Following the exhausting and heartbreaking five overtime defeat in South Bend last Saturday, the 12th ranked Cardinals 19-5(7-4) return to action tomorrow night at home versus the St. John’s Red Storm 15-9(7-5). The 9 pm Valentine’s Day – one last warning guys – tipoff, broadcasted on ESPN, will mark the Cards’ first return to the Yum! Center in nearly two weeks when they whited out the Marquette Golden Eagles 70-51.
The Red Storm rolls into The Ville winners of six of their previous eight games; though two came against the perennial cellar-dwelling DePaul Blue Demons (shout out to Rutherford). However, St. John’s is sporting impressive wins over then 20th ranked Notre Dame, Connecticut, and on the road against number 14 Cincinnati. However the team will be without head coach Steve Lavin who is with his family following the passing of his father on Sunday. Roco Hines will take the reigns again, as he did for St. John’s previous game at Syracuse.
The Johnnies are paced by sophomore shooting guard D’Angelo Harrison who leads his team in multiple statistical categories including minutes per game at 35, points per game at 18.3, and steals per game with 1.5. Harrison also is hitting on 40.7% of his shots from the field and 31.7% from behind the arc. Compare that to Russ who on average plays 29.8 minutes, scoring 18.3 points, and taking the ball away 2.1 times, while converting 39.9% of his shots and the same 31.7% from long range.
Freshman forward Jakarr Sampson is another notable standout for the Johnnies. His performances last week against UConn and Syracuse, where he averaged 19.5 points along with 6 rebounds, have netted him his sixth Big East Rookie of the Week award. Only former greats Carmello Anthony with 10, Allen Iverson with 9, and Troy Murphy with 8, have earned more (Rich Barnes – USA Today). Overall Sampson is scoring nearly 15 points a game (14.8), while displaying power on the glass in ripping down 6.6 rebounds as well per contest.
Also keep an eye on freshman center Chris Obeka and sophomore combo-guard Phil Greene IV. The Johnnies big man is averaging 4.3 blocks per game, nearly doubling Gorgui’s 2.6; while the second year guard has filled in admirably at the point in the absence of starter Jamal Branch who suffered a leg injury in a loss at Georgetown, and hasn’t seen action since the 2nd of this month.
Expect this to be a physical basketball game, but one in which the Cards should prevail based upon their superior top-end talent and depth; though it will be vital for Peyton and Russ to bounce back from their performances at Notre Dame. Expect the match-ups of Russ and Harrison, Chane and Sampson, and Gourgi and Obeka to be the most interesting of the evening.
Side Notes:
- Since joining the Big East, the Cards are 6-2 versus St. John’s and 4-0 when facing them in Louisville.
- Since the 2001-2002 season the Cards are 11-9 in games following a contest that went into overtime. Following an overtime defeat the Cards are 5-3 overall, but are just 1-3 after multiple overtime games, despite having won or lost it.
- Our Mascot is infinitely cooler…maybe not Air Louie, though.
- Go Cards, Beat St. John’s!
Louisville Cardinals Season Statistics:
| Player | |||||||||||
| Russ Smith |
24 |
29.8 |
18.3 |
3.7 |
2.7 |
2.1 |
0.0 |
2.6 |
.399 |
.807 |
.317 |
| Chane Behanan |
23 |
27.6 |
11.2 |
7.5 |
1.0 |
1.7 |
0.5 |
1.8 |
.500 |
.537 |
.100 |
| Peyton Siva |
24 |
31.0 |
10.3 |
2.1 |
6.0 |
2.1 |
0.1 |
2.9 |
.430 |
.869 |
.333 |
| Gorgui Dieng |
17 |
31.3 |
9.4 |
9.9 |
2.3 |
1.2 |
2.6 |
1.7 |
.496 |
.682 |
.000 |
| Wayne Blackshear |
23 |
21.4 |
9.2 |
3.7 |
0.8 |
0.9 |
0.2 |
0.8 |
.439 |
.675 |
.358 |
| Luke Hancock |
24 |
22.5 |
6.8 |
2.9 |
1.5 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
1.1 |
.354 |
.692 |
.324 |
| Montrezl Harrell |
24 |
17.3 |
6.0 |
3.9 |
0.3 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
.608 |
.513 |
.000 |
| Kevin Ware |
23 |
16.5 |
4.0 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
0.9 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
.447 |
.615 |
.389 |
| Stephan Van Treese |
21 |
12.4 |
2.1 |
3.2 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
.731 |
.636 |
.000 |
| Zach Price |
14 |
8.1 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
.533 |
.667 |
.000 |
| Tim Henderson |
15 |
3.9 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
.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 |
| Totals |
24 |
— |
75 |
38 |
15 |
11 |
4 |
13 |
.447 |
.697 |
.324 |
St. John’s Red Storm Season Statistics:
| Player | |||||||||||
| D’Angelo Harrison |
24 |
35.0 |
18.3 |
4.4 |
2.1 |
1.5 |
0.3 |
2.3 |
.407 |
.785 |
.317 |
| Jakarr Sampson |
24 |
31.1 |
14.8 |
6.6 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
2.0 |
.460 |
.611 |
.000 |
| Phil Greene IV |
24 |
31.6 |
8.9 |
3.0 |
2.8 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
1.4 |
.355 |
.750 |
.244 |
| Jamal Branch |
10 |
25.1 |
8.3 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
1.4 |
0.0 |
2.1 |
.493 |
.571 |
.429 |
| Sir’Dominic Pointer |
24 |
24.4 |
6.5 |
4.8 |
2.5 |
1.4 |
0.9 |
1.6 |
.539 |
.641 |
.364 |
| Amir Garrett |
24 |
21.1 |
6.0 |
4.6 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
1.0 |
.471 |
.536 |
.333 |
| Chris Obekpa |
24 |
25.8 |
3.9 |
5.7 |
1.2 |
0.8 |
4.3 |
1.2 |
.441 |
.333 |
.000 |
| Marco Bourgault |
20 |
8.5 |
2.8 |
1.0 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
.345 |
1.000 |
.366 |
| Christian Jones |
18 |
9.2 |
2.5 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
.455 |
.455 |
.000 |
| Felix Balamou |
23 |
8.6 |
2.1 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
.444 |
.889 |
.000 |
| Jamal White |
2 |
1.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
| Sam Sealy |
2 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
| Khadim Ndiaye |
3 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
| David Lipscomb |
3 |
1.3 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
| Totals |
24 |
— |
68 |
37 |
13 |
7 |
8 |
11 |
.430 |
.643 |
.30 |
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