It was a game of runs tonight in the KFC Yum center as 22,086 Cardinal fans watched these teams go back and forth for much of the first and some of the second half. The game had five lead changes and was tied twice before the Cards finally made a run that the Red Storm wouldn’t have an answer for putting the game away 72-58 and giving Louisville it’s 11th straight 20 win season.
Many of us were wondering how the Cards would respond after the gut shot they took last weekend in South Bend. But our guys came out tonight and didn’t appear to have any hangover from that game. They Bounced back very nicely and took care of business against a young but very talented group of St Johns players. I was especially surprised and happy to see the Cards control the paint area tonight. That is usually where this Red Storm team thrives and they came into this game 2nd in the country in blocked shots, and lead the Big East in that category. They did have seven blocked shots to Louisville’s 3 tonight but the Cards dominated nonetheless. They outscored the Red Storm in the paint 32-16 and out-rebounded them 45-37. Again keep in mind that St Johns is very long and athletic in the paint.
It was suspected last weekend that Rick Pitino might have sought out some wise counsel for his guard duo from the Lakers Steve Nash. I don’t know if Nash has reached out to our back-court tandem yet but they came out tonight with a swagger that we hadn’t seen from them in several weeks. Peyton was able to control the game and was able to keep his team in a nice tempo throughout. He had 12 points but more importantly was the games leader with 6 assist which now puts him at 600 for his career in Louisville. I’m not going to lie; it baffles me how Gorgui is still playing so timid on the offensive end of the floor. That hand injury really set him back in that part of his game. Fortunately for the Cards it hasn’t hurt him on the defensive end of the court or on the glass. He had 17 rebounds tonight and 2 blocked shots. I wish he would carry some of that intensity into his offensive game because I think we will need him to be stronger with the ball in his hands in scoring position in the tourney. Russ Smith has them talking again. After the Notre Dame game it seemed that the talking heads were trying to back out of some of their previous assumptions about the Shooting Guard. Russ took over the game at the 14:25 mark and scored 12 straight over a 3:03 stretch that put Louisville ahead for good. He had a 21 point second half and lead all scorers with 24 for the game. Check out the ESPN highlights. Ha! He has them talking again. After his amazing offensive performance tonight Russ is now only 49 points away from joining the 1000 point club as a Louisville Cardinal.
Other positives to take away from tonight is that in a game where we only scored 15 points off of turnovers we won handedly, free-throw shooting was a lot better at 76.7%, we had 4 guys in double figures and the Cards had 8 steals making it the 23rd time this season with more than seven.
Was really happy with the way this team looked tonight. Coach Pitino said on his radio show this week that he wanted to finish the season with 7 wins in a row. With one game down and six to go I don’t see that being a problem if this team plays like it did tonight. The Cards should be favored in all the remaining games except one. I expect Cuse to be favored when we travel to play them. Next up for the Cards is a road trip to South Florida to play the Bulls in what will be a battle in quick sand Sunday afternoon.
SOME POST GAME QUOTES FROM COACH PITINO:
Coach Pitino: “Great defensive effort tonight. Really happy with the victory, still many things to work on.”
Coach Pitino on Gorgui: “If I could just learn to play him four minutes less, he would do a lot better.”
Coach Pitino on Blackshear injury: “He’s fine, Just tweaked it”
Coach Pitino on Russ: “He shoots a better percentage at home than he does on the road,” Has to improve on the road.”
Coach Pitino on Bench: “I’ve got to have more confidence in Stephan or Zach. I should have it, they’re playing very well.”
Coach Pitino on St. Johns: “I think they’re really turning the corner and becoming the St Johns of the old days.”
Coach Pitino on the Big East: “Of all the teams I’ve watched lately, I think Providence is playing the best basketball of any team in the Big East.”
The Louisville student section got in on the “Harlem Shake” craze tonight and decided to record their version of the youtube sensation. Here it is for your viewing pleasure: