Our Cardinals will return to the Yum Center court for their third game in the last five days when they play USF on Tuesday night. The game is at 7PM and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network. Louisville has a 28-4 series advantage over USF, winning 14 of the last 15 match ups. This is the second game if the season between these teams. The Cardinals beat the Bulls back in late January 86-46 down in Florida. The Bulls come into this game 3-10 in the AAC and 12-14 overall. The Cards have won 10 of their last 12 games including a 102-54 win against Rutgers on Sunday.

USF isn’t a great team but Stan Heath is a good coach who knows that the strength of his team is the defense and blocking shots on the interior. Heath comes from the forty minutes of hell philosophy learned during his time at Arkansas and defense has been the identity of his teams while at USF. They had a solid defense last year but didn’t have the size down low to finish strong and gave up way too many offensive rebounds. Heath hit the recruiting trail this past summer and got some guys he had hoped would help. And 40.7 percent of USF’s scoring this season has come from three newcomers: Corey Allen Jr., John Egbunu and Chris Perry.

Two of those young guys are leading his front-court this season. Chris Perry (9.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and John Egbunu (7.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg). They are joined in the front-court by the best player on the team Victor Rudd (14.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg).
Perry has a 7-5 wingspan and is a traditional low-post player who likes to play around the basket. He ranks 15th in the conference in rebounding and leads all freshmen in the conference in scoring. Egbunu has speed, leaping ability and a willingness to attack the rim. He ranks 10th in the conference in rebounding, the most of any freshman, 11th in blocked shots, 8th in offensive rebounding . Rudd is a do it all athlete and a great all around player. He is one of three players in the American Conference to rank in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding. 10th in scoring, 9th in rebounding.

They are led in the back-court by three veteran players. Corey Allen Jr. (9.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Martino Brock (9.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Javontae Hawkins (4.1ppg, 1.3 rpg).
Allen is a very active guard who knows how to use his hands and plays at a high level on both sided of the ball. He ranks 14th in assists (3.0), 16th in steals (1.4), sixth in minutes played (33.1). Brock is a lengthy guard who also has a knack for taking away the basketball. Allen and Brock combine for about 4 steals per game.
Hawkins is a very good defensive player in his own right and is great at getting his team-mates invoked. He looks to drive a dish.

USF comes into Wednesday’s game averaging 66 points-per-game, while shooting 43.3% from the floor and 25.6% from 3-point range. The Bulls are converting 67.1% of their attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, USF is allowing 70.5 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 43.8% from the floor. The Bulls are out-rebounding their opponents 922-919 with a rebounding margin of +0.1 averaging 35.5 boards-per-contest.

USF
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
66.0
297th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
35.5
157th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
12.6
193rd
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.433
235th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #194
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 104.5 ranks 172nd
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 101.9 ranks 222nd

The last time the Bulls beat a ranked team was in Louisville, a 58-51 win over the No. 19 Cardinals on Feb. 29, 2012. And while I don’t think this team is as bad as they appear on paper I don’t think they have even the slightest of chances Tuesday night. Our Cardinals are playing the best basketball of the season right now and this will just be another tune-up for the big showdown in Cincy this weekend. This will be the final regular season conference meeting between these two schools and I can’t say that I’ll miss it. Cards romp and the facial hair continues to grow. Go Cards!