March 8 issue

VOLUME XV • NUMBER 29MARCH 10, 2011

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LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT FEBRUARY 3, 2011

MARCH 10, 2011 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT PAGE 3

E D I T O R I A L S T A F F

GENERAL MANAGER - Jack Coffee

SENIOR WRITER AND EDITOR - Russ Brown

OPERATIONS MANAGER - Howie Lindsey

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES - Mickey Clark, Betty Olsen and Blanche Kitchen

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS - Dave Klotz, Shelley Feller, Gail Kamenish,

Howie Lindsey and Chuck Feist

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTS - Matt Willinger, Jeff Wafford,

Jason Puckett and Rick Cushing

GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Scott Stortz

COPY EDITOR - Rick Cushing

The Louisville SportsReport is printed in Kentucky and based in Louisville. It is published weekly in January, February and March, monthly in April, May, June and July and weekly mid-August through late December by Louisville Sports News, L.L.C., in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville Sports News, L.L.C.: Owner and General Manager - Jack Coffee. The SportsReport was founded in 1996. United States Postal Number: 015255

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VOLUME XV, NUMBER 29 • MARCH 10, 2011

CSPACOLLEGESPORTS

PUBLISHERSASSOCIATIONCOVER PHOTO BY SHELLEY FELLER

BY SCOTT STORTZ

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W H A T ’ S I N S I D E

4 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BRACKET6-7 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN By Russ Brown8 NEW YORK IS MY KIND OF TOWN, BUT ONLY FOR A VISIT By Jack Coffee10 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By Howie Lindsey13-14 MEN’S BASKETBALL SENIOR NIGHT PHOTO GALLERY15 FOOTBALL STAFF DISHES OUT EARLY OFFERS By Jeff Wafford

16 SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES18 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON STATS19 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK By Russ Brown20 CARDINAL STARS OF THE WEEK By Howie Lindsey22 MAKE YOUR PICKS

17 AMLUNG’S A WALK-ON STARSophomore Justin Amlung has gone from begging to be on the team as a walk-on to the Cardinals’ Saturday starter. The St. X product is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three starts this season.

5 CARDS HAVE EYE ON NCAA SEEDAs the No. 3 seed in the Big East Tournament, Louisville could improve its NCAA seeding with a run in New York City. “We expect a high seed,” Pitino said. “... There is still a lot of basketball to be played.”

21 WOMEN AWAIT THEIR FATEThe 6th-seeded Louisville women fell to No. 3 seed Notre Dame Sunday night in the quarterfi nals of the Big East Tournament. The 20-12 Cardinals will now have to wait until next Monday night to fi nd out their NCAA destination.

11 NO LONGER JUST STANDING IN CORNERKyle Kuric had 25 points and nine rebounds against Providence. He was 11 of 18 and had three steals and two assists during Louisville’s 87-60 win. “I’m working on doing more than just shooting threes,” he said.

24 INJURIES TO HAMPER SPRING PRACTICECharlie Strong is just weeks away from the March 23 start of spring practice, and he already knows of seven players who will be limited by injuries. “We’ll just try to manage practice (to avoid more injuries),” he said.

THE BIG PICTURE: BODY PAINT ALWAYS MAKES A GOOD FIRST IM-PRESTONShirtless college guys in the front row of the student section showed their love for senior Preston Knowles by painting his name in large letters across their chests on Senior Night last Wednesday. The P-R-E-S-T-O-N crew were seen dancing and cheering throughout the game. Knowles pointed to them at one point. - photo by Dave Klotz

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9 CARDS FALL AT WEST VIRGINIAUp by fi ve points with 18 seconds left, Louisville lost its lead, then lost the game on a pair of free throws by Truck Bryant with 0:00.6 seconds on the clock. The heart-breaking ending was replayed all evening on ESPN.

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT MARCH 10, 2011

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BRACKET


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

CARDS ENTER BIG EAST TOURNEY WITH EYE ON NCAA SEEDBy Russ Brown The University of Louisville’s basketball

team long ago established its credentials for the NCAA Tournament. Now the only question is how high the Cardinals (23-8) will be seeded, and they can help them-selves with a strong showing in the Big East Tournament this week in Madison Square Garden.

Before Saturday’s 72-70 loss at West Vir-ginia, UofL coach Rick Pitino suggested that his team was probably looking at a 4-seed, but with a victory over the Mountaineers coupled with a conference tournament championship could possibly rise as high as a 2-seed.

After the loss at WVU, however, a 3-seed is probably the max the Cards can expect.

“We expect a high seed,” Pitino said. “Even our losses, at Notre Dame in over-time in one of the toughest places to play in college basketball, we took Georgetown to the wire.... We’ve had great games with a lot of people. It all depends on what other teams do. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played.”

UofL tied for third in the Big East with St. John’s and Syracuse at 12-6 and, by vir-tue of regular-season victories over both of those clubs, earned a double bye in the tournament. The Cards will tip off their quest for their second title in three years in the quarterfi nals Thursday night about 9.

In UofL’s bracket, 11th-seeded Marquette (18-13) will take on No. 14 Providence (15-16) in the fi rst round Tuesday. Marquette beat visiting Providence 86-62 three games ago. Should the Golden Eagles win again, they’ll play No. 6 seed West Virginia (20-10) Wednesday night. The Mountaineers lost at home to Marquette 79-74 on Jan. 1.

So UofL could meet WVU for the third time this season, and both of the earlier games went down to the wire, the Cards surviving 55-54 at home on Peyton Siva’s last-second layup on Jan. 26 before the two-point loss last Saturday in Morgantown.

The UofL-Marquette game also was a cliffhanger, with the Cards rallying from 18 points down in the fi nal six minutes and winning 71-70 on Kyle Kuric’s layin in the fi nal seconds on Jan. 15 in the KFC Yum! Center.

If UofL advances to the semifi nals, either No. 2 seed Notre Dame or No. 7 Cincinnati, both of whom beat the Cards this season, fi gure to be waiting Friday night.

One concern is that even though the Cards have exceeded expectations and won some diffi cult games in the best league in the land, they’re inexperienced in tourna-ment play. UofL was one-and-done in both the Big East and NCAA tournaments last season, and only Preston Knowles and Ku-ric saw signifi cant action. Siva played a total of 16 minutes in the two games in relief of Edgar Sosa.

That’s one reason Pitino would rather have skipped the double bye and started playing in the second round Wednesday night.

“The more you play, the more you im-prove,” he said. “We’re not very experi-enced, so I’d rather play. If I was Pittsburgh, with all that experience, I’d rather have the double bye.

“The young players, they don’t under-stand tournaments. They think it’s their time to perform. They get caught up with performing rather than winning. That’s why

I like experience. It’s a matter of having the right players who really want to under-stand.”

Whatever happens in the Big Apple, though, Pitino thinks that going through the rigors of the Big East’s 18-game regular-season schedule, coupled with the demands of the conference tournament, will prepare his team well for the NCAAs.

“The nice thing about the Big East Tour-nament is there’s so much pressure you’re ready for the NCAA Tournament when you come out of there,” he said. “I love it. It’s the ultimate challenge. There were some games in Conference USA you’re up a lot at halftime. You never take a game lightly, but there are lopsided scores. And that’s just not the case (in the Big East Tourna-ment). For people who love to compete, it’s the ultimate.

“That’s what makes the Big East so unique. You’re always playing for so much. You would have thought Seton Hall was going for No. 1 in the country the way that game was being played against St. John’s (an 84-70 win by the Pirates last Thursday), and that’s what makes the Big East -- tre-mendous pride, basketball players who bring it all the time.

“I always think competition makes you better. The Big East Tournament could be as tough as the NCAA Tournament, if not tougher. Whether it grinds you down or not, I don’t think that’s true with us because of all the time our guys have missed with injuries. We should be the freshest team in America.”

To avoid sitting around a hotel room, Pi-tino said he is going to treat the fi rst game of the tournament as a typical road game. The Cards won’t leave for New York until Wednesday after practice. They’ll conduct their Thursday walk-through at Bernard Ba-ruch College in Manhattan, just a block or so away from where Pitino grew up.

“This isn’t a party,” Pitino said. “We’re not getting too excited about the double bye, we’re going up there to win the tour-nament.”

Despite two defensive lapses in the fi -nal 20 seconds that allowed WVU’s Casey Mitchell to hit back-to-back three-pointers on Saturday, strong defense has been the major factor in the Cards’ winning four of

their last fi ve games. All of the Cards’ last fi ve opponents

have shot under 35 percent, and Provi-dence coach Keno Davis believes UofL’s 2-3 matchup zone will continue to cause prob-lems for teams in the Big East tourney and beyond, saying it is “unique compared to any other team in the conference.”

“It is tough to be able to play against it and even tougher to execute,” Davis said after UofL waxed his team 87-60 last Wednesday. “I think Louisville will bother some teams they face in Madison Square Garden, and hopefully they will bother some teams in the NCAA Tournament.”

Coaches constantly talk about balance and parity, but this year’s Big East tour-ney is genuinely wide open. Regular-season champion Pittsburgh has to be a slight fa-vorite, but there are a half-dozen teams with legitimate shots, including UofL. Also in that mix are St. John’s, Notre Dame, Syra-cuse and perhaps Cincinnati and defending champ West Virginia.

Pitt has appeared in seven of the last 10 Big East Tournament fi nals and has cap-tured titles in 2003 and 2008. Pitt is 19-9 in Big East tourney games since 2001 and was named Madison Square Garden’s “Team of the Decade” because the Panthers are 26-12 there since the 2001-2002 season.

Syracuse has won fi ve straight and is coming off a 107-59 rout of DePaul in which it shot a season-high 71 percent (45 of 63). It was the Orange’s largest margin of victory ever in Big East play and the most points it has scored in the league since a 108-95 victory over Connecticut in 1994.

“These guys really pulled it together de-fensively and hopefully are getting better offensively,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said. “From 7-6 to get to 12-6 in this league is a tremendous accomplishment for these players. I think we go to New York with a lot of momentum.”

Another team entering the tourney with confi dence is Cincinnati (24-7), which fi n-ished a surprising sixth in the conference and has won fi ve of its last six.

“Early in the Big East we were a little shell-shocked with the games we had to play,” UC coach Mick Cronin said. “I don’t think we had the confi dence to win those games. Our guys are really confi dent (now).

You got to believe in your talent. My goalwith this team is to get them to believe inthemselves. You are seeing it now. They arereally starting to believe in what they arecapable of.”

Said Pitino: “I look at it this way. If I had to pick a team I want to play, they would befrom a different conference. I don’t knowwho I’d want to play. Somebody said, ‘Youcould get Syracuse,’ and I said, “Geez,I don’t want to play Syracuse.’ They said,‘Well, you could get Notre Dame.’ I said, ‘Idon’t want to get Notre Dame.’ They said,‘You could get Pitt again.’ I said, ‘I don’twant Pitt, give me someone else.’ That’s theway I look at the Big East. You just play thegame.”

Much of the talk about the tourney cen-ters around the resurgence of St. John’s,which has a signifi cant homecourt advan-tage. Not only have the Red Storm underfi rst-year coach Steve Lavin played mostof their games in the Garden, beating fi veranked teams there, but the crowd shouldbe heavily in their corner.

“St. John’s fans have been scarce in the Garden in recent years,” Pitino said. “Nowthey’re going to come out in droves becausethey think they’re the best team there. It’svery exciting for them.”

Lavin says he tells his team, “This is Mad-ison Square Garden. You’ve got this placeelectrifi ed and you’re playing with your bestfriends. This is fun.”

“I think our players can already feel proud of the run that they have had to po-sition St. John’s for the opportunity to dosomething special in the postseason,” Lavinadded. “But no one is satisfi ed with wherewe are. It’s a very hungry and determinedgroup that we’re working with on a dailybasis.”

Going into the tournament, the consen-sus among coaches and ESPN bracketolo-gist Joe Lunardi and other experts is thatthe Big East will get an unprecedented 11berths in the Big Dance. The only shakyone among the 11 candidates is Marquette(18-13), which has lost two straight.

“We’re probably going to have 11 teams in the NCAA, and it’s not for discussion, ei-ther,” Pitino said. “It’s 11 locks. There areno bubble teams. Eleven teams are in. Thattells you how strong this conference is.That’s very impressive.”

PITINO PICKS HANSBROUGHPitino said his vote for Big East Player of

the Year (which hadn’t been released whenLSR went to press) went to Notre Dame se-nior guard Ben Hansbrough over UConn’sKemba Walker, Georgetown’s Austin Free-man, Providence’s Marshon Brooks andDwight Hardy of St. John’s.

“Hansbrough is the one who sticks out the most to me because from start to fi n-ish he has been a dominating player,” Pitinosaid. “He hasn’t had peaks and valleys, asmost people do. What player do I not wantto play against is the criteria I use, and Idon’t want to play against Hansbrough atall. I hope I never see him again.

“It’s a diffi cult thing this year. You could make an argument for every one of thoseguys. It was one of the most diffi cult votesI’ve had to make, but Hansbrough is thattype of player you don’t want to playagainst. He makes free throws, he doesn’trush things, he passes, he’s really a toughkid.”

R E M A T C H W I T H W E S T V I R G I N I A C O U L D B E O N T A P

For Louisville to make a strong run in the post-season Terrence Jennings and his post-mate Gorgui Dieng will need to come up big, especially in the rebounding department. - photo by Dave Klotz


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT AT A GLANCE(MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK CITY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY) C O M P I L E D B Y R U S S B R O W N

NO. 5. ST. JOHN’SCoach: Steve Lavin, 1st season, 20-10 (8th season overall, 165-88).2010-11 record: 20-10. Ranking: 15/15. Streak: Won 1. Last 10: 8-2. RPI Rank: 14.Big East record/fi nish: 12-6, t-3rd. Big East Tournament record: 25-24. Championships: Three (Last, 2000).

Bottom Line: St. John’s is basically playing on its home court, Madison Square Gar-den, where it has beaten fi ve top-13 teams, including Duke and Pitt. The Red Storm fi gured to come into the tourney riding an eight-game winning streak but stumbled at Seton Hall last Thursday. St. John’s has one of the conference’s most explosive players in senior guard Dwight Hardy and is headed to its fi rst NCAA Tournament since 2002 behind fi rst-year coach Lavin.

Postseason Prediction: No. 4 seed in NCAA Tournament.

NO. 1. PITTSBURGHCoach: Jamie Dixon, 8th season, 214-58 (8th season overall, 214-58).2010-11 record: 27-4.Ranking: 4/5. Streak: Won 2. Last 10: 8-2. RPI Rank: 7.Big East record/fi nish: 15-3, fi rst. Big East Tournament record: 25-26. Championships: Two (Last, 2008).

Bottom Line: Pittsburgh, a veteran team with four returning starters, was the con-sensus pick of Big East coaches in the preseason to win the championship, and the Panthers didn’t disappoint, even though they had to survive three games without injured leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. Pitt’s only rough stretch came when it lost two out of three games late in the year -- at St. John’s and at UofL -- by a total of four points. The Panthers aren’t going to overwhelm anyone with their offense but don’t have to because they lead the league in rebounding margin (plus 11.0) and are second in scoring defense (61.0 ppg).


NO. 6. WEST VIRGINIA Coach: Bob Huggins, 4th season, 100-40 (29th season overall, 690-251).2010-11 record: 20-10. Ranking: NR. Streak: Won 3. Last 10: 6-4. RPI Rank: 21.Big East record/fi nish: 11-7, t-6th. Big East Tournament record: 12-13. Championships: One, 2010.

Bottom Line: There’s never a dull moment with Huggins, and West Virginia has wrestled with injuries and suspensions and the sarcastic comments of Huggy Bear most of the season. But the Mountaineers are at full strength now and appear to be headed in the right direction, with wins over Notre Dame, UConn and UofL in the past two weeks. Still, WVU is a long shot to become the fi rst team to repeat as tourney champion since Syracuse (2005-06).


NO. 2. NOTRE DAMECoach: Mike Brey, 11th season, 236-118 (16th season overall, 335-170).2010-11 record: 25-5. Ranking: 8/7. Streak: Won 4. Last 10: 9-1. RPI Rank: 11.Big East record/fi nish: 14-4, 2nd. Big East Tournament record: 7-15. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: The Irish are a veteran team that is tournament-tested, has a Player of the Year candidate in senior guard Ben Hansbrough and has ridden its seniors, three-point shooting and “burn offense” to unexpected heights. Notre Dame hasn’t been noted for defense in the past but has improved dramatically in that depart-ment. Three of the Irish’s four losses came during a tough stretch in January -- all on the road -- at Syracuse (70-58), Marquette (79-57) and St. John’s (72-54), when they were missing injured junior forward Carleton Scott.

Postseason Prediction: No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament, although Irish might earn a No. 1 seed by winning the tournament.

NO. 7. CINCINNATICoach: Mick Cronin, 5th season, 85-75 (8th season overall, 154-98).2010-11 record: 24-7. Ranking: NR. Streak: Won 2. Last 10: 6-4. RPI Rank: 39.Big East record/fi nish: 11-7, t-6th. Big East Tournament record: 1-4. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: Former UofL assistant Cronin is saying, ‘I told you so,’ after his team fooled preseason prognosticators and put together a strong fi nish to wind up in a tie for sixth in the league. The Bearcats have won fi ve of their last six, three of them on the road, to assure their fi rst NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. They lead the league in scoring defense (58.5 ppg) and are probably second only to Pittsburgh when it comes to playing smash-mouth basketball.


NO. 3. LOUISVILLECoach: Rick Pitino, 10th season, 243-94 (24th season overall, 595-218).2010-11 record: 23-8. Ranking: 11/11. Streak: Lost 1. Last 10: 6-4. RPI Rank: 17.Big East record/fi nish: 12-6, t-3rd. Big East Tournament record: 4-4. Championships: One, 2009.

Bottom Line: UofL has proven it is competitive with the top teams in the league, but the Cards have virtually no tournament experience and only one decent win away from the KFC Yum! Center -- a 79-78 double-overtime victory at Connecticut. UofL’s other three road wins came against the bottom of the league. The Cards have little margin for error and will have to string together three of their best performances of the season to win their second title in three years.

Postseason Prediction: No. 3 or 4 NCAA Tournament seed.

NO. 8. GEORGETOWNCoach: John Thompson III, 7th season, 160-71 (11th season overall, 228-113). 2010-11 record: 21-9. Ranking: 17/17. Streak: Lost 3. Last 10: 6-4. RPI Rank: 8.Big East record/fi nish: 10-8, 8th. Big East Tournament record: 48-24. Championships: Seven (Last, 2007).

Bottom Line: This is shaping up to be another disappointing fi nish for the Hoyas. In 2009 they fell from the top 10 into the National Invitation Tournament, then last season as a third seed in the NCAAs they lost in the fi rst round to 14th-seeded Ohio after reaching the Big East Tournament fi nal. This year, Georgetown, wounded by the loss of injured point guard Chris Wright, has dropped four of its last fi ve.


NO. 4. SYRACUSE Coach: Jim Boeheim, 35th season, 852-298 (35th season overall, 852-298).2010-11 record: 25-6.Ranking: 12/12. Streak: Won 5. Last 10: 7-3. RPI Rank: 16.Big East record/fi nish: 12-6, t-3rd. Big East Tournament record: 45-26. Championships: Five (Last, 2006).

Bottom Line: Syracuse lacks the fi repower of last year’s top-seeded team, but the Orange has a history of playing well in this tournament and has overcome a four-game mid-season losing streak to get into position to challenge for the champion-ship.

Postseason Prediction: No. 3 or 4 seed in NCAA Tournament.


NO. 13. RUTGERSCoach: Mike Rice, 1st season, 14-16 (4th season overall, 87-47).2010-11 record: 14-16.Ranking: NR. Streak: Lost 1. Last 10: 2-8. RPI Rank: 119.Big East record/fi nish: 5-13, 13th. Big East Tournament record: 5-11. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: Like Willard, Rice has found out how daunting a rebuilding job can be after moving from Robert Morris to succeed Fred Hill at Rutgers. Nevertheless, the Scarlet Knights, who have lost nine of their last 11, aren’t outclassed in their opening game against Seton Hall. Rutgers split the two regular-season meetings, winning 66-60 on the road and losing 69-64 at home.

Postseason Prediction: Possible NIT, CBI or CIT bid.

NO. 9. CONNECTICUTCoach: Jim Calhoun, 25th season, 596-230 (39th season overall, 844-367).2010-11 record: 21-9. Ranking: 16/16. Streak: Lost 2. Last 10: 4-6. RPI Rank: 20.Big East record/fi nish: 9-9, t-9th. Big East Tournament record: 29-24. Championships: Six (Last, 2004).

Bottom Line: UConn was one of the stars of the non-conference season, rising as high as No. 4 in the polls after winning the Maui Invitational. But the Huskies have been just another team in the Big East. They rely too much on point guard Kemba Walker, and it has been too big a burden for the junior, who is shooting just 31 percent lately.

Postseason Prediction: No. 5 or 6 seed in NCAA Tournament.

NO. 14. PROVIDENCE Coach: Keno Davis, 3rd season, 46-49 (4th season overall, 74-54).2010-11 record: 15-16. Ranking: NR. Streak: Won 1. Last 10: 2-8. RPI Rank: 149. Big East record/fi nish: 4-14, 14th. Big East Tournament record: 16-29. Championships: 1 (1994).

Bottom Line: Providence’s atrocious defense makes it almost a certainty that the Friars will make an early exit. They are surrendering 80 ppg in conference play and allowing opponents to shoot 47 percent, not exactly a formula for success. How-ever, the Friars do possess one of the most entertaining players in the Big East in senior guard Marshon Brooks, who leads the conference in scoring at 25 ppg.


NO. 10. VILLANOVA Coach: Jay Wright, 10th season, 224-109 (17th season overall, 346-194).2010-11 record: 21-10. Ranking: 19/19. Streak: Lost 4. Last 10: 4-6. RPI Rank: 32.Big East record/fi nish: 9-9, t-9th. Big East Tournament record: 31-29. Championships: 1 (1995).

Bottom Line: Like Georgetown, Villanova has fallen on hard times recently, due in part to key injuries. The Wildcats were breezing along with a 16-1 record and a top-10 ranking but have since lost 9 of 14 in a collapse reminiscent of last sea-son when they started 20-1 and fi nished 5-7. Injured starting guards Corey Fisher (hamstring) and Corey Stokes (tendinitis in knee) will probably play in the tourney but won’t be full strength.


NO. 15: SOUTH FLORIDACoach: Stan Heath, 4th season, 50-76 (10th season overall, 162-153).2010-11 record: 9-22. Ranking: NR. Streak: Lost 2. Last 10: 2-8. RPI Rank: 158.Big East record/fi nish: 3-15, 15th. Big East Tournament record: 1-2. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: USF has played several of the league’s top teams tough but has been unable to break through with a signifi cant victory. It’s not likely to happen in the tournament, either. The Bulls enter with losses in eight of their last nine games. USF can hold its own on the boards but is next-to-last in scoring at 63.1 ppg.

Postseason Prediction: None.

NO. 11. MARQUETTE Coach: Buzz Williams, 3rd season, 65-35 (4th season overall, 79-52).2010-11 record: 18-13. Ranking: NR. Streak: Lost 2. Last 10: 5-5. RPI Rank: 51.Big East record/fi nish: 9-9, t-9th. Big East Tournament record: 6-5. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: Marquette blew a golden opportunity to go into the tourney on a high note, losing at home to Cincinnati and at Seton Hall last week after putting together its longest conference winning streak of the season at three. The Golden Eagles lead the league in scoring at 77.4 ppg but rank 14th in scoring defense (70.0). They should get past opening-round foe Providence but then would face surging West Virginia.

Postseason Prediction: No. 11 seed in NCAA Tournament, but opening-round loss puts MU in NIT.

NO. 16. DEPAULCoach: Oliver Purnell, 1st season, 7-22 (23rd season overall, 401-301) 2010-11 record: 7-22. Ranking: NR. Streak: Lost 4. Last 10: 1-9. RPI Rank: 228.Big East record/fi nish: 1-17, 16th. Big East Tournament record: 1-3. Championships: None.

Bottom Line: Former Clemson coach Purnell has had a rough fi rst season with the Blue Demons, and it doesn’t fi gure to get any better in the tournament. DePaul’s only Big East win came at Providence. Shame on the Friars.

Postseason Prediction: None.

NO. 12. SETON HALLCoach: Kevin Willard, 1st season, 13-17 (4th season overall, 58-66).2010-11 record: 13-17. Ranking: NR. Streak: Won 2. Last 10: 5-5. RPI Rank: 100.Big East record/fi nish: 7-11, 12th. Big East Tournament record: 21-28. Championships: Two (Last, 1993).

Bottom Line: After a mostly rocky debut season for former UofL aide Willard, Seton Hall fi nished strong with homecourt upset wins over St. John’s and Marquette last week. Despite being the worst-shooting three-point team in the Big East (24.7 percent) and its lowest-scoring club (62.8 ppg), the Pirates showed what they can do when they get hot, drilling 12 treys in last Thursday’s 84-70 win over the Red Storm. Senior sharpshooter Jeremy Hazell scored 31 in that win and is capable of giving any defense problems.



COMMENTARY BY JACK COFFEE [email protected]

As you read this story, Rick Pitino’s surprising University of Louisville basketball team is heading to New York and Madison Square Garden to prepare for a third-round Big East Tournament game after fi nishing third in the league in the regular season. Who would have ever thought it?

This team has been a testament to the “high and low expectations” theory. That is, the fans are much happier when their team does better than expected than when it does worse than expected. And this team has defi nitely done better than even Pitino predicted,

having conditioned the fans for a mediocre year with his “bridge” anal-ogy in the preseason.

But let’s talk about New York City. If you’ve never been or were there many years ago, you need to plan a trip, preferably during the Big East Tournament. I love to visit the city. Notice I said “visit.” I have no desire to live or work there and don’t understand people who do want to be there permanently. But spending a few days in Manhattan is a marvelous experience. The three times that UofL played at Army in football, many of us from the Parrish House stayed in the Edison near Times Square and caught the train to West Point. It was a lot of fun, and staying in mid-

town enhanced the trip.Many have a jaded view of New York based on old stereotypes and some movies and

TV shows. Mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up the streets, got rid of the panhandlers, locked up the criminals and made it a pleasant experience to visit America’s greatest city. There are plenty of places to stay near Madison Square Garden, including a Hampton Inn and Holiday Express. If you don’t like to eat at fancy restaurants, there are many (and I mean many) reasonably priced restaurants -- especially Italian -- near the arena. There also is a deli on nearly every corner, which is my eating establishment of choice in NYC. These are not delis like we have here but are full restaurants with salad bars, meat counters and a very large selection of food.

It is more expensive in NYC, but not enough to dissuade you from going one time and having the experience. The subway system will take you anywhere, and there are an un-limited number of places to see. MSG is located atop Penn Station and is accessible from anywhere in the city via subway. If you haven’t gone before, give it a try. If you are going to the Big East Tournament, get your tickets early, it’s almost always a sellout. If you have any questions about NYC, ask our own Howie Lindsey, he’s been there and can tell you about his subway trip to Coney Island.

Speaking of the Big East Tournament, it may have more top-25 teams than the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals have fi nished their fi rst season in the new KFC Yum! Center, and it was everything we as fans had hoped for as a premier basketball-viewing venue. Parking prob-lems never materialized, and the traffi c control was splendid. It did take a long time to get out of some of the parking garages, but it always does no matter the event.

But I do have a couple of suggestions to the folks in charge.No. 1. Get rid of the Louisville skyline over each side of the “video wall” as Sean Moth

calls it and replace with a smaller stat board like the large ones in the arena. Progressive stats are very helpful in viewing the game but cannot be seen by thousands of fans in the upper deck.

No. 2. Get rid of some of the greeters or whatever they are. I know they were necessary initially as fans found their way around the massive arena, but now that everyone is familiar with the place we don’t need so many people on the payroll. We still have the issue of pay-ing off the debt, and it seems that cutting payroll where possible is the order of the day. I enjoy the games, but is it really necessary to have so many saying hello and goodbye before and after every game? Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice touch and the people are very nice and congenial, but my nose for effi ciency is offended every time someone is paid to tell me “Have a nice day” or “Welcome to the Yum! Center.”

In my article last week about former coach John Dromo, I made an omission and a mistake. Two captions under pictures in the article were not included and failed to identify Dennis Deeken and Jerry Smith as they signed their letters-of-intent with Dromo. Both played for Flaget High School and were friends of mine from the West End. Their high school coach was former UofL All-American Phil Rollins, the captain of the 1956 NIT cham-pionship team. The mistake was in stating that interim coach Howard Stacey “wasn’t popular with the players.” Several have called to say they liked coach Stacey and hated to see him leave the university.

NEW YORK IS MY KIND OF

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JACK COFFEEJACK COFFEE


By Russ Brown It must have seemed like deja vu’ all over

again for University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino.

For the second year in a row UofL dropped a close game at West Virginia in the closing seconds, absorbing a bitter 72-70 defeat in front of a rowdy Senior Day crowd of 15,032 last Saturday in Morgantown. It was the reg-ular-season fi nale for both teams.

This one, though, was more incredible than last season’s 77-74 loss. And even more improbable than the fi rst meeting between

the teams this season on Jan. 26 in the KFC Yum! Center when Peyton Siva’s acrobatic driving layup high off the glass through a tangle of arms with 4.5 seconds left gave Louisville, which trailed by 11 in the second half, a

55-54 victory.This time the Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7)

won by overcoming a fi ve-point defi cit in the fi nal 18 seconds, including the game-winning free throws by Darryl “Truck” Bryant with six-tenths of a second remaining.

The No. 11 Cardinals (23-8, 13-5) held a 69-64 lead with 24.3 seconds left after Chris Smith’s two free throws, but West Virginia rallied behind back-to-back three-pointers by Casey Mitchell, who missed the earlier meet-ing while serving a three-game suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Mitchell hit his fi rst trey from the left wing with 17.3 seconds left. Siva then made 1 of 2 free throws with 16.4 seconds left to make it 70-67, but the one miss left the door open for WVU, and Mitchell drilled another triple from the left of the key at 0:08.3.

“I was praying at the line, ‘Please miss one, please miss one,’” Mitchell said he was thinking as Siva stepped to the line. “I didn’t expect him to miss the fi rst one, and when he did I was like, ‘Yes.’ I just ran down the court saying, ‘I’ve got to hit this shot.’”

Preston Knowles took the ensuing in-bounds pass, dribbled quickly downcourt and launched a three-pointer with about fi ve seconds left from the right of the key that clanged off the rim, then fouled Bry-ant at 0:00.6 in front of the UofL bench (85 feet from the basket) after Bryant had chased down the long rebound.

“I was just shocked that he fouled me, and he really did foul me,” Bryant said. “I said to him, ‘What are you doing?’ This game was going to overtime and they still had a chance, but that foul was crazy. The end of this game was crazy.

“It was the dumbest foul I’ve seen all year. We’re 94 feet from the basket, and I’m just trying to throw it up in the air.”

Bryant, an 82 percent free-throw shooter, cooly sank both foul shots to ice the win.

“I just told Truck to take us home,” said Kevin Jones, who had 25 points and 16 re-bounds, both career highs. “I’ll put him at the line in clutch situations any time. I know he’ll make them.”

It was redemption of sorts for Byrant, who had missed four straight free throws in the fi nal minutes in the loss at Louisville.

“I missed them at their gym,” Bryant said. “I’m not going to miss these.”

Said Jones: “We got a lucky bounce and we got a lucky call, Casey knocked down a couple of threes that were huge for us, and then Truck went to the line and knocked two down – we just had a couple of big plays from everybody.”

So it has been on one side or another in the past four UofL-WVU games, which have been decided by a total of nine points.

“It seems like every time we play Rick it is like this,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said. “They have banked a couple in to beat us. They told me when I got into the business that it all evens out, but I think he still owes me a couple.”

Pitino wasn’t around to offer his side. He was so upset after the game that he sent di-rector of basketball operations Ralph Willard to both his post-game press conference and radio show while he held a long session with

his players in the locker room.“I think he wanted to reiterate to the guys

that the key is focusing on the defensive end of the fl oor when you have a lead like that,” Willard said. “When you work so hard to have a lead, defense wins you the game in the last minute.”

UofL, picked to fi nish to fi nish eighth in the Big East preseason poll, already had clinched the No. 3 seed and a double bye into Thurs-day’s quarterfi nals of this week’s conference tournament but had hoped to build toward a high seed in the NCAA Tournament with its fi fth straight win and an impressive road victory.

Instead, WVU ended the Cards’ streak and clinched a fi rst-round bye in the tournament while winning its third straight and beating a top-20 team for the fi fth time this season.

That left the Cards, who have shown great resilience all season, four days to regroup be-fore making their debut in the league tourney in Madison Square Garden Thursday about 9:30 p.m.

Willard faulted defensive breakdowns for Mitchell’s two late clutch threes. He hit the last one when Siva ducked under a screen and arrived a fraction of a second too late to challenge the shot.

The baskets were only the third and fourth

three-pointers of the game for the Moun-taineers, who were just 4 of 24 from beyondthe arc.

“We let Mitchell get off two threes that real-ly hurt us,” Willard said. “Coach made a pointin the huddle about making sure we deniedthe three-point shot, make them go back dooror something else. On the last play we shouldhave been switching into the ball screen andwe were late on the switch and he (Mitchell)knocked one down. So it’s two tough plays atthe end of the game. They were both looksthat he never should have gotten.”

The outcome might have been different if an out-of-bounds call had gone Louis-ville’s way on a loose ball scramble at 0:37.9.But offi cials said Knowles touched the ballwhile his foot was on the sideline and award-ed the ball to West Virginia with UofL hold-ing a 67-64 lead.

“I was on the baseline on the bench, and it was clear Preston didn’t touch it and Chrishad it,” Willard said. “If that play goes ourway, the game is probably over. Unfortu-nately, it didn’t. But you can’t use that as anexcuse.”

No, you can’t. Especially when your team gets pounded on the boards like the Cardsdid all afternoon. The bigger and strongerMountaineers outrebounded UofL 49-25,including 25-7 on the offensive glass enroute to a 22-4 advantage in second-chancepoints.

UofL has now been outrebounded in six of its eight losses -- fi ve of them by 10 or more.

Still, it was another game effort by the Cards playing in a hostile environment andhaving to overcome foul trouble that limitedTerrence Jennings to 23 minutes, Siva to 27and Gorgui Dieng to nine.

“Coach said going into the game that we had to neutralize them on the backboards,”Willard said. “If we neutralize them on thebackboards, we’re going to win the game.That’s been the case all year. When we don’tneutralize teams, we have a dogfi ght. It’s toobad, because the effort they were giving onevery other part of the defensive end of thefl oor was great.

“Our guys did battle awfully hard and did all the right things except for the last 22 sec-onds. You hate to lose a game like this; it’svery diffi cult to take. But hopefully we learnour lesson again and go into the Big EastTournament ready to rectify things.”

Along with Jones, who had a double-dou-ble in the fi rst half (16 points, 12 rebounds),UofL had a hard time containing senior cen-ter John Flowers, who fi nished with 12 pointsand 12 rebounds.

For the Cards, Kyle Kuric continued his late-season scoring binge with 21 points on5-of-6 three-point shooting. Kuric has aver-aged a team-best 17.1 ppg in the past ninegames. Knowles added 15 points and Smith14.

Manhattan transfer Chris Smith has been a pleasant surprise this season, starting 16 games and averaging 9.5 ppg, fourth on the team. He had 14 points against Providence.- photo by Shelley Feller

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

F R E E T H R O W S A T 0 : 0 0 . 6 S N A P U O F L ’ S W I N S T R E A K

CARDS LOSE LEAD LATE, FALL AT WEST VIRGINIA

LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL


LOUSIVILLE BASKETBALL

UofL basketball coach Rick Pitino has been getting mentions for National Coach of the Year, and for good reason. He has done a masterful job with this team so far this season. Louisville had much more talent last season but wasn’t nearly as good as this year’s

team. Plus, the Cards had to battle through injuries that caused 10 different players to miss games. The Cards didn’t return a single starter (returning power forward Jared Swopshire missed the entire season with a groin injury), yet they fi nished third in the Big East, America’s toughest league, after being picked to fi nish eighth in a preseason poll of league coaches. Instead, they were ranked No. 11 in the nation last week. Pitino may not win the national award (coaches at San Diego State and BYU are getting most of the press), but he should win the Big East award. Yes, we like what Steve Lavin did at St. John’s, but getting 10 seniors to buy in for one fi nal run is a lot easier than coaxing beautiful team basketball out of a group of players who previously had been merely role players. Bravo, Pitino.

Wow, what an UGLY fi nish to an otherwise beautiful regular season. In a season fi lled with thrilling, last-minute wins, the Cards had the tables turned on them Saturday at West Virginia. Up by fi ve points with 18 seconds left, the No. 11 Cardinals lost

72-70 in a wild, heart-breaking ending. They led 69-64 after a pair of free throws by Chris Smith with 24.3 seconds left. West Virginia cut the margin to two on a three-pointer by Casey Mitchell with 17.3 seconds left. After a Louisville timeout, the Cardinals had an opportunity to stretch its lead back to two possessions when sophomore point guard Peyton Siva was fouled with 16.4 seconds left. Siva missed the front end of a two-shot foul but hit the second to make it 70-67. Mitchell, West Virginia’s leading scorer who missed the fi rst UofL-WVU matchup on Jan. 26, tied the score at 70 at 0.08.3 with another trey after coming off a screen near the top of the key. Louisville had an opportunity to win the game on the fi nal possession, but senior captain Preston Knowles’ 23-foot shot with four seconds left clanged out. Not only that, but Knowles tried to follow his shot and was whistled for a foul on Darryl Bryant with 0:00.6 left on the clock. Bryant hit both free throws to steal victory away from the Cardinals, igniting a wild celebration in Morgantown. The loss dropped Louisville to 23-8, 12-6 Big East and improved the Mountaineers to 20-10, 11-7.

Knowles’ decision-making at the end of the game was mind-boggling. In a tie game with 8.3 seconds left and the ball, the absolute worst-case scenario should be overtime. Even if you hold the ball, pass it around and don’t shoot, the worst that could

happen is an extra fi ve minutes of playing time, right? Best-case scenario would be hitting a shot or getting fouled on a drive to the basket. But what happened at West Virginia shouldn’t even be in the conversation. The Cardinals not only didn’t run the clock out, they shot with just over four seconds left and West Virginia got the rebound. Then, the worst-case scenario got worse. Knowles fouled on the rebound at 0:00.6, and West Virginia was able to win the game at the free-throw line.

Afterward, Pitino was in no mood to talk about the game. He told reporters he would not be talking so that he wouldn’t be tempted to say something that would get him suspended for talking about the offi ciating. Let’s be clear, none of us wants to blame the offi cials

for a loss and, truthfully, had Louisville handled its business at the foul line, offi cials’ calls wouldn’t have been a game-decider. But we have to mention how bad the offi ciating was throughout the game. What makes offi ciating bad to us is inconsistency, and this game was fi lled with inconsistent calls. Louisville’s fi nal foul total was 25, and about 10 of them were tick-tack fouls on the perimeter or in the backcourt. Beyond inconsistency, the offi cials allowed themselves to be infl uenced by the opposing coach and the home crowd. After Bob Huggins got a technical early in the game, the vast majority of the fouls called were against the Cardinals.

OK, enough about offi ciating. Let’s get back to talking about what the Cardinals could have done to prevent the loss. UofL was out-rebounded 49-25. That’s 24 extra possessions! Louisville had no answer for the Mountaineers when they went to the glass,

especially on the offensive glass. Forward Kevin Jones came up huge for the Mountaineers, scoring 25 points and grabbing 16 boards in 39 minutes played. At one point, Louisville had been outscored 20-2 on second-chance points. You simply can’t win that way. Frankly, given the rebounding statistics, it is amazing that Louisville was in a position to win. To make a post-season run, Louisville will have to rebound more effectively. The Cardinals will be the No. 3 seed in this week’s Big East Tournament. With a double bye, the Cardinals’ fi rst game will be Thursday night at 9.

On to happier topics. For those Cardinals fans who stuck around on Senior Night last Wednesday it was heart-warming to listen to Preston Knowles’ scripted speech. He thanked everyone from athletic director Tom Jurich to his coaches to his cousins to

his teammates to his trainers, and rightly so. Knowles is a poster child for the benefi t of a four-year college career to a good but not great high school player. He was a late recruit out of George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Ky., who was passed over by some schools because of a questionable

attitude. Pitino took a chance on the hustling Knowles and, despite some stumbles along the way, he is the team leader of one of the most beloved UofL teams in recent memory. Knowles easily could have gone the other direction. He had a few momentary lapses - the hairbrush incident last summer - but the way he led this team in games, in the locker room and in practices has been remarkable. What the fans heard was a young man who has matured from a kid who almost lost his way to a much more confi dent adult. Hats off.

Let us apologize for an error in last week’s SportsReport. We said that all the women’s basketball team had to do to win the conference’s No. 4 seed and a double bye in the Big East Tournament

was to beat Providence Monday night. That part ended up being true, but not for the reason we stated. We had erred in giving DePaul a win over Marquette on Saturday. But Marquette beat DePaul, meaning that the Golden Eagles were tied with Louisville and would win the head-to-head tiebreaker if it came to that for seeding purposes. That meant that Louisville needed to win Monday night and for Marquette to lose to Cincinnati, the last-place team in the league, for the Cards to land the No. 4 seed. Marquette did lose to Cincinnati, leaving the door open for Louisville. Unfortunately, the Cardinals couldn’t get the job done. They fell in the fi nal minutes at Providence and slipped to the No. 5 seed, meaning they had to play an extra game in the Big East Tournament.

The track and fi eld team will head to Texas this weekend with an excellent chance to bring home another individual championship trophy at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The

Cardinals have two of the top female throwers in the nation in senior D’Ana McCarty and sophomore Khadija Abdullah. McCarty, a weight thrower, is a two-time national indoor title-holder in the event. Abdullah, a rising star in the shot put, will enter the meet with a top-10 national ranking and the opportunity to prove herself on the biggest stage she’s ever performed on. The complete fi eld for the NCAA Indoor Championships was set late Monday night after this week’s Louisville SportsReport went to press. The meet will be held at Texas A&M’s Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium Saturday and Sunday.

Our offi ce was absolutely fl ooded last week with news from around the South. What kind of news? Good news. Apparently, UofL’s football coaches completed their early 2012 evaluations and

began sending out offers to their top prospects. The excitement exhibited by those who received offers was great to see. It shows that Louisville is a rising name on the recruiting trail. The Cardinals were just on the cusp of the top-25 recruiting rankings for 2011, and coach Charlie Strong said he wants this next class to be better. To do that, Louisville will need to get in on elite prospects early, and that is just what it did last week.

Louisville’s depth chart is looking pretty thin for spring football practice coming up at the end of this month. Strong confirmed last week that he expects at least seven potential

starters to miss spring drills due to injuries. On offense, running back Jeremy Wright, center Mario Benavides and wide receiver Damian Copeland will miss spring practice. On defense, tackle Greg Scruggs, end B.J. Butler, defensive end William Savoy and cornerback Darius Ashley will be out. Depth will be extremely limited on the offensive line and at quarterback, where Louisville lost seven seniors - five linemen and its top two quarterbacks. Most expect junior Will Stein and freshman Teddy Bridgewater to battle for the top spot at quarterback. Stein is a walk-on from Trinity High who has been pressed into starting situations the past two seasons due to injuries. Bridgewater is a four-star, Elite 11 recruit ranked among the top signal-callers in the country as a senior at Miami Northwestern High. On the line, we expect another top-notch walk-on --Alex Kupper, also from Trinity -- to fill in at center while Benavides is out.

Kudos to former UofL assistant Jerry Jones, who shares some of the credit for a VERY GOOD performance by the Jeffersonville (Ind.) High School girls’ basketball team this season. For the

last three years, Jones -- Denny Crum’s right-hand man for 30 years -- came out of retirement to serve as a volunteer coach for head coach Chad Gilbert. Jones, 77, installed the high-post offense the Cards ran under Crum, and last Saturday the No. 7 Lady Devils (28-2) won their first Class 4-A state title, beating No. 3 Penn 47-29. Going into the game, Jeff was averaging 61.2 points and shooting 51.3 percent. “It’s the most unselfish group of kids I’ve ever been around,” Jones told The Courier-Journal. “They pass the ball to each other and don’t care who scores the points.... That’s what makes them good.” One of the stars on the team is 5-10 senior Brooke Valentine, daughter of former UofL player Robbie Valentine. She had 14 points and eight rebounds in the title game.

GOOD

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GOOD

GOOD

GOOD

UGLY

BAD

C O M M E N T A R Y B Y H O W I E L I N D S E Y

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TWEET OF THE WEEK@LarryOBannon: As much as we lost it, U must give Mitchell credit for hitting two tough 3 pointers in the clutch for WV. I love college basketball! #It’sMarch!

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GOOD


LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

By Russ Brown Louisville’s impressive 87-60 rout of Provi-

dence last Wednesday night in the KFC Yum! Center was notable for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the continued strong play of junior forward Kyle Kuric.

The No. 11 Cardinals (23-7, 12-5) cel-ebrated Senior Night by clinching a double bye in this week’s Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden and assuring them-selves of no worse than a fourth-place fi n-ish in the league heading into last Saturday’s regular-season fi nale at West Virginia.

And in winning its fourth in a row, UofL became only the second Big East team to fi nish its conference home slate unbeaten at 9-0, joining Notre Dame, a remark-able feat considering that four of those victo-ries came against teams

ranked in the top 15 nationally in a brutal league that almost certainly will send 11 representatives to the NCAA Tournament. It’s the fi rst time the Cards have fi nished un-beaten in their league at home since a 6-0 record in the Metro Conference in 1922-93, and the nine league wins at home is a school record.

“Sometimes you miss coaching players like this,” UofL coach Rick Pitino said. “They kind of restore your faith in everything you believe in as a coach. It was wonderful to coach them this year. I owe them a great debt of thanks, because it was a really won-derful, wonderful season.”

Of course, one of the most feel-good sea-sons in UofL history isn’t over yet, but the win over Providence provided a prime example of why Pitino is so infatuated with this group -- tenacious defense, unselfi sh passing and uncountable hustle plays, even when the lead reached blowout proportions.

Preston Knowles, the team’s only senior starter, turned in a performance befi tting Senior Night and his season-long contribu-tions by getting 20 points, 10 rebounds and fi ve assists for the fi rst double-double of his career.

“I wanted a triple-double,” he said. “Oth-er than that, I’m just glad everybody’s in a great mood and we got the win.”

Knowles, his teammates and coaches also have to be encouraged by the recent play of Kuric, who is playing out of position at power forward but has been a force on both ends of the court recently. With Rakeem Buckles sidelined with a torn ACL, the 6-foot-4 Ku-ric could be a key factor in Louisville’s post-season success.

Against Providence (14-16, 3-14), Kuric narrowly missed his fi rst double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds, the latter his career high in a Big East game and tying his overall best accomplished against Radford last year. He hit 11 of 18 shots and also had three steals and two assists.

Kuric scored 19 of his points in the second half when he was the catalyst in a UofL surge that put the game out of reach. He scored in a variety of ways, not just on his trademark

three-pointers from the corner, showing he is building his repertoire of weapons with mid-range jumpers and layups and dunks off turnovers.

“I’m working on doing more than just shooting threes,” said Kuric, an Evansville (Ind.) Memorial High School product who originally was a preferred walk-on at UofL but was offered a scholarship after Indiana started showing interest in him. “I’m trying to work on my mid-range game, develop my game a little bit more and add something to it. I used to have more of a (versatile) game in high school, but when I got here I wasn’t as comfortable.

“Coach Pitino has drilled it into me that I had to do something more, work on my ballhandling for one thing. So the assistant coaches have been working with me on that, and I’m bringing it into the games more.”

During one devastating second-half stretch Kuric scored 11 of the Cards’ 18 points, an outburst that included two three-pointers, a steal that led to a dunk, and a putback of his own miss that resulted in an old-fashinoned three-point play when he charged down the baseline from the cor-ner to corral his errant shot, scored and was fouled.

When he fi nished, UofL had increased a 50-40 lead to 68-49. A few minutes later he went on another spree, scoring six points in two minutes on a pair of layups and a dunk.

“Kyle is probably the most improved player in the Big East,” sophomore point guard Peyton Siva said. “He’s relentless on the glass, he knocks down shots. He’s just getting better every day.”

Kuric said he didn’t realize his point pro-duction was so high in the second half, when he also got all three of his steals.

“I didn’t know that, but we picked up our defense more, started crashing the glass, played aggressive and got easy baskets be-cause of it,” he said. “We wanted to attack them, not let them attack us.”

Kuric has certainly been on the attack the last few weeks. Over the past eight games he has been UofL’s leading scorer and re-

bounder, with averages of 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. He’s shooting 53.8 percent (50 of 93), including 44.9 (22 of 49) from three-point land, and has risen to second on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game, behind Knowles’ 14.5.

Indicative of how well he runs the court to get easy baskets, Kuric is shooting 51.0 percent on the season and also is hitting a team-best 43.8 on treys.

“What we’ve really tried to emphasize with Kyle is not to be a ‘Kyle’s corner’ type of play-er, where you just go to your corner and make your jump shots,” Pitino said. “He’s done a wonderful job of enhancing his game where he is now putting it on the fl oor a little bit, moving without the ball, getting out on the break more, hitting his mid-range jump shot more, and he’s really added to his game.

“He’s still a very quiet, reserved per-son, but he carries a big stick now. I think he’s very confi dent, and I think the players are very confi dent in him. Now he can do more.... If his shot’s not on, he still has ways to score.”

Pitino compares Kuric to former UofL standout Larry O’Bannon, who steadily im-proved throughout his college career until, as a senior, he became one of the mainstays of the Cards’ 2005 Final Four team. At 6-4, O’Bannon was also the same size as Kuric.

“If your shot’s not on, how do you get points?” Pitino said. “Can you get to the foul line? Can you put it on the fl oor? Can you do other things? Kyle’s passing has im-proved, his defense has improved, his tough-ness is getting better, so it’s great to see.

“I always equate Kyle to Larry O’Bannon. They remind me so much of each other be-cause they have taken the same steps in their careers leading up to their senior year. Larry was inconsistent his junior year, but he had some terrifi c games, and then his senior year was terrifi c and he was much more con-sistent, and that’s sort of the same path Kyle is taking right now.”

The path UofL took to victory Wednesday while handing Providence its seventh straight loss and avenging a 72-62 road defeat on Jan. 22 involved starting slow, building

steam, then dominating in the second half.After falling behind 16-9 early, the Cards

took command for good with an 18-2 run.The second half was a 20-minute highlightreel of layups, dunks, steals and three-pointers that left the Friars’ heads spinning.Providence shot only 32.9 percent (24 of 73)for the game, the fourth time in the last fi veoutings that UofL has held its opponent un-der 38 percent.

“I thought for about 30 minutes we did about all we could,” Providence coach KenoDavis said. “I do not blame our guys for thelast 10 minutes, but they ran out of gas. Wehit a wall, but you give Louisville credit.”

UofL never let Marshon Brooks, the No. 2 scorer in NCAA Division I at 25.1 pointsper game, become a major factor. Brooks,who had scored 52 points in a one-point lossto Notre Dame the previous week and hadburned UofL for 20 second-half points in thefi rst meeting, missed 10 of 13 shots whilescoring 12 points, his fewest in a Big Eastgame this season.

“We made up our minds we were not go-ing to let him breathe,” Pitino said. “I’m re-ally proud of our guys. We started slow butended great. A lot of spectacular plays, a lotof unselfi sh plays again with 21 assists.”

The game featured two unusual plays by the Cards that were real crowd-pleasers.

The fi rst came when Knowles, with his back to the basket, fl ipped the ball over hishead out of desperation after grabbing arebound at the buzzer ending the fi rst half.When the ball dropped through the net,Knowles ran off the court laughing.

“I’ve never even really tried anything like that (before),” Knowles said. “If you ever eventried anything like that during practice, CoachP would probably throw you off the team.”

Near the end of the game, point guard Peyton Siva got credit for a crazy assist. Tryingto run down a pass from Knowles on a fastbreak, Siva slipped, skidded across the fl ooron his chest, grabbed the ball and threw it toKuric while sitting on his rear end.

“I was trying not to get Preston a turn-over,” Siva joked.

Said Kuric: “I don’t know how he grabbed the ball and how he managed to see me, butit was a great play. I was thinking he was go-ing to kick it out to somebody on the wingand then he saw me cutting for the basketand made a great pass.”

Said Pitino: “That play by Peyton Siva was as good as I’ve seen as a coach. To dive headfi rst, come up with the ball and make a per-fect pass -- he’s got a tremendous gash --was incredible.”

QUOTABLE -- Most of the Cards wore new, form-fi tting jerseys, but Knowles re-jected the tighter style, saying, “I’m notwearing that. I thought T.J. (Terrence Jen-nings) looked stupid. I thought Chris (Smith)looked stupid and I thought Peyton lookedextra, extra stupid in that tight uniform. I’dnever wear it.”

Knowles can rest easy. Pitino says it was a one-game promotion by adidas. “It was sup-posed to be this cool, stretch thing, lighterand better,” Pitino said. “But the problemwith it is the numbers were too small.”

Junior Kyle Kuric is leading the team with averages of 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds over the last nine games, and coach Rick Pitino has compared him to Larry O’Bannon, who starred on the 2005 Final Four team.- photo by Dave Klotz

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

J U N I O R F O R W A R D R E M I N D S P I T I N O O F O ’ B A N N O N

CARDS’ KURIC NO LONGER JUST STANDING IN THE CORNER

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT FEBRUARY 3, 2011


LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL SENIOR NIGHT PHOTO GALLERY

Senior Preston Knowles embraced coach Rick Pitino after Louisville dispatched Providence 87-60 on Senior Night last Wednesday. Knowles thanked Pitino for giving him “the chance to play Division I basketball.” - photo by Shelley Feller

Senior George Goode shot a jumper from near the top of the key against Providence. Goode hit 2 of 5 jumpers and fi nished with four points and two rebounds. - photo by Dave Klotz

Rick Pitino told fans prior to the game that this team has been a joy to coach as he spoke about each of the seniors on his team. Pitino was glowing in praise of his two senior players and three senior managers. - photo by Dave Klotz


LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL SENIOR NIGHT PHOTO GALLERY

Goode was in good spirits as he thanked the fans, his coaches and teammates during

a post-game speech last Wednesday. Goode said he loved his time as a Cardinal.

He expects to graduate this spring and transfer to another school for his fi nal year

of eligibility. - photo by Dave Klotz

Coach Rick Pitino posed for a picture with senior George Goode and his family on Senior Night. - photo by Shelley Feller

Coach Rick Pitino posed for a picture with Knowles and his family on Senior Night. - photo by Shelley Feller

Knowles raised his fi rst to acknowledge the student

section chanting his name during a pregame ceremony on Senior Night last Wednesday. -

photo by Dave Klotz

Senior Preston Knowles jokingly asked the crowd to say the phrase, “Can I get a hot tub!” before starting his speech thanking

teammates, coaches and managers. It is believed the phrase refers to a State

Farm commercial where college students ask for gifts to appear thanks to their

State Farm agent. - photo by Dave Klotz


LOUISVILLE SWIMMING AND DIVING PHOTO GALLERYRECRUITING NOTEBOOK

FOOTBALL STAFF DISHES OUT EARLY OFFERSBy Jeff Wafford University of Louisville football coach

Charlie Strong and his staff are getting an early start on the class of the 2012, mak-ing verbal scholarship offers to some of the nation’s best.

Last week we got word that the Cardi-nals had offered two teammates who may end up being among the top defensive linemen in Georgia. Jonathan Taylor (6-4, 315, tackle) and James DeLoach (6-3, 260, end) already have scholarship offers from loads of programs, including Alabama, Au-burn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Geor-

gia Tech, Tennessee and many others.

That doesn’t scare the UofL coaches, however, as they traveled to Jen-kins County H.S. (Millen, Ga.) to check in on the pair recently. Taylor, who is considered by many to be the No. 1 recruit in

the Peach State, has said that he hopes to attend the same college as DeLoach.

Another UofL target is Jake Meador (6-6, 280), who was recognized as one of the top offensive linemen at the U.S. Army Ju-nior Combine in January. He picked up an offer from the Cards last week.

“My high school football coach told me to call Coach (Vance) Bedford, so I talked to him Monday night,” the Whiteland H.S. (Ind.) product reported. “He said he was going to look at my fi lm and so was the O-line coach. I guess they looked at it and really liked it. He didn’t say a whole lot, just that he really liked my fi lm and how I fi n-ished my blocks. He sounded like a good guy and a good recruiter.”

Louisville’s campus is just a 1 1/2-hour drive from Meador’s home, and it’s a trip he has made before.

“I have been there a couple times when my brother was going through the recruit-ing process,” Meador said. “My brother goes to Cincinnati, so he also plays in the Big East, and I know it’s a pretty good con-ference with some good football.”

A return trip to Louisville is currently be-ing mapped by Meador and his family, and they expect to be on campus within the next month.

“When their spring practices start, I plan on making a trip down there,” Meador said. “Tennessee also wanted me to come and see them for a spring practice. I will have to talk with my parents and see what we can do.”

Meador has noticed Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana picking up their interest, and Northern Illinois could be close to offering as well. His fi rst offer came from Kentucky. Meador is listed as one of Rivals.com’s pre-season 250 to watch.

Avon H.S. (Ind.) offen-sive tackle De-Andre Herron (6-6, 300) also has started to pick up offers, including one that came re-cently from the Cardinals.

“I called them right after

school and talked to the O-line coach (Dave Borbely),” Herron said. “We just started talking about my height, weight and that they needed linemen. He said they wanted to offer me, and I made him say it three times to make sure he was serious. I was crazy with excitement.”

Now that he has a Louisville offer in hand, Herron said he’s excited to see the school himself and already has made plans to check out Belknap Campus.

“Sid Anvoots (an offensive tackle from nearby Bishop Chatard H.S.) got offered by them, too, and me and him are pretty good friends, so we are going to go down on March 23 to check it out,” Herron said. “He is the one that made the plans, so we are going to go down and meet them to-gether.”

Herron plans to enjoy himself on the March 23 visit, but he also looks at it as a business trip, and will look to get some of his questions answered about the program and the school.

“First, I am going to fi nd out what they are known for as far as majors and educa-tion,” he said. “It’s pretty close to home, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t want to go there. It’s one of the schools I will defi nitely keep in my mind.”

Herron also has visits set up to Ball State on March 15 and Toledo on March 19, and he is considering a visit to Michigan on March 26. Other schools showing interest include Michigan State, South Alabama, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Southern Mississippi. He plans to see as many schools as he can before choosing a college.

“I’m still keeping my options open,” he said. “I still have a whole senior year to mess around with it, and we’ll see how far my recruiting status can go.”

BASKETBALL TIDBITSUofL basketball signee Wayne Black-

shear (a 6-5 guard/forward) was named Chicago Player of the Year by the Chicago Sun-Times last week. The Morgan Park H.S. product averaged 28 points and 12 rebounds for the year. Blackshear beat out Connecticut signee Ryan Boatright (East Aurora H.S.) and Kentucky signee Anthony

JEFF WAFFORDJEFF WAFFORD

MEADORMEADOR HERRONHERRON

SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE DATESWednesday, March 23 at 4 p.m. through Friday, Apr. 15., 7:30 p.m.

A N N U A L

RED-WHITESPRING GAME

Friday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium F R E E A D M I S S I O N

Davis (Chicago P e r s p e c t i v e s H.S.) for the award.

A n o t h e r signee, Bowl-ing Green H.S. (Ky.) product Chane Behan-an (a 6-8 pow-er forward), is having a solid postseason. He

led BGHS to a victory over Franklin Simp-son H.S. in the fi rst round of the Fourth Re-gion playoffs by racking up 29 points, 12 rebounds, six steals, fi ve blocks and four assists.

Signee Zach Price (Jeffersontown H.S. – Ky.) continues to help the Chargers make a playoff push. After returning from an injury that kept him out of half the season, Price helped J’town reach the Seventh Region fi nals against Eastern H.S., the No. 1 team in the state.

Gary Harris (6-4), a four-star recruit who is rated as the No. 5 shooting guard and No. 24 player overall in the junior class, visited UofL for the Pittsburgh game – his second visit to the KFC Yum! Center for a game this season.

“I had a good time,” he said. “I got to see a really good game. I had a really good visit.”

“It was a great atmosphere,” the prod-uct of Southeastern H.S. (Fishers, Ind.)added. “You could see all the fans wereinto it. Everybody was wearing their white,and it really gave them what they neededto get the win.”

Harris was one of several talented pros-pects taking in the contest, including Be-hanan and 2012 verbal commitments Rod-ney Purvis (a 6-5 guard from Raleigh, N.C.)and Negus Webster-Chan (a 6-6 forwardfrom Huntington, W.Va.).

“We all sat next to each other,” Harris said. “We were just being kids and talk-ing about the game and other stuff. Theydidn’t put too much pressure on me (tocommit) or anything like that.”

While the locker room was abuzz after the game with media, players and recruits,Harris said he did get to speak with theUofL coaches briefl y about how glad theywere to get him back for a visit and backon campus.

Harris is a player the Cards obviously want in the 2012 class, especially with hissize and versatility at the guard position.

“I like them a lot,” Harris said, although he admitted he doesn’t have a “list” set instone yet. “I like the way they play. Andthey have a good coaching staff and greatfacilities.”

Harris also is considering Indiana, Illinois, Cincinnati, Purdue, Michigan, MichiganState and many others.


KFC Yum! Center OPENING PHOTO GALLERYSELECTED FALL SPORTS SCHEDULESSPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULTBIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge02/18/11 vs. Michigan St. Petersburg, Fla. W, 6-302/19/11 vs. Ohio State Clearwater, Fla. W, 2-002/20/11 vs. Minnesota St. Petersburg, Fla. W, 3-002/25/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 3-102/26/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 4-202/27/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 4-203/01/11 vs. MOREHEAD STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 6-103/04/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 3-203/05/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 5-303/06/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 1-003/08/11 vs. PURDUE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ETUBS Spring Trip03/11/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. 5:00 PM ET03/12/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. 4:00 PM ET03/13/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. 4:00 PM ET03/15/11 at USC Los Angeles, Calif. 9:00 PM ET03/16/11 at USC Los Angeles, Calif. 6:00 PM ET03/18/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET03/19/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/20/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/22/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET03/25/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. 3:00 PM ET03/26/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. 1:00 PM ET03/27/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. 1:00 PM ET03/29/11 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/01/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/02/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/03/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/05/11 at Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. 7:00 PM ET04/08/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio 6:30 PM ET04/09/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio 4:00 PM ET04/10/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio 1:00 PM ET04/12/11 vs. KENTUCKY TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/15/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 3:00 PM ET04/16/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 1:00 PM ET04/17/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 12:00 PM ET04/19/11 vs. INDIANA (Cancer Awareness Night) JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/21/11 vs. USF # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/22/11 vs. USF # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/23/11 vs. USF # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/26/11 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 6:30 PM ET04/29/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/30/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/01/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/03/11 vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/04/11 vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN (Elementary School Day) JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 12:00 PM ET05/05/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 6:00 PM ET05/06/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 6:00 PM ET05/07/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 1:00 PM ET05/10/11 vs. VANDERBILT (Patriotic Night) TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/13/11 at Connecticut # Norwich, Conn. 6:00 PM ET05/14/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 1:00 PM ET05/15/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 12:00 PM ET05/17/11 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind. 3:00 PM ET05/19/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/20/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 7:00 PM ET05/21/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/25/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/26/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/27/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/28/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/29/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULTTexas Invitational02/10/11 at Texas Austin, Texas L, 6-202/11/11 vs. Northern Illinois Austin, Texas W, 6-102/12/11 vs. Tulsa Austin, Texas W, 4-1 vs. Tulsa Austin, Texas W, 5-002/13/11 vs. Texas Austin, Texas L, 14-4Bama Bash02/18/11 vs. Syracuse Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 3-2 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 9-802/19/11 vs. UTSA Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 2-102/20/11 vs. UTSA Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 7-3 (10)02/19/11 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 9-8Louisville Red & Black Tournament02/25/11 vs. SIUE ULMER STADIUM W, 10-0 vs. BOSTON UNIVERSITY ULMER STADIUM W, 5-002/26/11 vs. WRIGHT STATE ULMER STADIUM W, 8-002/27/11 vs. MIAMI (OHIO) ULMER STADIUM L, 6-5 vs. WRIGHT STATE ULMER STADIUM W, 10-0Tennessee Tech Combat Classic03/04/11 vs. Middle Tennessee State Cookeville, Tenn. W, 10-5 vs. North Carolina State Cookeville, Tenn. W, 3-203/05/11 at Tennessee Tech Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLED03/06/11 vs. Belmont Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLED vs. Samford Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLEDLouisville Tournament03/12/11 vs. MICHIGAN ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM 4:00 p.m. ET03/13/11 vs. MICHIGAN ULMER STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM 3:00 p.m. ETSan Diego Classic II03/18/11 vs. Cal State Northridge San Diego, Calif. 2:30 p.m. ET at San Diego State San Diego, Calif. 10:00 p.m. ET03/19/11 vs. Wisconsin San Diego, Calif. 2:00 p.m. ET vs. Ohio San Diego, Calif. 7:30 p.m. ET03/20/11 vs. Ohio State San Diego, Calif. 1:00 p.m. ET03/23/11 vs. KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET03/26/11 vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET03/27/11 vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM 11:00 a.m. ET03/30/11 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. 3:00 p.m. ET at DePaul Chicago, Ill. 5:00 p.m. ET04/02/11 vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/03/11 vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM 11:00 a.m. ET04/06/11 vs. INDIANA ULMER STADIUM 5:30 p.m. ET04/09/11 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 12:00 p.m. ET at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 2:00 p.m. ET04/10/11 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 11:00 a.m. ET04/13/11 vs. CONNECTICUT # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. CONNECTICUT # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/16/11 at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 12:00 p.m. ET at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 2:00 p.m. ET04/17/11 at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 11:00 a.m. ET04/20/11 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 6:00 p.m. ET04/21/11 vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/23/11 vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 11:00 a.m. ET vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET05/04/11 at Georgetown # Washington, D. C. 12:00 p.m. ET at Georgetown # Washington, D. C. 2:00 p.m. ET05/07/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 12:00 p.m. ET at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 2:00 p.m. ET05/08/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 11:00 a.m. ETBIG EAST Conference Championship05/12/11 TBA # ULMER STADIUM TBA05/13/11 TBA # ULMER STADIUM TBA05/14/11 TBA # ULMER STADIUM TBA

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT02/20/11 vs. BINGHAMTON U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 18-402/26/11 vs. OLD DOMINION U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 12-703/04/11 vs. OREGON U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 15-13 03/12/11 vs. Jacksonville Cumming, Ga. 1:00 p.m. ET03/17/11 at Sacred Heart Fairfi eld, Conn. 3:00 p.m. ET03/19/11 at Manhattan Riverdale, N.Y. 1:00 p.m. ET03/24/11 vs. STANFORD U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET03/27/11 vs. CINCINNATI # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET03/30/11 vs. VANDERBILT U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 3:00 p.m. ET04/03/11 vs. OHIO STATE U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET04/08/11 at Loyola (Md.) Baltimore, Md. 5:00 p.m. ET04/10/11 at Georgetown # Washington, D.C. 1:00 p.m. ET04/15/11 vs. RUTGERS # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/17/11 vs. VILLANOVA U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET04/21/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N.Y. 5:00 p.m. ET04/23/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 12:00 p.m. ET04/29/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ETBIG EAST Tournament05/05/11 BIG EAST Semifi nals WASHINGTON, D.C. (Georgetown) TBA05/07/11 BIG EAST Championship WASHINGTON, D.C. (Georgetown) TBA

LACROSSE


LOUISVILLE BASEBALL

By Howie LindseyUniversity of Louisville sophomore right-

handed pitcher Justin Amlung, who is on an academic scholarship, is a “freebie” for coach Dan McDonnell, but he might be the Cardi-nals’ most valuable player through the fi rst 10 games of the season.

Amlung is Louisville’s Saturday starter, meaning he’s the second pitcher in the rota-tion. In three starts so far this season he’s 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA. He’s given up just two runs in 20 2/3 innings and has notched a team-high 13 strikeouts. Yet, he’s not on athletic scholarship.

“Honestly, coming to Louisville started with academics,” the Louisville St. Xavier H.S. graduate said. “I got into Speed (Scientifi c) School, and I got a good academic schol-

arship. Then I basically begged the coaches to give me a shot at base-ball, and I was fortunate enough to have an oppor-tunity as a walk-on.”

In baseball, the term “freebie” typically refers to a walk, but in college baseball the term can mean something com-pletely different. Most

fans would be surprised to learn that most college baseball players aren’t on full scholar-ship. In fact, the NCAA limits teams to 11.7 scholarships that can be split among up to 27 players, although a roster typically numbers more than 30 players.

That means there usually are 5-10 players on any college roster who don’t have ath-letic scholarships. Those players are preferred walk-ons, and some of them are on academic scholarships. But it is rare that those players are starters, much less one of the team’s top arms like Amlung.

“We weren’t sure what we would get out of him, but you saw it last year - as the sea-son went on he just got better and better and better,” McDonnell said. “He put his time in, and this year he is a weekend starter.”

A weekend starter who says he had to beg the coaches to let him join the team.

“(I begged) a lot,” Amlung said. “I was a preferred walk-on. I found out I had a spot on the team in July before my freshman year, which meant I had a month to prepare before the school year started.”

Amlung, who grew up a UofL fan, says he still remembers the day assistant coach Chris Lemonis told him he’d have a roster spot.

“I remember the day I found out,” Amlung said. “I was actually playing summer ball with Derek Self and Timmy Hayes, who played for us a couple of years ago. I found out as we were playing in a tournament in Cincinnati. (Coach Lemonis) was up there to watch me throw in the tournament. Everybody was re-ally excited for me, and it was just a cool ex-perience.”

McDonnell laughed when told that Amlung said that he begged to be on the squad.

“I’m not sure about that, but I know he wanted to be a Cardinal,” McDonnell said. “That just goes to show it is not about when you commit or how early you sign or what you were ranked in high school. I steal the line from Coach (Rick) Pitino all the time --‘You never arrive’ -- and a kid like Justin Amlung is a prime example of that. He never thought he arrived, and he just kept work-ing. He passed a lot of guys along the way

because he never felt like he arrived. A lot of athletes could take a lesson from him.

“Something you learn in college recruiting, there is something to be said for kids who want to be here. Don’t get me wrong, you have to be talented, but Justin was a kid that just wanted to come here. That was one of the primary reasons that we looked at him in high school. He had the desire to play here.”

But begging - ahem, asking - a baseball coach for a chance wasn’t new to Amlung, who says he went to his high school coach after his sophomore year with a request.

“My brother coached me my fi nal two years of high school,” Amlung said of Da-mon, who was an assistant to John Jefferson. “I didn’t really pitch until my fi nal two years of high school. I was a catcher, believe it or not.

“My freshman year of high school I was the backup catcher, and then I split some time as a sophomore. My junior year, moving to varsity, I had a senior All-State catcher in front of me. I knew I wasn’t going to get to play, so I asked if I could throw. He let me and liked what he saw, and it went from there.”

That moved worked out well. He was 6-3 his junior year with a 2.09 ERA. A fi rst team All-State selection as a senior, he was 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA and was named his team’s MVP. But that’s where Amlung’s baseball career hit a crossroads. He could have gone with the schools recruiting him or go to his hometown University to pursue academics fi rst and try to

play baseball later. “I wanted to play college baseball for sure,

and I didn’t really want to go the Division II or NAIA route,” Amlung said. “I defi nitely picked UofL for school fi rst and then wound up playing. I feel blessed.”

Amlung redshirted his fi rst year, hitting the books and weight room hard. He’s still not physically imposing at just 6 feet and 174 pounds, but he soaked in the instruction from Roger Williams, Louisville’s nationally renowned pitching coach.

“He’s taken huge steps in each of his three years here,” McDonnell said. “He’s obviously a bright kid, so the aptitude is there. Then when you combine that with the best pitch-ing coach in the country in Roger Williams, you learn. In his three years he has picked up on things - like working faster, he used to be so slow. Coach Williams worked to tighten up his slider and really worked on his com-mand of the zone. I think he has shown how bright he is in all areas because he keeps get-ting better.”

Amlung said he made a big leap from his redshirt year to his freshman season.

“I think I got a lot better during summer ball after my redshirt-freshman year,” he said. “My fi rst year I was just kind of happy to be here. I showed signs that I could play at this level, but I wasn’t really all the way ready to run out on the fi eld and play. Then I took the summer and played in Danville (Ill.), and I felt like I matured so much and got a lot more confi dence.”

He fi nished with a 5-2 record and a 4.27 ERA last season while moving into the week-end rotation by the fi rst week of May. He made 20 appearances, including 10 starts, and recorded 55 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings.

“Finishing last year I had the inside edge for a weekend spot,” Amlung said. “The way I threw this fall, I pretty much knew. It was just a question of who would be the Friday guy, either me or Matt Koch.”

Koch is the current Friday starter, with Am-lung taking Saturdays.

Amlung is effective because he keeps hit-ters on their heels with pitch location and speed. He is crafty, pounds the strike zone and has a pretty solid slider.

“My slider has been pretty good all year, but the main thing is just about pumping the ball into the zone,” he said. “I want to make them put the ball in play, and our defense has been playing well. I’ll just keep doing that.

“Coming in, I never thought I would be in a position like this and playing like I am. I am really thankful. I am blessed.”

JUGGLING ACADEMICS, BASEBALLAmlung is a constant in Louisville’s rota-

tion, but he can seem like a ghost sometimes in practice. That’s due to his demanding Speed School schedule.

“Scheduling classes is probably the worst thing that I have to do,” he said. “It is abso-lutely the toughest thing about it. I have to miss Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday prac-tices because of classes.

“I’m only here on Wednesdays for prac-tice. We have games on Friday, so my only day is Wednesday. And then each day when I leave practice I have to study. I have a test or homework or something.”

Many coaches wouldn’t accept a player missing that much practice time, but McDon-nell said he believes Amlung can handle it.

“He’s the ultimate student-athlete,” Mc-Donnell said. “He’s a junior essentially and a

bright kid, so he can do that. If he was try-ing to do that as a freshman, he would becompletely lost. He and Coach Williams havea great relationship, and they communicateoften.”

Amlung said being a pitcher, most of his preparation for a weekend start can be doneon his own, or at least without too manyteammates.

“It is fi ne, but it is probably a good thing I am a pitcher,” he said. “It is easier for meto get my work in on my own than it wouldfor a position player, by far. I show up and doall of my work in half an hour normally. I getmy running and throws in, and I am good togo.”

Amlung is ahead of schedule to gradu-ate, and he’s made the Big East all-academicteam.

“I have seen him in there throwing at 7 at night,” McDonnell said. “He’ll be throw-ing into the netting because he doesn’t haveanother partner in there.... Justin is a profes-sional in that he gets his work in day-in andday-out. He knows what he needs to do, andhe does it.”

McDonnell said he likes what he is seeing from Amlung so far this season.

“I am happy because he seems to stay hungry,” McDonnell said. “He hasn’t reachedthat point where he has arrived. He seems towant to get better all the time, and I think hewill continue to get better.”

Amlung wants to continue progressing and said his goal is to keep his team winning.

“For this season, I would like to keep do-ing what I am doing now,” he said. “I wantto keep putting up zeros (on the scoreboard),and I’d love to keep going out there for fi ve,six, seven and maybe eight innings at a time.I want to be a workhorse.”

NEVER TOO LATEAs was the case with Amlung, many pitch-

ers in college and the professional leaguesdidn’t start out as pitchers. McDonnell said itis almost never too late for a good athlete toconvert to throwing from the mound.

“Pitching is the one area in baseball that you can pick up late,” he said. “If you havethe arm strength and can throw it where youwant to throw it, you can pick it up quickly.”

CARDS SWEEP SERIESAmlung was one of three winning Car-

dinals pitchers over the weekend as No. 23Louisville swept Kent State in a three-gameseries. The Cardinals won 3-2 Friday nightin 11 innings, with reliever Derek Self get-ting the win. He worked three innings afterKoch went eight innings and allowed just oneearned run.

Amlung allowed just one hit in seven in-nings as UofL won 5-3 on Saturday.

There’s never been a no-hitter at Jim Pat-terson Stadium, but Amlung is one of fourUofL pitchers to go seven or more inningswith just one hit allowed there, the last timecoming April 11, 2009, when Thomas Roysegave up just one hit in eight innings againstPittsburgh.

“My fastball was pretty good today, and I thought I was moving it around on both sidesof the plate,” Amlung said. “They were fairlyaggressive and kept putting the balls in play,which helped me stay out there.”

The Cardinals (8-2) completed the sweep Sunday when starter Mike Nastold workedfi ve innings to earn the victory as the Cardswon 1-0.

A scholar and an athlete, former Louisville St. Xavier star Justin Amlung is a weekend starter

for Louisville, but he doesn’t take up an athletic scholarship. Amlung is ahead of pace to graduate

from the Speed Scientifi c School, according to coach Dan McDonnell. - photo by Shelley Feller

AMLUNG IS A ‘FREEBIE’ TURNED STAR

HOWIE LINDSEYHOWIE LINDSEY


LOUISVILLE TRACK AND FIELD2007 CARDINAL CARAVANKFC Yum! Center OPENING PHOTO GALLERYSELECTED FALL SPORTS SCHEDULESLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

MINUTES TOTAL 3-PTS F-THROWS REBOUNDS SCORING

## Player GP GS Tot Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg

02 Knowles, Preston 30 29 904 30.1 148 390 .379 88 229 .384 51 64 .797 19 98 117 3.9 80 3 90 57 6 56 435 14.5

14 Kuric, Kyle 29 15 766 26.4 114 219 .521 61 134 .455 24 29 .828 36 69 105 3.6 50 0 34 24 6 25 313 10.8

03 Siva, Peyton 31 31 865 27.9 100 222 .450 23 82 .280 85 125 .680 8 82 90 2.9 82 3 156 89 5 66 308 9.9

05 Smith, Chris 31 16 787 25.4 104 221 .471 33 80 .413 52 75 .693 48 88 136 4.4 41 0 76 48 3 27 293 9.5

23 Jennings, Terrence 30 19 706 23.5 111 212 .524 0 0 .000 58 91 .637 73 85 158 5.3 79 2 23 31 56 19 280 9.3

04 Buckles, Rakeem 16 10 301 18.8 39 81 .481 11 26 .423 19 31 .613 36 62 98 6.1 38 0 24 36 4 13 108 6.8

33 Marra, Mike 27 11 539 20.0 55 174 .316 38 140 .271 20 26 .769 11 46 57 2.1 36 0 57 32 8 25 168 6.2

10 Dieng, Gorgui 25 10 396 15.8 59 93 .634 0 1 .000 28 50 .560 47 64 111 4.4 52 3 19 26 52 12 146 5.8

44 Van Treese, Stephan 29 12 421 14.5 43 62 .694 0 0 .000 9 28 .321 51 61 112 3.9 49 0 8 18 4 19 95 3.3

00 Goode, George 24 2 200 8.3 31 67 .463 2 6 .333 5 7 .714 15 20 35 1.5 24 0 3 10 10 7 69 2.9

24 Smith, Russ 15 0 93 6.2 14 40 .350 7 17 .412 3 5 .600 1 6 7 0.5 17 0 14 13 1 13 38 2.5

22 Justice, Elisha 25 0 255 10.2 18 52 .346 7 26 .269 19 31 .613 2 24 26 1.0 31 0 30 12 0 8 62 2.5

15 Henderson, Tim 17 0 62 3.6 7 21 .333 2 9 .222 1 2 .500 3 8 11 0.6 12 0 6 3 0 4 17 1.0

TEAM 28 27 55 1 7

Total 31 6295 843 1854 .455 272 750 .363 374 564 .663 378 740 1118 36.1 592 11 540 406 155 294 2332 75.2

Opponents 31 6295 676 1708 .396 176 570 .309 467 674 .693 396 721 1117 36.0 531 - 355 509 80 202 1995 64.4

MINUTES TOTAL 3-PTS F-THROWS REBOUNDS SCORING

## Player GP GS Tot Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg

33 Reid, Monique 31 21 843 27.2 196 352 .557 1 8 .125 108 148 .730 77 114 191 6.2 47 0 53 72 9 45 501 16.2

23 Schimmel, Shoni 31 31 945 30.5 164 421 .390 84 229 .367 34 46 .739 22 87 109 3.5 64 0 161 126 3 66 446 14.4

25 Gibbs, Tia 31 31 819 26.4 98 235 .417 38 109 .349 26 33 .788 25 93 118 3.8 69 2 45 54 10 80 260 8.4

11 Burke, Becky 31 17 787 25.4 83 191 .435 56 141 .397 36 39 .923 14 63 77 2.5 23 0 41 37 0 18 258 8.3

45 Hines, Keshia 31 31 710 22.9 84 155 .542 1 1 1.000 49 94 .521 83 108 191 6.2 114 10 37 75 35 43 218 7.0

03 Vails, Sheronne 31 10 537 17.3 59 135 .437 1 5 .200 37 53 .698 35 45 80 2.6 61 1 13 36 46 22 156 5.0

31 Taylor, Asia 27 14 373 13.8 39 92 .424 1 3 .333 26 45 .578 36 45 81 3.0 55 1 20 34 3 20 105 3.9

04 Slaughter, Antonita 30 0 305 10.2 33 80 .413 28 67 .418 14 17 .824 21 34 55 1.8 24 0 11 11 2 13 108 3.6

05 Tay, Charmaine 26 0 369 14.2 23 67 .343 4 15 .267 28 47 .596 21 44 65 2.5 26 0 38 34 5 19 78 3.0

10 Johnson, LaToya 5 0 36 7.2 4 5 .800 1 1 1.000 2 2 1.000 1 5 6 1.2 3 0 3 2 0 1 11 2.2

20 Harrington, Polly 14 0 80 5.7 9 26 .346 2 9 .222 8 12 .667 7 4 11 0.8 12 1 3 8 1 6 28 2.0

01 Harper, Shelby 23 0 269 11.7 5 32 .156 2 22 .091 9 16 .563 4 22 26 1.1 37 1 26 24 1 11 21 0.9

30 Story, Rachel 21 0 127 6.0 4 16 .250 1 5 .200 5 6 .833 3 14 17 0.8 8 0 15 14 0 4 14 0.7

TEAM 43 52 95 3.1 2 18 0

Total 31 6200 801 1807 .443 220 615 .358 382 558 .685 392 730 1122 36.2 545 16 466 545 115 348 2204 71.1

Opponents 31 6200 649 1671 .388 173 582 .297 363 551 .659 392 706 1098 35.4 549 - 393 682 76 241 1834 59.2

* Stats listed prior to Sunday night’s game against Notre Dame

2010-11 MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON STATS

2010-11 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON STATS

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BASKETBALL PREVIEW VS. PITT2007 CARDINAL CARAVANBIG EAST TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

Big East Basketball Standings 1. Pittsburgh 27-4 (15-3)Needing to win Saturday to gain No. 1 seed in Big East tourney, the Panthers downed visiting Villanova 60-50. Won 66-50 at South Florida Wednesday.

2. Notre Dame 25-5 (14-4)Irish beat visiting Villanova 93-72 Monday, won 70-67 at UConn Saturday.

t-3. Louisville 23-8 (12-6)Cards thumped visiting Providence 87-60 Wednesday, gave one away 72-70 at WVU Saturday.

t-3. Syracuse 25-6 (12-6)Rejuvenated Orange walloped visiting DePaul 107-59 Saturday to earn No. 4 seed and a double bye in BE tourney.

t-3. St. John’s 20-10 (12-6)Red Storm lost 84-70 at Seton Hall Wednesday to snap six-game winning streak, beat visiting South Florida 72-56 Saturday.

t-6. West Virginia 20-10 (11-7)Mountaineers beat visiting UConn 65-56 Wednesday, snatched victory from jaws of defeat Saturday against visiting Cards, 72-70.

t-6. Cincinnati 24-7 (11-7)Surging Bearcats won 67-60 at Marquette Wednesday, beat visiting Georgetown 69-47 Saturday for fi fth victory in six games.

8. Georgetown 21-9 (10-8)Injury-depleted Hoyas lost 69-47 at Cincinnati Saturday, their third loss in a row.

t-9. Connecticut 21-9 (9-9)Huskies dropped two last week: 65-56 at WVU Wednesday, 70-67 to visiting Notre Dame Saturday.

t-9. Villanova 21-10 (9-9)Slumping Wildcats 0-2 last week: 93-72 at Notre Dame Monday, 60-50 at Pittsburgh Saturday. Have lost fi ve of last seven games.

t-9. Marquette 18-13 (9-9)Golden Eagles on the bubble after losing twice last week: 67-60 to visiting Cincinnati Wednesday, 85-72 at Seton Hall Saturday.

12. Seton Hall 13-17 (7-11)Pirates had a good week, knocking off visiting St. John’s 84-70 Thursday, beating visiting Marquette 85-72 Saturday.

13. Rutgers 14-16 (5-13)Knights won 68-64 at hapless DePaul Wednesday, lost 75-74 at Providence Saturday.

14. Providence 15-16 (4-14)Friars were bashed 87-60 at Louisville Wednesday, edged visiting Rutgers 75-74 Saturday.

15. South Florida 9-22 (3-15)Bulls lost 66-50 to visiting Pittsburgh Wednesday, lost 72-56 at St. John’s Saturday.

16. DePaul 7-23 (1-17)Hapless Blue Demons lost 68-64 to visiting Rutgers Wednesday, were clobbered 107-59 at Syracuse Saturday.

By Russ Brown TEAM TO BEATTake your pick. This Big East Tournament

is probably more wide open than ever. You would have to give Pittsburgh’s Panthers a slight edge because they’re the regular-season champs, but they didn’t overwhelm anyone, with six of their wins coming by eight or fewer points. And, good grief, they nearly lost to Rutgers (65-62). But Pitt is a veteran team that relies on two staples that could make the dif-ference -- defense and rebounding.

DARKHORSESyracuse certainly has talent and appears

to be hitting its stride. Best of all for the Or-ange, it’s not in Louisville’s half of the bracket, so it wouldn’t have to face the team that has beaten it seven times in a row until the fi nal.

MOST AT STAKEMarquette: The Golden Eagles are the bub-

ble team that will determine whether or not the Big East lands 11 clubs in the NCAA Tour-nament, and they probably need at least one victory to punch their ticket. Marquette has by far the weakest RPI among the 11 hopefuls and is sagging, having dropped back-to-back games to Cincinnati at home and to Seton Hall on the road.

TOUGHEST ROADCincinnati: Among the teams that have a

legitimate chance at the title, the most diffi -cult path belongs to the Bearcats. They would probably have to beat four ranked teams in a row, starting with dangerous Villanova in the second round Wednesday night, then Notre Dame, then either Louisville or West Virginia to reach the championship game for the fi rst time.

EASIEST ROADThere are no “easy” routes to the title in

this league, and it doesn’t appear that any-one has a signifi cant advantage, although you have to like Pitt’s chances of at least reaching the semifi nals.

ONE AND DONEDePaul, Rutgers, South Florida, Providence.COACH ON THE HOT SEATKeno Davis, Providence.PLAYERS TO WATCHUofL’s Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric and

Peyton Siva; Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis; Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs and

Brad Wanamaker; Syracuse’s Rick Jackson; Providence’s Marshon Brooks; Marquette’s Jae Crowder; Connecticut’s Kemba Walker; Georgetown’s Austin Freeman; Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell; St. John’s’ Dwight Hardy; Vil-lanova’s Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes.

WHO’S HOTNotre Dame comes into the tournament on

the best roll, its only loss in the last 10 games coming at West Virginia (72-58), and the Irish won at Pittsburgh (56-51) in late January. The Irish are a veteran team, with nearly everyone back from the group that advanced to last year’s semifi nals before being edged 53-51 by eventual champion West Virginia.

WHO’S COLDVillanova, once being talked about as a

contender for a second Final Four trip in the past three years, has fallen on hard times, just as it did last year, and has injury issues with starting guards Stokes and Fisher. The Wildcats have lost four in a row. Georgetown also falls into this category, with three straight losses and four in the last fi ve.

HOW COACHES FARED WITH PICKSHere is how the Big East coaches fared in

their preseason poll. They correctly picked the bottom four teams, although in a slightly dif-ferent order. However, they missed badly on Louisville, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Vil-lanova, underestimating the fi rst three and overestimating the Wildcats. These are the fi nal standings, with preseason picks in paren-theses:

1. Pittsburgh (1)2. Notre Dame (7)t-3. Louisville (t8)t-3. Syracuse (3) t-3. St. John’s (6)t-6. West Virginia (5)t-6. Cincinnati (12)8. Georgetown (4)t-9. Connecticut (10)t-9. Villanova (2)t-9. Marquette (t8)12. Seton Hall (11)13. Rutgers (15)14. Providence (14)15. USF (13)16. DePaul (16)

Sophomore Stephan Van Treese has emerged as a tough guy in the trenches for the Cards. The 6-9 forward has started 12 games and is averaging 3.3 points and 3.9 rebounds, 51 of

them on the offensive end, which is second on the team.- photo by Dave Klotz


CARDINAL STARSMONIQUE REID - WOMEN’S BASKETBALLThe junior from Louisville’s Fern Creek High had 12 points and 13 rebounds to spark the Cardinals to a 69-47 victory over Villanova in the second round of the Big East Tournament Saturday right in Hartford, Conn. Reid hit just 4 of 11 shots but made 4 of 5 free throws. She played only 19 minutes and had a steal and a turnover. Reid is Louisville’s leading scorer at 16.2 ppg. She also is tied for the team lead at 6.2 rebounds per game. She is third on the team with 45 steals and leads in made free throws with 108. The next-closest on the team is Keshia Hines with 49.

JULIA FELLERHOFF - WOMEN’S TENNISThe freshman from Deerfi eld, Ill., beat Cincinnati’s Ksenia Slynko 6-2, 6-2 to win the No. 1 singles point Saturday in Cincinnati, and she teamed with Rebecca Shine to rout Cincinnati’s top doubles team 8-1 as the Cards beat the Bearcats 5-2. On Friday, Fellerhoff scored Louisville’s lone point against No. 50 Ohio State, beating Paloma Escobedo 6-4, 0-6, 10-6 at No. 1 singles. Louisville is currently 8-5 on the season.

JUSTIN AMLUNG - BASEBALLThe sophomore righty from Louisville’s St. Xavier H.S. allowed one run on just one hit in seven innings as UofL beat Kent State 5-3 Saturday, its second straight victory over the Golden Flashes. Amlung retired 17 straight batters at one point. He is the fi rst UofL pitcher to yield one hit or fewer in a start of at least seven innings since Thomas Royse’s eight-inning, one-hit shutout against Pittsburgh on April 11, 2009 (a seven-inning game that went an extra inning). Zack Pitts and Scott Jenkins are the only other Cardinals to accomplish the feat in the last six seasons (all four won their starts).

SIMON CHILDS - MEN’S TENNISThe senior from Hillington, England, beat Andy Nguyen 6-2, 6-2 to win the No. 3 singles point and help Louisville (9-6) beat visiting Harvard 5-2 Sunday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Childs also teamed with Alejandro Calligari to defeat Nguyen and Alistair Felton 9-7 at No. 2 doubles to help Louisville clinch the doubles point. “It is tough coming off of six straight road losses, even though fi ve of those losses were to top-10 teams” coach Rex Ecarma said. “It still put some doubt in our heads. Today was like medicine for that doubt, beating a good team like Harvard. I am really proud of us winning the doubles point and the way Alejandro and Simon came out and dominated the match to give us a 1-0 lead.”

MARGRET HARRIS - WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe sophomore transfer from Prairie View A&M won the 60m sprint at the Virginia Tech Final Qualifi er event in Blacksburg, Va., last Friday. Harris placed fourth in the preliminaries behind teammate Saravia Richardson, then took third in the semifi nals and matched her preliminaries’ time of 7.44 seconds to place fi rst in the fi nals. It is Harris’ season-best time in the event. At Prairie View Harris competed in seven outdoor and three indoor events as a freshman, fi nishing second at the SWAC championships in the 100m (11.79 seconds). She is from Lancaster, Texas.

MICHELLE THEOPHILLE - WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe sophomore from Whitby, Ontario, was another Cardinal who turned heads at the Virginia Tech Invitational. She won the women’s high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches. Teammate Megan Schubert was second, clearing 5-7 3/4. Theophille fi nished third at the Big East Indoor Championships last year as a freshman and was third again this year, and she fi nished fi fth at the Big East Outdoor Championships in the high jump last year. Her 5-8 3/4 jump this year earned the team 5.5 points to help the Cardinals win the Big East Indoor team title for the fi rst time in school history.

ASHLEY HERBST - WOMEN’S LACROSSEThe freshman goalkeeper from Pittsford, N.Y., who was playing in just her third career game, improved to 3-0 after tallying six saves in 60 minutes of action to help UofL beat visiting Oregon 15-13 last Monday. Herbst was key in crucial moments, making saves in one-on-one situations and coming up with a much-needed stop on a free-position shot with 5:07 left in the fi rst period. With Bergan Foley, Louisville’s leading scorer, held in check in the physical game, the Cardinals got goals from seven other players, including fi ve by senior Liz Lovejoy. The match featured 56 fouls and four yellow cards.

REIDREID

AMLUNGAMLUNG

CHILDSCHILDS

HARRISHARRIS

THEOPHILLETHEOPHILLE

HERBSTHERBST

HOWIE LINDSEY’SHOWIE LINDSEY’S

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2007 CARDINAL CARAVANBIG EAST NOTEBOOKWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

By Howie Lindsey“They are in, right? Surely they are in.”That’s been the most common refrain

over the past two weeks when fans and program supporters are discussing Louisville women’s basketball.

After being bounced in the quarterfi nals of the Big East Tournament Sunday night by No. 7 Notre Dame, 65-53, the Cardinals are 20-12 and went 10-6 in league play dur-ing the regular season. They were the No. 6 seed in a league that most expect to send 10 teams to the Big Dance and made the quarterfi nals of the league tournament.

All that should equate to an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. But are they in? We won’t know for sure until next Monday at 7 p.m. (live on ESPN) when the offi cial brackets are released, but count UofL coach Jeff Walz among those who are convinced.

“Oh yeah, we’re in,” he said last week after his team closed out the home portion of the season with a victory over Seton Hall. “I mean ... if we aren’t in, I’d be shocked.”

According to ESPN’s bracketology expert Charlie Creme (think Joe Lunardi, but for women’s basketball), the Cardinals are safely in the tournament as a No. 7 seed. Creme’s bracket, released Sunday afternoon, has Louisville traveling to Durham, N.C., to take on No. 10 Vanderbilt. The other side of the bracket would have No. 2 seed Duke tak-ing on 15-seed Hampton. The No. 1 seed in Louisville’s bracket would be Connecticut in that scenario.

But that’s just Creme’s guess. The real bracket is still a week away. Creme supposes 10 Big East teams will make the tournament. A quick check of the most recent RPI (Sun-day, prior to the Notre Dame game), saw Louisville at No. 38 with the 16th-toughest schedule in the nation.

Other Big East teams in the RPI are: No. 1 Connecticut, No. 8 DePaul, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 18 Georgetown, No. 20 Rutgers, No. 24 Marquette, No. 29 West Virginia, No. 32 St. John’s and then Louisville. Creme says Syracuse is in the tournament as a No. 10 seed. Syracuse is No 58 in the RPI.

Most people believed Louisville’s young team - the Cardinals started two freshmen for much of the season and played fi ve new-comers regularly - would be better than last season, but most would not have predicted a 20-win season. Walz did.

“I think we are about exactly where I thought we would be,” he said. “Take away a few wins that we got that I was not sure we would get, and then I think we have lost a few games that I didn’t plan on us to lose. And when you break it down, we are probably a game away from when I did my pre-season, when I looked at my schedule and I put win loss, win loss, win loss. We are about a game off of that. We have done a nice job, but we still have room to grow. I am pleased with things now, but we are still not satisfi ed with where we are.”

QUARTERFINALS VS. NOTRE DAMEFoul trouble limited UofL star Monique

Reid to just fi ve minutes in the fi rst half against Notre Dame. But despite Reid’s ab-sence and 13 fi rst-half turnovers, the Cardi-nals hung tight with the third-seeded Irish for most of the fi rst half.

It was a back-and-forth battle early, with

Louisville taking a 13-11 lead. Notre Dame pushed ahead by two possessions and led 26-21 with just over two minute left before halftime when a three by Shoni Schimmel cut the Irish lead to 26-24, but that would be the closest Louisville would get the rest of the way. Notre Dame ended the half on a 6-0 run to lead 32-24.

The Irish run continued in the second half as back-to-back buckets increased the lead to 36-24. Louisville cut the lead back to nine briefl y at 38-29, but the Irish scored the next nine points.

“Hats off to Notre Dame and their en-tire team, I thought they played extremely well,” Walz said. “They did a great job of fi nding a way to get to the free-throw line and, unfortunately, we could not. They shot a very impressive 20 of 25 from the line, and we go 3 for 7. That’s a big discrepancy in the game when you’re trying to compete with a team as good as them. You’ve got to fi nd a way to get to the free-throw line, and unfor-tunately we could not. I thought they played extremely hard. They played well.”

Down 48-29 with 13:58 left, Walz called a timeout to try to get his team untracked. It worked. The Cardinals scored seven straight points to close within 48-36 at the 12:13 mark.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw called a timeout to try to stall the Cardinals’ run, but a jumper by Becky Burke cut the margin to 10 after the timeout. A pair of free throws by Lexington, Ky., native Natalie Novosel put the Irish up 50-38 with just over 11 minutes left, but Charmaine Tay hit a jumper in the lane to keep the margin at 10.

The teams traded baskets over the next 2 1/2 minutes, then a three by Schimmel cut

the margin to 52-45 with 8:18 left. Notre Dame answered with a three of its own.

The lead was 57-47 when Antonita Slaughter hit a layup with 3:12 to go. A jumper by Reid with 2:34 left cut the margin to 57-51. Just when it appeared that UofL was prepared to draw closer, Notre Dame scored the next fi ve points, three on free throws.

Despite Notre Dame’s making only one fi eld goal in the fi nal 6:33, its lead would dip under double-digits just once in the fi -nal two minutes as the Irish advanced to the semifi nals.

“I told our players that I am proud of how hard they played,” Walz said. “I am really proud of the fi ght they showed. We didn’t quit. Now we’ve got to get back at it and get prepared for what we hope will be an NCAA Tournament bid and try and see if we can’t win a few games in that.”

Devereaux Peters had 19 points, nine re-bounds and six blocks to lead the Irish, who faced No. 2 seed DePaul in the semifi nals Monday. The other semifi nal matched No. 1 seed Connecticut vs. No. 4 seed Rutgers..

Louisville was led by Schimmel’s 12 points. She had two assists and six turnovers and made just 5 of 17 shots, however. Reid played the entire second half but fi nished with just six points. She did have 11 re-bounds. The Cardinals had 22 turnovers and were just 2 of 18 from three-point range.

WOMEN NAB WIN NO. 20Villanova, the No. 14 seed, got the only

upset in the fi rst or second round when it knocked off No. 11 seed Providence in the fi rst round. But the Wildcats weren’t any match for the Cardinals,who romped 69-47 while resting their starters for most of the

second half. The tournament bracket appeared to

have a Louisville-Providence rematch in storebefore Villanova’s upset. Providence was theteam that knocked Louisville off in the lastgame of the regular season, dropping theCardinals from a No. 4 seed to a No. 6.

The Cardinals likely were thankful not to see Providence again, especially consideringhow easily they pushed past Villanova (12-19). Schimmel had 13 points in 22 minutesand Reid had 12 points and 13 rebounds in19 minutes.

With UofL up 14-7 at the 9:45 mark, a three by Villanova cut the margin to four.The Cards responded with a 12-0 run thatwas capped by a three by Burke to make it26-10 with 5:28 to go before halftime. TheCards never looked back.

The Cardinals led 33-18 at the half, shooting 43.8 percent and outreboundingVillanova 22-12. Then UofL blew the gameopen with a 10-0 run to start the secondhalf.

“It is a relief to get a win after the way we played at Providence (last) Monday night,”Walz said “... It is always nice to win, espe-cially when you can get your 20th win ofthe season.”

THREE HONOREDPrior to the league tournament, the Big

East announced its All-BIg East teams, anAll-Rookie team and other awards. ThreeCardinals were honored.

Reid, the league’s fourth-leading scorer at 16.2 ppg, earned fi rst-team honors forthe second consecutive season. Schimmelearned honorable mention all-league andwas a unanimous selection to the All-Fresh-man team. Freshman Sheronne Vails alsowas named to the All-Freshman team.

Junior Monique Reid was named fi rst-team all-conference last week. Reid is fourth in the league in scoring at over 16.3 points per game. - photo by Shelley Feller

LOUISVILLE WOMEN AWAIT NCAA FATE


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK - FOOTBALL2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALLWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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LAST WEEK: 6-4OVERALL: 69-41

TERRY MEINERSWHAS RADIO


GARRY GUPTONRED AND BLUE REVIEW

ION CHANNEL 21LAST WEEK: 8-2OVERALL: 72-38

RUSS BROWNSPORTSREPORT


FRED COWGILLWLKY TV


TOM LANEWDRB FOX 41


MATT WILLINGERSPORTSREPORT


HOWIE LINDSEYSPORTSREPORT


DREW DEENERWHAS PLAY-BY-PLAY

WKRD RADIOLAST WEEK: 6-4OVERALL: 68-42

Each week members of our esteemed media panel will try to prove they are smarter than average. Longtime Louisville

SportsReport subscribers will remember that our media members used to test their basketball knowledge against a dog, but that proved to be far too challenging. The panel will

battle it out by trying to pick the winners of 10 games per week during the college basketball season to earn the honor of top

dog in the LSR’s Make Your Picks contest. This week, the panel will try to pick the winner of 10 conference tournaments.

ZACH McCRITE93.9 THE TICKET


BIG EAST CONFERENCE PITT SYRACUSE LOUISVILLEBIG TEN CONFERENCE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE PURDUEBIG 12 CONFERENCE KANSAS KANSAS KANSASMOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE BYUACC NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINASEC FLORIDA KENTUCKY FLORIDAPAC-10 CONFERENCE UCLA UCLA ARIZONACONFERENCE USA UAB HOUSTON TULSAATLANTIC 10 XAVIER XAVIER XAVIERWAC UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE

JACK COFFEESPORTSREPORT


U OF L PRESIDENTJAMES RAMSEY


JEFF WAFFORDSPORTSREPORT


LOUISVILLE PITT PITT PITT ST. JOHN’S SYRACUSE NOTRE DAME PITT PITT PITTOHIO STATE PURDUE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE PURDUE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE

KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS TEXAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSASSAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE BYU SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE BYU SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATENORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA DUKE NORTH CAROLINA DUKE DUKE DUKE NORTH CAROLINA DUKE

KENTUCKY KENTUCKY FLORIDA FLORIDA KENTUCKY FLORIDA KENTUCKY FLORIDA FLORIDA VANDYUCLA WASHINGTON UCLA ARIZONA ARIZONA UCLA ARIZONA ARIZONA UCLA ARIZONAUAB UAB UAB UAB UAB MEMPHIS MEMPHIS UAB UAB MEMPHIS

XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER RICHMOND XAVIER TEMPLE XAVIER XAVIER TEMPLEUTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE

DEB HARBSMEIERWHAS TV TEAM


AL PARRISHPARRISH HOUSE

80 UNDER 80LAST WEEK: 4-6OVERALL: 70-40

TONY CRUISEWHAS RADIO


LACHLAN MCLEANWHAS RADIO


DAVE JENNINGSWHAS RADIO


PAUL ROGERSWHAS RADIO TEAM


TONY VANETTIAFTERNOON UNDERDOGS

WKRD RADIOLAST WEEK: 6-4OVERALL: 67-43

LOUISVILLE PITT PITT PITT PITT LOUISVILLE PITT OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS KANSAS SAN DIEGO STATE BYU SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE SAN DIEGO STATE NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA KENTUCKY FLORIDA FLORIDA FLORIDA FLORIDA KENTUCKY FLORIDA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UAB UAB UAB UAB UAB UAB UAB XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER XAVIER UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE UTAH STATE

REBOUND!

Louisville’s student section was the loudest and rowdiest it Louisville’s student section was the loudest and rowdiest it has ever been this season, due in part to a move that gave has ever been this season, due in part to a move that gave the students more seats near the court at the new KFC Yum! the students more seats near the court at the new KFC Yum! Center. Pitino loves the change. - photo by Shelley FellerCenter. Pitino loves the change. - photo by Shelley Feller

CHICKEN MAN SAYS

Rick Pitino screamed for his team to box out against Providence. Rick Pitino screamed for his team to box out against Providence. UofL got the message then, but were out-rebounded 49-25 against UofL got the message then, but were out-rebounded 49-25 against West Virginia Saturday. - photo by Shelley FellerWest Virginia Saturday. - photo by Shelley Feller

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT PAGE 27

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CARDINAL FOOTBALL

Editor’s Note: LSR will have a complete rundown of Louisville’s prospects in its spring football preview issue March 21.

By Russ BrownThe depth of the University of Louisville

football team isn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be, and coach Charlie Strong will be even more shorthanded -- especially on the offensive and defensive lines -- when spring practice opens on March 23.

The Cardinals lost 25 seniors from last year’s team that fi nished with a 7-6 record after beating Southern Mississippi in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl in their fi rst postsea-son appearance in four years.

On top of those personnel losses, the se-nior class for the upcoming season numbers only 12, and it drops to a mere 10 in 2012.

The list of available players for this spring has been further pared by injuries. Among those who will miss spring drills are defen-sive linemen Greg Scruggs (sports hernia), B.J. Butler (shoulder) and William Savoy (hernia), running back Jeremy Wright (her-nia), cornerback Darius Ashley (shoulder) and wide receiver Damian Copeland (an-kle).

Center Mario Benavides, the lone return-ing starter on the offensive line, also is likely to miss spring drills after undergoing off-season knee surgery.

So the trenches in the spring will be near-ly empty of experienced players.

“We’ll just try to manage practice (to avoid more injuries),” Strong said. “We’ll be looking to get better at fundamentals and technique.”

On the O-line, Ryan Kessling and Alex Kupper gained experience as backups last season and have a head start on nailing down starting positions. Otherwise, it’s wide open.

Another major concern is cornerback,

where All-Big East fi rst-teamer Johnny Pat-rick and regular Bobby Burns have depart-ed. When asked who might start at those positions during a meeting with a few writ-ers last week, Strong laughed and said: “That’s a tough question. I don’t know the answer.”

With Ashley missing, there are only four scholarship players at cornerback going into the spring -- Anthony Conner, who was in-jured last season, Preston Pace, Jordan Pas-chal and Titus Teague.

The position most people will be interest-ed in this spring, of course, is quarterback, where UofL lost Justin Burke and Will Fro-man, who shared the position the past two seasons. Junior Will Stein, a former walk-on from Trinity High School, is the most expe-rienced, although all 14 of his passes last season came in one game. He started twice as a redshirt freshman and was the third-

string QB last year, playing only when both Froman and Burke were hurt.

Freshman Teddy Bridgewater is a highly ranked recruit from Miami who enrolled in school in January. Sophomore Dominique Brown lined up at quarterback occasion-ally last season but was utililized more as a rusher and receiver. The only pass he threw was intercepted.

GRADES VITAL TO STRONGStrong said that when he succeeded

Steve Kragthorpe a year ago, the factor that most aggravated him was the players’ aca-demic performance. So he ripped into them long and loud during the now-legendary fi rst team meeting after he was shown their grades.

“More than anything, what ticked me off was grades,” Strong said. “That’s why I said I want a team meeting right away, because of their grades. You show me a good foot-

ball team, and I’ll show you good grades.You show me a bad football team, and I’llshow you bad grades.

“Bad grades show you’re not committed, they don’t care, they’re just going throughthe motions. A team with good grades hasplayers who want to graduate, who wantgood things to happen.”

(Statistics don’t support that theory in many cases, however. The latest annualNCAA academic scorecard issued last Oc-tober showed that many of college foot-ball’s top-tier programs are below averagein graduation rates. Seven of the top 10-- including national champion Auburn andrunner-up Oregon along with Boise State,and 16 of the top 25 in the Bowl Cham-pionship Series standings at that time fellbeneath the sport’s four-year average. Okla-homa and Arizona graduated fewer thanhalf of their players).

Strong said the Cards’ grades have im-proved since he took over and that theteam has had a cumulative GPA above 2.5the past two semesters.

Sixteen UofL football players made the 2010 Big East All-Academic Team,an honor that goes to student-athletes whohave completed at least two semesters witha minimum GPA of 3.0. Seniors Pete Nochtaand Justin Burke were three-time academichonorees.

Strong said he still makes periodic class-room checks himself. He said he walkedinto a class recently unnoticed and sawone of his players arguing with a professor.The player didn’t see him enter and Strongyelled, “Excuse me? Are you arguing withyour professor?”

Strong said the player got a shocked look on his face and “was like, ‘Oh, God.’” Headded that the player was punished for histransgression.

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT

Thu., Sept. 1 Murray State (ESPNU) Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky TBA

Fri., Sept. 9 Florida International (ESPN) Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky 7 P.M.

Sat., Sept. 17 at Kentucky Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Ky TBA

Sat., Oct. 1 Marshall Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky TBA

Sat., Oct. 8 at North Carolina Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC TBA

Sat., Oct. 15 at Cincinnati Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio TBA

Fri., Oct. 21 Rutgers (ESPN) Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky 8 P.M.

Sat., Oct. 29 Syracuse Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky TBA

Sat., Nov. 5 at West Virginia Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV TBA

Sat., Nov. 12 Pittsburgh Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky TBA

Sat., Nov. 19 at Connecticut Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn TBA

Fri., Nov. 25 at USF (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla TBA

2011 CARDINAL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE2011 CARDINAL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

INJURIES WILL HAMPER CARDS DURING SPRING PRACTICE

UofL football coach Charlie Strong (left) sat in the second row behind UofL’s

bench during the Providence game. To his left was New England Patriots receiver

Deion Branch, a former UofL star and Super Bowl MVP. - photo by Dave Klotz

March 8 issue

Documents

Transcript of March 8 issue