I think I’m stating the obvious in saying that Saturday is a must win situation when the Cardinals return to the Yum Center to play the Miami Hurricanes. The Cardinals are 8-2 in the all-time series against the Hurricanes, which dates back to the 1950-51 season. Louisville won the last matchup with Miami, defeating the Canes, 63-55, earlier this season on Feb. 3, 2015 in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes are 7-6 and in 7th place in the ACC while the Cardinals are 8-5 and in 4th place in the ACC.

The Hurricanes have been playing well as of late with wins in three of their last four after pounding Virginia Tech 76-52 on Wednesday. They are another team trying to close strong in hopes of getting one of the last spots in the tournament. They have beaten three ranked opponents this season including two on the road. Sheldon McClellan is leading the way for the Hurricanes averaging 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds. He is hitting shots at a 51.7 percent clip. Angel Rodriguez is averaging 12.6 points and 4.3 assists. He is second in the ACC in steals. Tonye Jekiri is grabbing 10.4 rebounds a game. He leads the ACC with 15 ten plus rebound games. Davon Reed is knocking down 50.0 percent of his shots from long range overall, while notching a 54.8 percent (23-42) clip from three in ACC games. He leads the team with 23 3-pointers.

Miami 2014-15 Overall Rankings Offense | Defense

Miami 2014-15 Kenpom Rankings
Overall- #59
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-98.4 ranks 104th
Offense Adjustment Efficiency
-109.2 ranks 51st
-Per Kenpom’s game prediction he has Louisville winning the game 67-59 based on his indexes.

Our Cardinals have proven this season that they can score and defend with the best of them but have struggled in both areas in back to back losses. Terry Rozier has averaged 19.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in the last eight games. Montrezl Harrell is averaging 15.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and is shooting 57.7 percent from the field. Chris Jones has averaged 15.9 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 steals and is expected to make a return to the Cardinals line-up on Saturday. Two of the Cardinal freshman had good games in Syracuse. Quentin Snider scored a career-high 13 points and Chinanu Onuaku totaled a career-high matching 11 rebounds and added eight points and three assist.

The Cardinals have just nine steals collectively in their last four games. The Cardinals had been seventh nationally averaging 9.3 steals a game prior to that stretch. While the offense has gradually gotten better the defense has gotten worse. They are going to have to get back to what Louisville teams have always done best and pick it up on this side of the ball. Coach Pitino has called the guys out for their poor defensive effort the past couple of weeks now charting their deflections and sharing the totals with the fans.

Saturday’s game will not be a cake walk. Miami is another hungry team looking to boost their March resume. They have some big wins including at one of the toughest places in the ACC Cameron Indoor. They have a lot of talent and have a very solid game on both ends of the floor.

This is one of those feel better, get back on track games for the Cardinals. I really would like to see Snider and Onuaku build on their solid performances at Cuse… I hope Jones can get back on track, and would like to see Wayne have a good game. I think we’ll see these things plus great all around games from the other guys. It’s crunch time and I really believe these guys know that and are ready to get back down to business. Like Montrezl said after the game on Wednesday they’ve worked too hard to let this season get away from them.

The Beak Prediction:
Louisville 70 Miami 59