Much like the last time these teams met in 2007 at the Orange Bowl this one was ugly at times and it was a grind it out type of game. The Cardinals got the hard fought win over the Demon Deacons 20-10. Our Cardinals are now 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the ACC good for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Cardinals are now 2-0 against Wake Forest.

This game was ugly especially in the first half. The Cardinals had 3 fumbles and 11 penalties for the game and at times this one was really hard to watch especially the offense, but there were some bright spots. First Reggie Bonnafon a kid who one week ago to the day buried his father. I lost my father when I was 38 years old and I did good to function that first week let alone following a game plan and leading a college football team to victory as a college freshman. Reggie did this all in his first career start. This just proves how special that some of these athletes are. Not only are they athletically gifted, but they are wise beyond their years. Reggie had some mistakes but was able to manage the game and make some big plays when the offense needed him the most. He threw for 206 yards with no interceptions and ran for 46 yards. This kid is the real deal and I firmly believe that he is the future at the QB spot for this Louisville team.

Brandon Radcliff who is described by his coaches and his teammates as one of the hardest workers on the team. Everyone speaks very highly of this young man. He is just another stud in the Louisville group of running backs and tonight was his moment to shine. With 2 touchdowns and 129 yards rushing this was his best performance as a Cardinal. We will also be hearing this kids name a lot in the future.

I know a lot of Cardinal fans have been really down on this offense especially the offensive line, but when you talk with these kids and their coaches and hear how hard they are working and trying to get better it just puts everything in perspective. Jake Smith after the game tonight talked about an offensive line that needs to get better and even admitted that the touchdown by the Wake Forest defense tonight being his fault. Coach Petrino said about his offense tonight that basically they had been playing with a new group every week due to players being banged up and how that lack of consistency had also contributed to the groups slow progress. As Jake Smith also mentioned in his post game tonight. These guys have one of the greatest offensive minds in the college game on the sidelines and there’s no doubt that we will see improvement. Thanks to the solid play of Reggie and Brandon the offense did have good balance today with 206 yards through the air and 215 yards on the ground. This unit will get better. Just try to have patience folks.

Don’t know how many times that I have typed this, but what about this Cardinal defense… I also said after that first game how it was very clear that the defensive philosophy that was instilled by the last coaching staff was still present with this group. Tonight in his post game Lorenzo Mauldin who finished with 3 sacks said that they were just doing what they did last year and that the defense has just carried over. These guys held Wake Forest to -22 yards rushing today folks and had 8 sacks along with three interceptions. That is just flat out getting after it. Gerod Holliman added to his national lead with 1 interception, James Burgess had 1 interception and Sheldon Rankins had 1 interception. For all of the talk about an exciting offense to watch I am really enjoying watching this defense play. This is a special group and they are really getting it done every week. Don’t take that for granted stressing about the offense not scoring 60 points every week.

It wasn’t a beautiful win but if you are a Cardinal fan then you have gotten used to close wins. The last coaching staff was all about the grind it out ugly defensive win. For three years we watched our Cardinals do this every weekend. That’s how the program was being built for the last 3 seasons and the talent was also recruited for that. It’s going to take this coaching staff some time but they will put their signature on the offense. In the meantime put on your hard hats and cheer for this defense as they are one of the best units in the county. And stay behind this offense. They are a good group of kids who are working their tails off and deserve credit for that. GO CARDS!

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Louisville will advance to their 4th consecutive conference final and will be looking to win their 3rd conference championship in a row after eliminating Houston 94-65 in the AAC semi-finals tonight. The Cards came into the AAC Tournament leading the nation in win margin. The last 2 games didn’t hurt that beating Rutgers by 61, and Houston by 29. They have outscored their last three opponents by 123 Pts, and have 19 wins by 20+ points this season. No other team has more than 14.

It was another great defensive effort tonight and it didn’t take long for the pressure to start to take its toll on the Cougars. The Cards forced them into 16 turnovers scoring 20+ points off of those and had 8 steals. But defense was only half the story tonight as a offensive performance for the ages took center stage. Luke Hancock: “You can’t describe Russ’ game. That’s Russdiculous…Being able to play with a guy like that makes my job easier, and everyone better.” It’s one of those type performances that you tell your grandkids about someday when talking about the guy that wore number 2. For only the 5th time in the history of the Louisville Basketball program 40 points were scored by one player in a game, that player Russ Smith. Just when you think you’ve seen it all with this kid he comes out and drops 42 points on 14 of 22 shooting. It’s The third highest single-game scoring mark in the 100-year history of Louisville basketball. With his amazing performance tonight he is now one of just 8 Louisville players to score over 1,800 points, and moves into 5th All-time in scoring with 1837 points total. With 7 games to go this season he just has me asking what’s next?

There are other guys who are quietly doing their part to make this Louisville team go. One of those guys is Stephan Van Treese who has 33 rebounds in his last three games. That includes three straight with at least 10. He has become a more confident guy and is playing like he expects to grab double digit boards.
Mango has really started to look the part as well and he was one of the best defenders on the floor tonight with his 3 blocked shots. He also grabbed 6 boards.
Chris Jones had 8 assist and 2 steals tonight to balance out the tremendous offensive effort from his backcourt partner.
Great teams have a lot of things that make them great and one of those things is players on a team knowing what role they play. Every guy on this Louisville team knows exactly what their role is.

Montrezl has been killing the rims in Memphis like he has been all season. The word Beast doesn’t do him justice sometimes. After tonight he now has 90 monster dunks and number 90 might have been his most impressive of the year.
http://youtu.be/F0c88lF2FSw

If I can be critical for just one second I am a bit concerned that the guys got out-rebounded 43-38 tonight. They were able to mask this tonight, but it is something that could haunt this team down the road. Ok enough of that!
Our Cards are headed to another conference title game something very familiar to this group. It should be another great night for the Cardinals. 7 more to go. Go Cards!

Russ Smith after his amazing 42 point night:

Chris Jones after game:

Terry Rozier after the game:

Wayne Blackshear after the game:

Luke Hancock after the game:

The Cards will be in Memphis on Saturday to play the second game in a conference rivalry that historically is considered to be one of the better hardwood feuds in NCAA basketball. The series began in 1948-49, but heated up when the two programs became league rivals in 1967-68 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The two schools have played each other as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (1968-73), Metro Conference (1976-91), Conference USA (1996-2005), and now the AAC. The Cardinals and Tigers will do battle for the 89th time on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals lead this series 53-35, but it was the Tigers who came into the Yum Center earlier in the season and got the win 73-67. The Tigers are looking to bounce back Saturday after suffering a 77-68 setback at Houston Feb. 27 and having won seven of their last 10 games. The Cards come into this after a blowout win against Temple have won 7 games straight. Our Cardinals are a perfect 7-0 in road games in American Athletic Conference play.

The Tigers could pose a big threat to Louisville winning the AAC title regular season title. If the last meeting was any indication, this one should be fun to watch. Josh Pastner has his best team in his five seasons as head coach. Their deep, veteran backcourt is among the best in the AAC, and the country. Memphis returns a perimeter game that can compete with any team in the country with Joe Jackson (14.4pts, 3.6rpg, 4.7apg), Geron Johnson (9pts, 5.1rpg, 3.8apg), and Chris Crawford (8.8pts, 4.0rpg, 3.0apg). Crawford and Jackson are the first teammates to have 1,000 points and 400 assists for a career. While emerging low-post force Shaq Goodwin (12.6pts, 6.5rpg, 1.6apg) and freshman sensation Austin Nichols (8.7pts, 4.1rpg, 0.4apg) are controlling both the defensive paint and the boards. Since playing them last time Michael Dixon Jr. has also emerged as a offensive threat with (11.8pts, 2.3rpg, 2.5apg).

Memphis has a solid group of athletes and they pose a threat at every position on the floor. Saturday’s game features a battle between top-30 ranked teams in terms of the nation’s top scoring offenses. In the latest NCAA rankings released Feb. 24, Memphis is No. 26 in the nation in scoring offense and Louisville is No. 12. The Tigers are second in the American Athletic Conference with a 78.8 scoring average. Our Cardinals lead The American with an 82.3 scoring average.

Memphis comes into Saturdays game averaging 78.8 points-per-game, while shooting 48.6% from the floor and 33.1% from 3-point range. The Tigers are converting 65.4% of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, Memphis is allowing 70 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 43% from the floor. The Tigers are out-rebounding their opponents 1066-980 with a rebounding margin of +3.1 averaging 38.1 boards-per-contest.

Memphis
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
78.7
30th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
38.1
40th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
17.8
3rd
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.486
18th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #45
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 97.5 ranks 51st
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 110.5 ranks 67th

Here we are again Cardinal fans another Saturday, and another big road game in a hostile environment against a very old rival. This one will be a stiff test for our Cardinals and they will have to be much more effective in every aspect of the game than they were last weekend against Cincy. Where their offense was created by just one guy this Memphis team has playmakers all over the court and a few on the bench. Russ leads four Cardinals averaging double figures in the scoring column at 17.7 ppg (third in The American). Montrezl (13.3 ppg), Luke (11.7 ppg) and Chris Jones (10.1 ppg) also average double digits for Louisville. We will need these guys to show up and then some today. I think the X-factor for us could be the much improved play of Mango and VanTreese since the last match-up, and Terry Rozier. Wayne could also come out of no where and be the difference maker.

I’m confident but also very nervous about this one. It will truly tell us where our Cardinals are in terms of their threat to make a deep run in the next few weeks. This game is going to test them at every facet of the game, including their poise as that crowd is going to be down right nasty. I really want this one Cardinal Fans. Stroke those beards and cheer hard. Go Cards!

The Yum Center crowd roars when the PA announcer says David Levitch’s name before checking into a game. The Louisville fan base has welcomed this young man to the Cardinal Nation this year and he has become an instant fan favorite. He plays with a lot of passion taking full advantage of his minutes on the court in the closing minutes of games. But it wasn’t David Levitch the player getting that roar from the crowd on Friday night; it was “The David Levitch Play”.

Last night I had a dream that I was walking on a snow covered field at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. But when I looked down there were Birdprints in the snow.

Many memories of this past Cardinal football season flashed before the sky and at the end of each memory I’d look down and there were Birdprints in the snow.

Towards the end of the dream I seen Louie standing at the end of those Birdprints in the stadium all alone.

He looked back at me and said coaches and players come and go, but the Cardinal spirit will always be here and if there’s ever any doubt just follow the Birdprints below.

I started to follow those Birdprints in the snow until I reached Louie in the middle of that field standing on his own. Then I knew it would be alright and yelled with Louie Go Cards, Fight, Fight…!

(Thanks to @JenHeisey for sharing the very cool photo above)

I discovered a new documentary video from 3rd Coast hoops and NEOHOOPS Called “The Real Cleveland” and it has a great inside look at Terry Rozier. Every Cardinal Fan needs to see this and it will give them an idea of the player we are getting in Rozier. Good Stuff! The Rozier Story starts at around the 17:46 mark.

When we found out that Russ Smith was coming back to school for his senior season the thought shifted to the 13-14 basketball season and the possibility of the Cardinals repeating as National Champions. We have some very solid players coming in to replace the production we lost with Peyton and Gorgui. Chris Jones is an obvious choice to be a key player in a run next year for the Cards. He is the number one juco player in the country and has been touted by many for his playing ability. And yes I think Anton Gill is a very special player in his own right but do think he will be a guy that needs time to develop and adjust into the college game before he makes a real impact. But I think many are overlooking the player that seems to be primed and ready for a break-out freshman year.

6’1 Terry Rozier did a post grad year at Hargrave military academy before heading to Louisville. He made big things happen for himself in his last year of high school and was considered one of the top 3 point guards in the country. Rozier broke his previous scoring record of 56 points by scoring 68 in a game at the HoopFest in Louisville and looked like an offensive machine for most of his high school basketball season. The folks in Lexington seem to have put all their hopes next year in the talents of Andrew Harrison and one ESPN recruiting analyst places Rozier in the same conversation so why couldn’t he come in and be the big X-factor for a Championship run for Louisville next season as well. I am very anxious to see what Rozier will add to this veteran Cards group and I do think he will play a very important role in the upcoming season. This kid is a beast and will be one of the most anticipated recruits since Wayne Blackshear. I can’t wait to see this kid on the floor in a Louisville uniform.

When the final scout rankings came out for 2013 Rozier jumped up to #15 overall moving 68 spots up the rankings. Many consider him among the elite in his position. Dave Telep a senior national recruiting analyst for ESPN.com
scouting service used by more than 225 college teams covering basketball recruiting for 15 years recently shared his opinion about Terry Rozier:

Sunday night was a very special time for Cardinal fans and it was incredible to be a part of that special night in person. I tried to capture some of the moments before and after the game. Here are some of the photos that I took. Cards are headed to their 10th Final Four.