Winners of two straight, the 10th ranked Cardinals 21-5(9-4) return to action tomorrow at noon in The Ville to face the struggling Seton Hall Pirates 13-14(2-12). The two teams squared off previously this season on January 9th in East Orange, New Jersey at the Prudential Center, where the Pirates held their own against a then banged up Louisville team for about 30 minutes when the Cards were finally able to pull away for good and win by a score of 73-58. Gourgi, recently back from his broken wrist, led the way with a double-double racking up 16 points and 14 rebounds, while sophomore power forward Brandon Mobley scored 18 points and added seven rebounds in his team’s losing effort. A key factor as to why the Pirates were able to keep the game close, only trailing by 2 at the half, were the struggles of Peyton and Russ. The starting guards combined to go 4-17 from the field, and chipping in just 7 and 11 points respectively.

The Pirates, coached by former Cards assistant Kevin Willard, drop anchor in The Ville starved for a win. The team has suffered defeat in 8 straight games and has lost 12 of their last 13, many of which haven’t even been close. Currently sitting in second to last in the Big East, the Pirates can boast wins over last place South Florida and perennial doormat DePaul. A one point nonconference victory over Stony Brook, a team that typically makes its way into the NCAA tournament each year from the American East conference, may be the team’s most significant victory of the season to date.  To make matters worse for the Pirates, earlier this week Mobley, the starting power forward and team leader last time they faced the Cards, was lost for the season after dislocating his shoulder a second time. Mobley had been averaging a respectable 9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game prior to his season ending surgery.

Without question though Seton Hall’s most prolific player is junior shooting guard/small forward Fuquan Edwin. Despite being somewhat hobbled by an ankle injury sustained in a game at Pittsburgh, the third year swingman and former Big East Player of the Week is averaging 17.1 points per game, while shooting an impressive 45.3% from the field and 41.4% from three point range. Edwin also pitches in 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game and is a threat to score from anywhere on the court. Much like last month’s contest in which the Cards defensively honed in on Edwin, limiting him to just 13 points and 4-14 shooting, a major key for victory will unquestionably be containing him again and limiting his scoring chances.

Another impact player for the Pirates, and intriguing storyline, is sophomore point guard Aaron Cosby from right here in The Ville. Cosby shined on the court at Manual and later J-Town High Schools, before finishing up at a prep school in Massachusetts. In playing nearly 30 minutes a game (29.7), Cosby is averaging about 12 points (11.9) and 3 assists (2.6) per game, shooting 40.9% from the field and 36.8% from behind the arc.

In all, Seton Hall is a beat up team that is threatening to fall into last place in the conference. However that makes them potentially dangerous as they are desperate for a victory, and you know that Willard will have his squad fired up for his return to the Yum! Center. Though armed with some legitimate talent, the Pirates are very top heavy and essentially do not have any consistent secondary scoring. Though the Pirates may not be sent packing as quickly as the British during the Battle of New Orleans, in the end the Cards should win this one going away.

Side Notes:

  • Coach P absolutely owns his former assistants, compiling a 31-9 record against them overall.
  • Pitino is 5-0 all time against Kevin Willard.
  • A U.S. History reference in a post about basketball? …What?
  • Since joining the Big East the Cards are 6-2 vs. Seton Hall, and 3-0 against them in Louisville.
  • And finally, pirates from New Jersey? Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, thoughts?

 

Word

 Go Cards, Beat Seton Hall!

Louisville Cardinals Season Statistics:

Player

GP

MIN

PPG

RPG

APG

SPG

BPG

TPG

FG%

FT%

3P%

Russ Smith

26

29.8

18.4

3.8

2.8

2.1

0.0

2.5

.402

.819

.320

Chane Behanan

25

27.3

11.2

7.4

1.1

1.6

0.5

1.7

.507

.535

.091

Peyton Siva

26

31.1

10.0

2.2

6.1

2.1

0.1

2.9

.431

.877

.325

Wayne Blackshear

25

21.5

9.2

3.5

0.7

0.9

0.2

0.7

.436

.705

.337

Gorgui Dieng

19

31.6

9.1

10.3

2.1

1.2

2.7

1.7

.477

.671

.000

Luke Hancock

26

22.1

6.6

2.8

1.4

1.0

0.0

1.1

.353

.692

.321

Montrezl Harrell

26

17.2

5.7

3.8

0.2

0.7

0.7

0.7

.587

.477

.000

Kevin Ware

25

16.6

4.0

1.6

0.8

0.9

0.0

1.0

.435

.643

.364

Stephan Van Treese

23

11.8

2.0

3.1

0.3

0.5

0.3

0.3

.679

.636

.000

Zach Price

14

8.1

1.4

1.4

0.0

0.1

0.4

0.4

.533

.667

.000

Tim Henderson

17

3.5

0.8

0.4

0.2

0.4

0.1

0.2

.333

.000

.250

Michael Baffour

4

2.5

0.5

0.3

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

.000

1.000

.000

Logan Baumann

4

2.8

0.5

0.8

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.3

.000

1.000

.000

Jordan Bond

5

3.4

0.0

0.6

0.2

0.2

0.0

0.0

.000

.000

.000

 

Seton Hall Pirates Season Statistics:

Player

GP

MIN

PPG

RPG

APG

SPG

BPG

TPG

FG%

FT%

3P%

Fuquan Edwin

27

31.5

17.1

5.7

1.9

2.6

0.4

2.3

.453

.698

.414

Aaron Cosby

25

29.7

11.9

2.5

2.9

0.4

0.0

2.6

.409

.732

.368

Eugene Teague

27

28.0

11.0

7.3

1.5

0.3

0.4

2.8

.554

.554

.000

Brandon Mobley

22

21.4

9.0

5.5

0.7

0.3

1.0

1.6

.496

.780

.434

Patrik Auda

5

25.4

7.6

3.4

1.2

0.6

0.4

1.2

.500

.625

.167

Brian Oliver

20

22.0

7.3

3.9

1.0

0.7

0.2

1.7

.342

.923

.348

Kyle Smyth

27

24.5

4.8

2.3

2.1

1.0

0.1

0.7

.345

.895

.337

Haralds Karlis

25

18.3

3.2

2.4

1.0

0.4

0.2

0.7

.325

.696

.208

Kevin Johnson

19

8.2

2.7

2.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.3

.500

.452

.000

Tom Maayan

27

22.6

2.1

1.9

3.4

1.5

0.1

2.9

.386

.353

.308

Freddie Wilson

8

5.4

1.4

0.4

0.8

0.1

0.0

0.5

.500

.000

.200

Connor Laverty

2

2.0

1.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.5

1.000

.000

.000

Aaron Geramipoor

15

7.0

0.9

1.5

0.0

0.3

0.1

0.3

.333

.500

.000

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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