal defense forced 19 IU turnovers, had 10 steals, and 8 blocked shots. They out rebounded the Hoosiers 49-34.

The leaders of this Bird Battalion Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier, Wayne Blackshear & Chris Jones combined for 85 points and 33 rebounds last night. In my pre-game I said that these guys would need big nights and they had one of their best games of the young season.

Montrezl Harrell had his first breakout performance of his Louisville career in the Big East Title game a few years ago against Syracuse at MSG. It was only fitting that he would have a record breaking performance in his return to the Garden. Montrezl became the all-time dunk leader in school history last night. He had 7 dunks on the Hoosiers and now holds the school record with 163 in his career. He had 21 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 blocked shot to go along with his record breaking moment. Also his 4th straight double-double.
Montrezl Post Game

Terry Rozier led all scorers with a career high 26 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He was a very impressive 8-17 from the field, and 5-8 from the 3 point line. Last night we all seen the Rozier that folks raved about during his summer workouts. His shot had been inconsistent through the first 7 games but last night it looked effortless for him.
Terry Rozier Post Game

Chris Jones or “Memphis Moxie” as I like to call him was 8-17 from the field for 24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assist, 3 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Another guy who had been playing with some inconsistency really stepped up in his very first game in MSG. Jones had been criticized by Coach Pitino for staying on his phone too much. Jones got the message and said that he had taken his coach’s advice. It paid off last night.
Chris Jones Post Game

Wayne Blackshear also enjoyed his return trip to MSG. He had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocked shots. “Big Game Wayne” is showing what hard work and dedication in the off season can do for a players game. He has paid his dues and is now reaping the benefits. I couldn’t be happier for him.

My shout-out of the night would have to go to Mango.. On a sore ankle he came into the game off the bench and put it all on the line. He had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. I really think he could be one of the best shot blockers in college basketball. He has that great wing span and has great timing.

Last night the college basketball world was formally introduced to the Bird Battalion. I think that has a much better ring to it than platoon. I know some won’t adapt this name but I like it. And like I mentioned above the way this Cardinal team comes at their opponents in waves I think it is fitting. If they don’t hurt you in one area of the game chances are they will find another way. Coach Pitino has always got a few tricks up his sleeve and he again has a group to utilize them. That game last night made a big statement to the rest of the college basketball world. Louisville is going to have something to say about how the season pans out. Don’t count the Bird Battalion out…. Go Cards!

Our Cardinals moved to 7-0 on Friday night and have now won 33 straight against non-conference opponents at the Yum Center. The Cardinals beat a very scrappy FIU team 82-57 and now lead the series with them 4-0. The Cardinals came out of the gate tonight ice cold and FIU was able to keep it close until about the 9 minute mark in the first half before the Cardinals would take the lead for good and never looked back.

The defense was again solid tonight holding FIU to just 37% from the field, 33% from the three point line, forcing them into 25 turnovers, with 14 steals and 12 blocked shots. The Louisville offense muddled along tonight most of the first half but it did get better in the second half. Coach Pitino was really disappointed in his teams ability to find the open man, and really came down on his team for not passing the ball as much as they should. With the Christmas break coming up it is the time of year that Louisville teams really improve on offense, and when I asked Coach Pitino about things they would work on during the break he said “Passing”.

It was Anton Gill’s birthday on Friday night and he played like it. He lead all scores with 15 points and was 3-5 from the three point line. He let his positive momentum carry over to his defensive effort also and it was his best effort this season on that end of the floor. I really feel like Gill is a player that can be a triple threat on the perimeter for this team. He can knock down the three, he knows how to drive to the basket and finish and he is great at threading the needle (see photo below).

Montrezl Harrell had his 19th consecutive game scoring in double figures and had his third consecutive double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He was disappointed that he had 5 turnovers. Montrezl has set the bar high for himself and his team-mates.

Wayne Blackshear had another solid outing. He had 12 points, 2-8 from the three, had 6 rebounds and a team high 4 steals. I really like Chicago Wayne.

Chris Jones said that he had heeded the words of Coach Pitino and had stayed away from his phone this past week. He had 11 points, was 2-4 from the three point line, and had 3 steals. Chris seemed more confident tonight and was again great on the defensive side of the ball.

Shout out of the night goes to Chinanu Onuaku.. He led the team tonight with 5 assist and is probably the best passer on this team. He really played well in the paint also. This kid keeps progressing and watch out come March.

It was another win and that’s always good. A lot of guys got some quality minutes and it seems like we had a guy who gained a lot of his confidence back in Gill. The defense is awesome and I think the offense looked better and will be a lot better here in a few weeks. Big game against IU coming up next week and these guys seem very excited to get back to the Garden. It will be the first trip for several of them. Will be good to see our Cardinals back on that big stage. Go Cards!

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