Like Johnny Manziel‘s NFL Draft stock, the 15-3 (4-1) Cards are riding high after their most complete and dominating game to date of the 2013-2014 season, in the dismantling of a shell shocked Houston squad 91-52. Led by Wayne Blackshear’s 23 point, 7 rebound game in which Fat Wayne drilled 5 of 6 3-point shots, all while coming off the bench for what was the first of many more times this year, the Cards are feeling great about themselves and deservedly so. In his post game remarks, Terry Rozier, after making his third career start in lieu of injured point guard Chris Jones (who will also miss tonight’s game), articulated the present mindset of the team. The true freshman, who keeps an even keel on the hardwood, stated “we just want to keep it going. It starts from the bench, from the last guy on up, and we’re just cheering everyone on the floor, and we are all just working for each other and playing hard.” In short, the chemistry and ego issues once thought to be perhaps plaguing this team and causing some selfish play early on are gone.
Coach Pitino opined that building the “relationship [of a team] starts in practice and off the court,” noting their recent “enthusiasm was off the charts.” Rozier took it a step further, offering “even coach said this is the best he’s felt all year” about the team. Whether it’s the new stylings of now sleeveless, beardless (and starter) Luke Hancock, or more plausibly just everything beginning to click for a program that lost its floor general and emotional rock to the NBA, it’s clear something has changed. From the joking on the bench, to standing up and being a cheerleader for the five guys (those are good burgers) in the game, to sticking around the locker room and just hanging out long after the final buzzer, these guys trust one another, have each other’s backs, and overall are a much tighter group. Now, the number 18 team will wing northward to Storrs, Connecticut to battle an enigmatic pack of Huskies.
Naturally the devil’s advocate would propose winning cures everything, and this will certainly be put to the test tonight at 9 pm under the bright lights and national spotlight of ESPN’s College Gameday. With Dickie V on the call, the Cards will square off with the 14-3 (2-2) UConn Huskies in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (seriously, how can the KFC Yum! Center, the home of the national champs for crying out loud not host Gameday this season?). These Huskies are difficult to figure out and are compiling quite an interesting résumé. Coached by former standout and alum Kevin Ollie, this UConn team has secured victories over Indiana, 15th ranked Florida, and most recently a ten point thrashing of number 17 Memphis at the FedEXForum; while also being shocked by SMU, and trailing Houston by 21 before ultimately falling to them as well.
Even with this pair of back to back, questionable losses, there’s no doubt this is a highly capable opponent. Though currently unranked, a win over UConn could get the proverbial monkey off the Cards’ back about not being able to beat quality opponents this year. In order to do so though, they’ll have to go through an extremely talented trio wearing white and navy blue. Much like the Cards, UConn boasts excellent guard play, which should make for some captivating storylines permeating throughout the game as the one on one battles unfold.
The alpha and omega of the unit is Shabazz Napier. The senior point guard has come up clutch time after time, most notably in hitting the game winning shot in the waning seconds vs. the Gators. Averaging 16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.1 steals a game, while shooting nearly 43% from long range, Napier will likely see a lot of Russ Smith and the tenacious defense he brings blocking the way to the basket.
Joining Napier is junior combo guard Ryan Boatwright. A prolific scorer like his counterpart, Boatwright tallies better than 12 points a game, to go along with over 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. In brief, the Huskies starting backcourt is as athletic and skilled as any in the nation. Playing with a heavy heart after hearing of the murder of his cousin, who grew up in the same household in their hometown of Aurora, Illinois, Boatwright scored only 7 points and handed out 4 assists at Memphis, but said after the game he was glad he played and was able to honor his cousin by wearing the initials AW, for Arin Williams, in permanent marker on his left cheek. Although the funeral takes place today, Boatwright will remain with his teammates and prepare as best he can for an outing on the national stage.
While deploying yet another 7 foot shot blocking center named Amida Brimah from Ghana, who fits the mold of Hasheem Thabeet, UConn has a much more effective and dangerous player in the way of 6-9 power forward DeAndre Daniels. A lanky junior from L.A., Daniels is the team’s second leading scorer with an average of 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and nearly 2 blocks. What makes him a potential matchup nightmare though is that from the 4-spot he’s hitting on greater than 48% of his 3-point attempts; think WVU’s Kevin Pittsnogle.
One final player to keep an eye on is senior shooting guard/small forward Niels Giffey. A 6-7 German, Giffey isn’t known for putting up a high volume of shots, but when he does let the ball go, it more often than not finds the bottom of the net. Averaging 20 minutes a night and 7.9 points, Giffey shoots 63.9% from the field, and 56.4% from downtown.
In many respects UConn is a similar team to the Cards. Sporting stellar guard play and young talent in the frontcourt, the two teams matchup nicely. Expect a tightly contested game, and as both teams played Thursday night and had to travel to Connecticut, the better conditioned team will have a distinct edge, which should become prevalent when the legs start getting heavy during the second half.
Side Notes:
- The Cards lead the overall series vs. UConn 8-6, and have won 2 of 3 games played in the Gampel Pavilion.
- The teams squared off last on January 14, 2013 which saw the Cards pull off the 73-58 win in Hartford.
- The Cards are 1.5 point favorites for tonight.
- After the Houston game, Fat Wayne will likely never start another while he’s a Cardinal. Coach P loved the aggressiveness he displayed, which was made possible in part by not picking up a foul moments after tipoff.
- The 15 3-pointers made vs. Houston was a team best for a single game this season.
- The team earned a collective 3.47 GPA for the Fall 2013 semester.
- Talked to David “Pistol” Levitch after the Houston game and the fellow Mustang alum assured me he was feeling zero ill effects from when he rolled his ankle in practice.
- Had to look up who Pistol was when Coach P referred to him in the post game.
- Luke has now reached double digit points in five consecutive games and Russ has hit or surpassed the 18 point threshold in six straight.
- The dude with his arms outstretched is me yelling at Boatwright’s mom for cheering obnoxiously and unnecessarily while the Cards were routing UConn 80-59 in February 2012…the scoreboard point by the guy in the middle is a nice touch too.
Go Cards, Beat UConn!
Louisville Cardinals Season Statistics:
|
Player |
|||||||||||
|
18 |
28.2 |
18.1 |
3.3 |
4.9 |
2.1 |
0.1 |
3.0 |
.453 |
.702 |
.388 |
|
|
18 |
25.8 |
11.7 |
8.2 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
.622 |
.517 |
1.000 |
|
|
16 |
25.4 |
11.3 |
2.2 |
2.9 |
1.9 |
0.1 |
1.6 |
.444 |
.750 |
.362 |
|
|
17 |
19.9 |
10.5 |
2.3 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
0.2 |
1.1 |
.387 |
.866 |
.296 |
|
|
18 |
20.7 |
9.9 |
3.3 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
.415 |
.833 |
.449 |
|
|
12 |
18.6 |
7.6 |
6.3 |
1.0 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
1.3 |
.636 |
.447 |
.000 |
|
|
18 |
18.6 |
6.8 |
3.3 |
2.1 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
0.5 |
.389 |
.667 |
.396 |
|
|
18 |
16.4 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
1.4 |
0.7 |
.542 |
.561 |
.000 |
|
|
18 |
18.9 |
2.8 |
4.8 |
0.4 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
.667 |
.636 |
.000 |
|
|
17 |
6.5 |
1.9 |
0.9 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
.393 |
1.000 |
.360 |
|
|
14 |
5.6 |
1.9 |
0.9 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
.391 |
.400 |
.294 |
|
|
9 |
5.9 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
0.7 |
.375 |
.500 |
.000 |
|
|
9 |
2.9 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
.250 |
.500 |
.400 |
|
|
10 |
5.1 |
0.6 |
1.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
1.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals |
18 |
— |
83 |
39 |
16 |
10 |
5 |
11 |
.471 |
.665 |
.372 |
UConn Huskies Season Statistics:
|
Player |
|||||||||||
|
17 |
34.6 |
16.1 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
2.1 |
0.4 |
2.8 |
.431 |
.866 |
.429 |
|
|
17 |
29.7 |
13.4 |
5.3 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
1.7 |
1.5 |
.480 |
.787 |
.481 |
|
|
17 |
30.7 |
12.4 |
3.6 |
3.6 |
1.6 |
0.1 |
2.1 |
.428 |
.767 |
.413 |
|
|
17 |
20.2 |
7.9 |
3.4 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
1.0 |
.639 |
.714 |
.564 |
|
|
17 |
20.9 |
6.9 |
2.5 |
1.1 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
1.1 |
.495 |
.619 |
.407 |
|
|
17 |
18.2 |
6.7 |
2.0 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
1.2 |
.359 |
.786 |
.295 |
|
|
17 |
12.5 |
3.7 |
2.4 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
.561 |
.810 |
.000 |
|
|
17 |
13.8 |
3.7 |
2.6 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
2.8 |
0.5 |
.703 |
.611 |
.000 |
|
|
17 |
9.9 |
2.3 |
1.4 |
0.1 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
.429 |
.765 |
.333 |
|
|
5 |
5.0 |
1.8 |
1.0 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
.364 |
.000 |
.200 |
|
|
10 |
6.3 |
1.7 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.7 |
.545 |
.500 |
.000 |
|
|
11 |
5.4 |
1.1 |
2.0 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
.357 |
.400 |
.000 |
|
|
4 |
1.8 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.333 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
4 |
2.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals |
17 |
— |
75 |
36 |
14 |
7 |
7 |
11 |
.468 |
.767 |
.414 |
Erich Kline
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