Well rested following their 74-65 upset victory over 17th ranked Connecticut one week ago, the 11-3 (1-1) SMU Mustangs come charging into The Ville to square off with the now reeling 13-3 (2-1)Cardinals. Sunday’s 1 pm tipoff inside the KFC Yum! Center, broadcasted again on the CBS Sports Network, is a crucial matchup for the defending national champs, and one that prominent media outlets such as USA Today are calling for the Cards to lose. With recent inability to distribute the ball from the point, coupled with rebounding woes and failure to generate defensive stops at key moments, perhaps now more than ever do we Cardinal faithful recognize our overconfidence from the past offseason in the ability to replace Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng. But the reality is that the team has to keep moving forward, and realize that a January loss, even at home, does not torpedo the season. Let’s face facts, the hallmark of Pitino teams is the mid-winter stumble, then pulling it together, followed by a run through February and March. This is best illustrated in that over the past five seasons the Cards are a combined 20-15 in the month of January. In short, don’t hit the panic button just yet.
Clearly improvements need to be made though, and in multiple areas, and the team’s resolve and toughness will be tested again tomorrow by this group out of Dallas. Hall of Famer Larry Brown, now in his second year in the saddle, has worked wonders at SMU. Inheriting a 13-18 squad after the 2011-2012 season, and a program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 1993, Brown has quickly turned things around. Following his playing days at UNC, Brown played six years in the ABA, and since has been a well traveled head coach mostly throughout the professional basketball ranks. His lengthy NBA resume and stops at marquee collegiate programs makes it intriguing as to why he took the SMU job. However, Louisville fans best remember him as head coach of the UCLA team that the Cards defeated 59-54 in 1980 to win the university’s first national championship. Of course we also know Denny first turned down his alma mater’s offer to return to Los Angeles and replace his mentor, the legendary John Wooden, to stay at UofL.
Though hobbled somewhat by an undisclosed lower-body injury, the Mustangs’ attack begins with Nic Moore. The sophomore point guard from Indiana is the team leader in multiple statistical categories and at 5-9 should remind Cards fans of their own guards in Russ Smith and Chris Jones. Averaging 32.3 minutes per game, with 13.9 points, 4.6 assists, and 1.1 steals, all while knocking down 54.7% of his shots from long range, there’s no question the offense flows through Moore and it will be a tall order in shutting him down.
His primary wingman is sophomore power forward Markus Kennedy, a transfer from Villanova. Adding considerable grit and muscle to the Mustang frontcourt, Kennedy averages 10.4 points, and paces the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocks. He’ll be asked to play an even larger role tomorrow afternoon, as SMU will be without the services of starting center Yanick Moreira. The 6-11 junior from Angola suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee during Friday’s practice and is expected to miss three to six weeks. Fellow junior Cannen Cunningham is tabbed to fill in for the team’s third leading scorer.
With Brown’s signature up-tempo style befitting of their mascot, SMU is a team that loves to run; and though the Mustangs will be without their starting big man, which should only benefit the Cards’ struggling frontcourt, the team still shoots a D1 sixth best 50.2% from the field. In short, the Cards have to bring their defense. Expect a very fast-paced game that the Cards had better show up for and be prepared to grind out if they want to avoid losing back to back conference games at home for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.
Side Notes:
- UofL leads the overall series with SMU 6-2 (3-0 at home) with the last meeting having taken place on December 28, 1987 as part of Honolulu’s “Rainbow Classic” that saw the Cards triumph 87-79.
- Prior to their UConn game SMU had lost ten straight versus ranked opponents.
- The five newest members of the UofL Athletic Hall of Fame will be honored during the game. They are: baseball pitcher Sean Green, softball pitcher Tara McClure Isable, QB Chris Redman, field hockey’s Pip Sanders, and combo guard DeJuan Wheat.
- Since the 2006-2007 season the Cards are 44-14 in games following a loss.
Go Cards, Beat SMU!
Louisville Cardinals Season Statistics:
|
Player |
|||||||||||
|
16 |
27.9 |
17.8 |
3.1 |
4.8 |
1.9 |
0.1 |
2.8 |
.443 |
.716 |
.355 |
|
|
16 |
25.3 |
11.9 |
8.1 |
0.9 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
1.1 |
.638 |
.549 |
1.000 |
|
|
15 |
26.1 |
11.9 |
2.3 |
2.9 |
2.0 |
0.1 |
1.6 |
.444 |
.750 |
.368 |
|
|
15 |
19.5 |
9.7 |
2.3 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
1.0 |
.360 |
.871 |
.279 |
|
|
16 |
20.4 |
9.5 |
3.1 |
0.8 |
1.3 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
.382 |
.878 |
.417 |
|
|
12 |
18.6 |
7.6 |
6.3 |
1.0 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
1.3 |
.636 |
.447 |
.000 |
|
|
16 |
17.5 |
6.6 |
3.2 |
1.8 |
0.6 |
0.1 |
0.5 |
.396 |
.750 |
.381 |
|
|
16 |
16.6 |
4.3 |
4.1 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
1.4 |
0.6 |
.523 |
.561 |
.000 |
|
|
16 |
18.8 |
3.1 |
4.9 |
0.3 |
0.9 |
1.1 |
0.5 |
.677 |
.636 |
.000 |
|
|
15 |
5.7 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
.429 |
1.000 |
.389 |
|
|
9 |
5.9 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
0.7 |
.375 |
.500 |
.000 |
|
|
13 |
4.8 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
.412 |
.400 |
.250 |
|
|
8 |
2.6 |
1.0 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
.333 |
.500 |
.400 |
|
|
9 |
4.9 |
0.2 |
1.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
1.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals |
16 |
— |
84 |
39 |
15 |
10 |
5 |
10 |
.468 |
.680 |
.355 |
Southern Methodist Mustangs Season Statistics:
|
Player |
|||||||||||
|
14 |
32.3 |
13.9 |
2.6 |
4.6 |
1.1 |
0.0 |
2.4 |
.520 |
.838 |
.547 |
|
|
14 |
21.6 |
10.4 |
5.8 |
1.2 |
1.1 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
.505 |
.587 |
.000 |
|
|
14 |
18.4 |
9.1 |
5.6 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
0.8 |
1.4 |
.563 |
.659 |
.000 |
|
|
14 |
30.5 |
8.5 |
3.6 |
3.6 |
1.0 |
0.4 |
2.1 |
.383 |
.771 |
.303 |
|
|
13 |
17.3 |
6.5 |
2.0 |
1.4 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
1.2 |
.437 |
.857 |
.356 |
|
|
14 |
12.6 |
5.8 |
3.3 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
1.0 |
.723 |
.448 |
.000 |
|
|
14 |
20.7 |
5.4 |
2.4 |
1.3 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
1.3 |
.478 |
.690 |
.500 |
|
|
14 |
10.5 |
4.7 |
2.7 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
0.8 |
.649 |
.783 |
.000 |
|
|
14 |
16.4 |
4.3 |
2.7 |
0.7 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.8 |
.482 |
.545 |
.000 |
|
|
14 |
13.9 |
3.8 |
3.2 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
1.1 |
.559 |
.643 |
.600 |
|
|
4 |
1.8 |
1.5 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.750 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
12 |
6.3 |
1.4 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
.286 |
.750 |
.333 |
|
|
5 |
1.4 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
.333 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
5 |
1.8 |
0.0 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals |
14 |
— |
74 |
39 |
16 |
6 |
5 |
14 |
.502 |
.673 |
.415 |
Erich Kline
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