Wins are great but revenge wins are even better. And that’s exactly what our Cards got on Saturday in front of 31,173 as they beat Syracuse in a Big East slugfest 58-53. With this victory the Cards end a three game losing streak to the Orange. Louisville now leads the all-time series with Syracuse 14 to 7 and 7 to 4 in the Big East. Today marked the final time these two teams will play each other as Big East members and the next time they meet they’ll be in the ACC. Coach Pitino said after the game today he feels “Louisville and Syracuse are an established new rivalry because of the great games recently.” I concur with that thought and can’t wait to see this rivalry renewed in the ACC.
Who would have thought that on a day where Siva, Behanan and Blackshear were a combined 2 of 21 that the Cards would be able to go into Syracuse and get the win. That is a sign of a very good team and today it was all about the team effort. It was also a day where we would finally see this Louisville team and their coach do what they needed to do at the end to win a close game. The players stepped up on defense, got some clutch steals and made their free-throws. Coach Pitino called time-outs and made sure his guys executed down the stretch.
Luke Hancock and Kevin Ware were my co MVP’s today. Luke was all over the court making big play after big play. With the game tied 48-48 at the 1:15 mark in the second half he gets a big steal then comes back down the floor after a time-out and hits a three-point shot putting the Cards ahead for good with 51 seconds left. He was 4 of 5 from behind the arc and finished with 12 points. After his long range performance today Luke is now ranked 8th in the Big East in 3 point field goals shooting 38.7%. Coach Pitino has always expressed his confidence in Luke and has told us from day one that when healthy this guy would come up big. We are starting to see this play out. Kevin Ware was also very solid today as he came up with a big steal with 29 seconds left and hit 3 clutch free throws in the closing minutes to help seal the victory. He would finish with 8 points. I think it was great for his confidence today being on floor at the end of this ball game. Especially to play such an important role in the victory. These guys are really X-Factors heading into March Madness. Luke has a good basketball IQ with the skills to match the knowledge. He sees the play and can be a facilitator with his passing or drain open shots to stretch out a defense. He knows where he needs to be on the floor and makes the offense function more efficiently. Kevin provides such elite athletic ability with the mindset of a high-level scoring guard. He possesses tremendous speed and explosion in the open floor, he can lead the fast break or be the finisher.
Peyton is still the guy that makes this team go. He doesn’t do well when he plays against Syracuse and they really are his Kryptonite. He didn’t score today but did have 4 assist and 1 steal. He now only needs 7 steals to be Louisville’s all-time leader in that category.
Russ led the Cardinals again today in scoring with 18 points and hit five clutch free-throws in the closing minutes. But more importantly and in the big picture way of thinking he had 5 assist. He made the big assist to Luke on that crucial three-point shot at the end of the game. We all know that he is always on the attack and can put points up quickly with his jumper or drive. But when Russ shares the ball he really goes to a different level of player for this team. After his offensive performance today Russ is now ranked 4th in the Big East in scoring and is 64th on Louisville’s all-time scoring list.
Gorgui had a great stat line today with 11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. He changed many shots today while challenging everything in the lane. He was a major factor at both ends of the court. He appears to be back and fully recovered from that wrist injury. After his performance today Gorgui ranks first in the Big East in rebounding and second in blocked shots.
If this game doesn’t get you ready for March Madness I don’t know what will. Our Cards appear to be peaking at just the right time and how fitting that this win came on the great Denny Crum’s birthday. He sure knew how to get his teams peaking at the right time. The Cards have now won 8 of their last nine and five in a row. Next up will be a clash with our old rival Cincinnati in one of the final two games of the season.
I sure am glad to be a Cards fan “ORANGE” you?
