Tonight was the last time that the current Big East will have a Big Monday match-up on ESPN. The Cards would make the most of the finally as they looked very sharp in the dismantling of the Bearcats beating them 67-51. The Cards now lead the all-time series 55 to 43 and 5 to 4 in the Big East. Coach Pitino got his 300th win and the Cards have now won nine out of ten and six games straight. Also with the win tonight the Cards have secured a double-bye in next weeks Big East Tournament.
Coach Pitino to the Crowd after 300: “I can’t think of any place outside of heaven that I would want to spend 300 wins with than all of you people.”
Coach Pitino watching a video celebrating his 300th win with his family
The Cards would give coach Pitino his 300th win in style as they were as sharp as I’ve seen them all season. They were pressing, passing, scoring and running up and down the floor. This is a Louisville team that continues to guard people and continues to improve their offensive efficiency. Our Cards came into this game forcing 18.7 turnovers per game good for second best in the nation, third in the nation in turnover margin 6.1 and also third in the nation in steals per game 10.8. Tonight they forced the Bearcats into 21 turnovers and had 12 steals. They had held their last five opponents to an average of just 54 points per game on a combined 35.5 percent shooting from the floor. Tonight they held the Bearcats to 51 points and 35.3% from the field. The offense is vastly improved as 3 players scored in double figures tonight and 9 players made it into the scoring column. With 1 game left in the regular season the Cardinals have outscored their league opponents by 0.16 points per possession, tops in the Big East. They are currently ranked 1st in the Big East in scoring margin at +11 and 3rd in the Big East in scoring offense at 70.2 per game. The Cards looked really impressive in the transition game tonight and probably had one of the better plays of the season as you can see in the video below.
The player of the game was Gorgui as he had another impressive stat line for this game with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist and 1 block. He is in post season form not only guarding the basket but also making some very impressive offensive moves. He is currently ranked first in the Big East in rebounding and 16th in the nation. We learned in the post game press conference tonight that Gorgui will participate in the Senior Day ceremonies this weekend and will probably make the move to the NBA next season. He will not sign an agent but coach Pitino says that he will encourage him to go if he is a 1st round pick. Draft Express has him being the 28th pick in the first round to the Thunder. Really tough to think about Dieng not being around next year as he is one of my favorites ever.
Russ had another awesome performance scoring 18 points but the most impressive thing about him is the way he is playing more under control and is getting his teammates involved more often. He has become more efficient from the field and has become much more efficient finishing around the rim. Smith is making 64% of his shot attempts within a foot or so of the basket, an increase from the 53% he made a year ago. And his offensive rating has been boosted to 109. He is going to be a very effective weapon as we head down the stretch. After this game he moved into 61st all-time in points as a Card.
Peyton had a very good game tonight and he also looks like the post season player he was last season. He made some strong moves to the basket tonight and was very good at managing the game for the Cards. He finished with 11 points, 4 assist and 2 steals. He only needs 5 more steals to be the all-time leader in that category for the Cards.
I have been extremely impressed with the performance of our bench. Tonight they outscored the Bearcats bench 19 to 6. Montrezl had a really good night with some very impressive hustle plays. On one play he initiated a steal then leaked out for the dunk on the other end of the floor. Stephan also got some extended playing time tonight and grabbed 4 rebounds. Rick Pitino said in his post game that he was the best rebounder on the team. Our X-factors Ware and Hancock continue to impress with their contributions to this team and are starting to be very reliable subs for Siva and Smith. Luke was 2 for 3 from behind the arc tonight with 8 points and Ware scored 5 including a very athletic play he had on a breakaway.
We have almost reached the end of the season Cards fans and we are just a little over a week away from finding out where our Cards will start their march for their 3rd National Title. This team is primed and ready as they are really starting to hit their stride. This is nothing new to Cardinal fans as our basketball team is 42-18 in the last 9 years around this time. Next up for this team is the payback game on Saturday as the Irish will be coming to town. This will also be the Senior Day ceremonies for Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng and Mike Marra.
