During this time of the year in college basketball teams have to be road warriors and winning road games in conference play becomes imperative. The Cardinals grabbed another one of those wins tonight in South Beach beating the Hurricanes 63-55. The win helps the Cards keep pace with the other top teams in the ACC and now gives them an 8-2 edge in the all-time series with Miami. It also gave Coach Pitino the first win in the coaching head-to-head battle between him and Jim Larrañaga.
The Cardinals had a very solid effort on the defensive end of the floor holding the Canes under some of their previous averages. The Canes were shooting 44% from the field, and 36% from the three. Tonight the Cards held them to 34% and 31% respectively. The Canes came into this game hitting at least eight shots from long range in five of the past six games and 14 times this season. Tonight the Cards held them to just six makes from long range. The Canes came into this game averaging 69 points and tonight were held to 55 points. Their top scoring duo of Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez came into this game averaging 28 points. Tonight they were held to just 12 points and weren’t much of a factor.
TERRY ROZIER POST GAME:
WAYNE BLACKSHEAR POST GAME:
We all know that this team is offensively challenged after you go down the roster past the big four. The big four I’m referring to of course is Montrezl Harrell who tonight had 18 points with 9 rebounds, Terry Rozier who led the way tonight with 22 points, 6 rebounds, Chris Jones with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assist, 6 steals, and Wayne Blackshear with 7 points, 2 rebounds. These were the only guys tonight who put stats in the books besides the 3 blocks for Onuaku and the 4 rebounds, 1 assist from Mango. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team only get production from four guys win a tough battle on the road like this against a solid NCAA team.
The writing is on the wall folks and we are only going to go as far as our big four can take us. Sure we will get an occasional quality game from the 5 spot, but it’s just too inconsistent to expect it every night. Coach Pitino did speak confidently about Snider, Aaron, and Johnson tonight but again I think the freshmen are just too inconsistent to count on going forward. It is February and with just nine games left in the regular season you have to go with what you got. Folks will moan and groan but it is what it is. Do I think we can win with our team’s shortcomings? Yes I do… We have two first round NBA picks and a guy like Chris Jones whose motor never stops. And if you’ve been paying attention Wayne has been pretty clutch lately especially in the closing minutes when the Cards needed a big shot.
We are battling for the top spot in the best conference in America. Nuff said… Go Cards!
On the radio tonight, Coach Pitino shared a message he gave his players on enjoying the rest of this season:
(H/T to Eric Crawford)