It’s been a rough couple of days for the Louisville basketball program, but there is no time for moping during this time of year. The Cardinals must shake off their woes in a hurry as they will open up AAC conference play on New Years Eve down in Orlando against UCF. The Cardinals and the Knights have only played one other time on the hardwood with the Cards claiming victory in that one 78-58 in 1999. UCF comes into this game riding a five game win streak and in four seasons under their current coach they are 22-1 in the month of December at home. They are 3-25 all-time vs top 25 teams. Tuesday will be the first time they’ve ever hosted a defending national champion.
With the news that Chane Behanan will no longer be on the team the Cardinals are going to have to adjust to a more unconventional type of line-up but it still won’t be as unconventional as the group UCF puts on the floor. UCF coach Donnie Jones knows that if he wants to try and win some games this season in the AAC especially against teams like Louisville that he needs his best players on the floor regardless of position. That’s why on Tuesday evening you might see a small forward running the offense and the nominal 5 man taking most of the three point shots. This is a very versatile team.
Leading the way for the Knights is Calvin Newell (14.8 points, 2.6 rebounds), Isaiah Sykes (13.9 points, 5.5 rebounds), Tristan Spurlock (13.8 points, 6.8 rebounds), Kasey Wilson (11.5 points, 6.1 rebounds), and Dylan Karell (0.7 points, 1.7 rebounds).
Calvin leads the AAC in steals, Sykes is called “Mr Versatility”. He starts at the 3, but can play any position from point guard to power forward. He declared for the NBA draft, but withdrew in June. Spurlock is among The American leaders in rebounds (6.8) and 3-point field goal percentage (42.3). Wilson is an excellent 3 point shooter and is a floor-stretcher who can draw an opponent’s big man away from the basket. Karell has 7 blocked shots since becoming a starter.
UCF comes into Tuesdays game averaging 80.1 points-per-game, while shooting 47.9% from the floor and 40.1% from 3-point range. The Knights are converting 57.4% of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, UCF is allowing 67.2 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 42.2% from the floor. The Knights are out-rebounding their opponents 452-379 with a rebounding margin of +6.6 averaging 41.1 boards-per-contest.
This UCF group enters the game against Louisville playing its best basketball of the season and the team’s shooting from deep is a big reason for the success. In their last four games, the Knights connected on 51-of-102 (50.0 percent) of their 3-point field goal attempts. They also are doing a good job defending the three ball and lead the American in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 28.8.
Central Florida
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
80.1
46th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
41.1
20th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
15.3
57th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.479
52nd
OVERALL
Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #116
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-101.2 ranks 126th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-105.3 ranks 149th
Cardinal fans to say this is going to be a dangerous game is a understatement. This is one that I didn’t really have circled on the schedule as being that much of a challenge, but that was before the recent shake-up of the team. I don’t think anyone knows how the Cardinals are going to respond after losing one of their teammates for the season and if they will have a hangover from the big loss Saturday. Our guys enter the New Years Eve AAC opener with a lot of question marks. They do match-up very well with this UCF group and should have the talent to edge them out early, but who knows. I will be cheering them on as hard as I can and hope they can exact revenge for that football loss earlier this year. Go Cards!