The #25 ranked Louisville Cardinals went on the road as a 1-point underdog to unranked Seton Hall Saturday night.  Former Louisville assistant Kevin Willard’s team opened the season 15-2, and has since lost 4 in a row.  The most recent loss came to the Cardinals thanks to a combination of good defense from the Cardinals and terrible offense from Seton Hall.  The Pirates were able to just shoot 27.6% from the field and were out-rebounded by the Cardinals 40-29.  Seton Hall was able to keep it close with some really incredible full-court pressure that UofL was never able to handle and would force 23 Cardinal turnovers on the evening.

As the season wears on Coach Pitino is relying more and more on 6 primary players (Russ, Chris, Chane, Siva, Dieng, Kuric) while only mixing in others lightly.  Swopshire/Justice/and Ware all played a total of 10 minutes.  A non-overtime college basketball game accounts for 200 minutes of action for a roster.  Playing those reserves only counts for 5% of the game.  Of those Swopshire probably figures the most heavily moving forward as a reserve in the post.  Pitino said on Friday that he thought that Zach Price was dangerously close to seeing a lot of floor time.

However, with Gorgui Dieng playing so well it’s hard to take him off the floor.  On Saturday, Dieng finished with his 10th double/double of the season and the 3rd in a row.  Earlier this season Gorgui was able to put 5 double/doubles in a row against Louisville’s December competition.  The most recent double/doubles against Pitt/Nova/and Seton Hall are all much more impressive.  Dieng has improved so much from a year ago where he appeared to just understand basic basketball, and not the intricate details of the game.  Now, one year later, he plays with patience and understanding that some U.S. players never seem to grasp.  Gorgui Dieng is easy to cheer for, and I look forward to seeing his improvement each week.

Chane Behanan is another player who has been coming on strong as of late.  It seems like Chane is finally understanding the talents that he has been inherently blessed with and learning how to use them more effectively.  Behanan finished with 8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 6 TURNOVERS and 4 fouls.  Chane isn’t typically that turnover prone, so I’m willing to let that slide and account for that as a team stat in a game where UofL turned the ball over 24 times.  But with Chane’s production rising, so have his fouls.  I think that this may be just an issue of Behanan asserting himself more, but in the last 4 games Chane has been whistled for 4+ fouls three times.  The prior 18 games Chane was only 4+ in the foul department twice (Vandy, Kentucky).  I’m completely happy with Chane’s more aggresive style lately, but if that means more fouls for him Jared Swopshire, Zach Price, and Angel Nunez must get prepared.  Louisville is dreadfully thin inside without Stephan Van Treese and Rakeem Buckles and there very well could be a game again where Chane finds himself on the bench with foul trouble.

Peyton Siva played an incredible first half.  The second half was more of the Siva that tends to drive everyone in Louisville crazy.  I’ve really been liking Peyton lately, and I’m not going to get to down on his performance but he can’t have 7 turnovers.  One of the main problems on this team has been getting the ball in bounds off either baseline.  I think this was exposed in the Vandy game but this issue has been a problem ever since and could play a role in tight games in March.  Honestly, I don’t know why more teams don’t press Louisville like Seton Hall did last night.  The Cards almost looked panicked.

Chris Smith, Russ Smith, and Kyle Kuric on the wings accounted for 32 of Louisville’s 60 points.  It should come as no surprise that Russ took the most shots of any Cardinal with 11 and also led the team in scoring with 14 points.  Chris Smtih is “Mr. Steady”.  Plays good defense, takes controlled shots is a good passer and is just always there doing a nice job.  It doesn’t stand out, but he always seems to get the job done.  I feel like Chris Smtih sometimes is taken for granted by the fanbase because he is so consistent in every area.  Lastly, Kyle Kuric didn’t have a particularly great game vs. Seton Hall, but I think maybe asking him to do so much on offense takes away what he is truly great at doing: spotting up and shooting.  In the Pitt game Kuric was not a threat to take the ball off the bounce at all with his injured ankle and he just caught and shot the ball while finishing 7-12 FGM-A and 21 points.  Maybe that is just what Kyle is????

The Cards take a week off before meeting Rutgers next Saturday at 4:00 in the KFC Yum! Center.  The Scarlet Knights are 12-10 on the season and are fresh off a 7-point victory against a good Cincinnati team.  Rutgers will travel to Providence for a Wednesday evening tilt before coming to Louisville on Saturday.  In the off week I expect that the Cardinals will focus on themselves, getting healthy, working on the half-court offense and inbound plays.  There will be plenty of speculation also with regards to the status of Wayne Blackshear who has been practicing with the team, dressing out for games, and was initially expected back for the Villanova game.  With a bit of a break, it will be interesting if the high-touted freshman is able to make his debut vs. the Scarlet Knights or not. We’ll keep our eyes open and our fingers crossed, but with or without Blackshear the Louisville Cardinals certainly look like the more polished group that we saw open up the 2011-12 season and I’m excited to go into February for the stretch run leading up to March Madness.