louisville sportsreport: jan. 12 issue

VOLUME XVI • NUMBER 21JANUARY 12, 2012

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LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT FEBRUARY 3, 2011

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JANUARY 12, 2012 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 - Gail Kamenish, Dave Klotz, Shelley Feller,

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 XVI, NUMBER 21 • JANUARY 12, 2012

CSPACOLLEGESPORTS

PUBLISHERSASSOCIATIONCOVER DESIGNED

BY SCOTT STORTZ

AMERICA’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ONUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS®

Office Phone: (502) 636-4330Fax: (502) 636-9265

E-mail: [email protected]

Official Web site:www.cardinalsports.com

WHAT ’S INSIDE :

6 LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL: BY THE NUMBERS By Howie Lindsey6 NOTRE DAME, PROVIDENCE BOX SCORES8 FANS CAN BELIEVE STRONG’S STATEMENT By Jack Coffee10 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By Howie Lindsey11 CARDS IN ‘BAD SHAPE,’ NOW MUST FIGHT By Russ Brown12 CARDINAL KIDS PHOTO GALLERY13 OPPONENT PREVIEW: DEPAUL BLUE DEMONS By Rick Cushing14 OPPONENT PREVIEW: MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES By Rick Cushing

15 LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL PHOTO GALLERY 17 CARDS LAND TWO ALL-AMERICANS ON NATIONAL TV By Jeff Wafford19 CARDINAL STARS OF THE WEEK By Howie Lindsey20 LOUISVILLE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULES 21 BIG EAST: SYRACUSE STILL UNDEFEATED AT 17-0 By YahooSports.com22 LACROSSE, SWIMMING AND DIVING AND SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES 24 CARDINAL KIDS PHOTO GALLERY

9 BLACKSHEAR NOT READY YETThe timetable for McDonald’s All-American Wayne Blackshear’s debut in a Cardinal uniform keeps shifting. “Wayne is going to be a struggle,” Pitino said. “We’re disappointed we didn’t pay more attention to his weight.”

5 THE PRESSURE IS ONAfter getting embarrassed on national television Tuesday night, the Louisville Cardinals have to regroup quickly to prep for an upcoming Big East schedule that includes games against some of the league’s top teams on the road.

18 BASEBALL PICKED SECONDLouisville baseball will open the regular-season on Feb. 17 in Florida. The Cardinals were picked second in the league in a preseason vote of Big East coaches and Justin Amlung was picked as Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

16 FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT IN FOOTBALLLanding recruits like Keith Brown, who picked the Cardinals over offers from Alabama, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida State, shows Charlie Strong and his coaches are recruiting at higher different level.

DEFENSE NOT ENOUGHLouisville is among the nation’s leaders in fi eld goal percentage defense and, until Tuesday night’s Providence game, had been holding opponents well below their season averages in points and shooting percentage. But the Cardinals’ offense is not as strong as their defense. Can Louisville fi nd more scorers in the coming weeks?

THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT

WILL BE MAILED JANUARY 17

BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS AND THE TUESDAY NIGHT BOWL GAME, WE DID NOT MAIL AN EDITION DEC. 27. LAST WEEK’S

EDITION WAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE BOWL AND UK-UOFL GAME INFORMATION.

THE NEXT MAILED EDITION WILL BE JAN. 17

7 PITINO PLOTS INSIDE WORKRick Pitino said his team must work the ball into the post to be successful in the Big East. He also noted that center Gorgui Dieng will have to stay out of foul trouble for this inside-heavy gameplan to work.

4 SMITH’S HOMECOMING SPOILEDFreshman McDonald’s All-American Bria Smith scored 17 points but Louisville fell 72-64 to St. John’s, her hometown team, Sunday in Queens, N.Y. Smith and the Cardinals took on USF Wednesday night.

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT JANUARY 12, 2012

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

By Howie LindseyEDITOR’S NOTE: The Louisville women

hosted South Florida (9-7, 1-1) Wednes-day night at the KFC Yum! Center after this week’s Louisville SportsReport went to press. For updates on that game, check out CardinalSports.com or UofLsports.com

What appeared to be the makings of a dream homecoming for Louisville freshman shooting guard Bria Smith turned ugly in the second half as the No. 12/14 Cardinals fell 72-64 to St. John’s last Sunday.

“It felt good playing back in New York with all of my family here supporting me,” Smith said. “The game just didn’t turn out the way I would like it.”

Smith, a McDonald’s All-American at Christ the King High in Queens, N.Y., re-turned to her hometown for the fi rst time as a collegian and scored Louisville’s fi rst seven points and 11 of the fi rst 13.

With Smith’s help, Louisville (13-3, 3-1) held a 13-10 lead after the fi rst seven minutes, but the Red Storm tied the score at 13 when Smith picked up her second foul and Nadirah McKenith hit 1 of 2 free throws with 9:22 left.

A three-pointer by Becky Burke put Louisville up 16-13 with 8:56 left before halftime, but St. John’s countered with a 7-0 run to take a 20-16 lead. The Cards responded with an 8-0 run sparked by another Burke three, but the Red Storm countered again with a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead and led 28-27 at the half..

UofL coach Jeff Walz praised his team’s effort in the fi rst half but added, “I thought it was an ugly half. I thought we hung in there and competed well. I thought St. John’s played extremely well. Coach Kim Barnes Arico did a great job in being pre-pared. They came out and fought.”

Burke pushed Louisville ahead 30-28 with a three just 10 seconds into the sec-ond half, but St. John’s tied the score on the next possession. The teams traded leads and were never more than a posses-sion apart throughout the ensuing seven minutes, and the score was tied at 41 on a pair of free throws by Cierra Warren with just over 13 minutes left. St. John’s then scored seven of the next nine points to take a 48-43 lead with just over nine minutes left, and the Cards never regained the lead.

The Red Storm still held a fi ve-point lead

at 52-47 with 7:37 left and 54-49 with 6:24 left. Smith picked up her fourth foul on a charging call with just under six min-utes left, and St. John’s got a three from Shenneika Smith to make it 57-49 with 5:17 left.

“We came out in the second half and we did a nice job offensively, but we didn’t transfer that energy on the defensive end,” Walz said. “We’d score and they would score. When you play on someone else’s home court you have to come up with some stops and, unfortunately, we didn’t do that. They got us down fi ve and we missed some layups and some free throws (and) never came up with a big stop. When you fail to stop someone on the defensive end, you put a lot of pressure to score on the offensive end.”

Smith was whistled for her fi fth foul with 4:39 left, leaving with 17 points, and that seemed to energize St. John’s. The Red Storm stretched its lead to 59-49 on the ensuing free throws, and they still led by 10 at 61-51 with just under four min-utes left.

The Cardinals got no closer than 68-61 the rest of the way. Louisville had the ball down by seven after a steal by Shoni Schim-mel, but a bad pass gave St. John’s the ball back and a pair of free throws by Stevens pushed the lead back to nine. A pair of free throws by St. John’s and another three by Burke made the fi nal margin 72-64.

“We have to take this game and learn from it,” Burke said. “You have to be able to play on the road in the Big East and you have to steal a couple games on the road. So we’ll learn from it, I just think we got out hustled tonight.”

Burke led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting (5 of 8 from three-point range). Schimmel had a bad night, scoring only eight points on 4-of-18 shooting (0 for 7 on three-point shots).

SMITH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEKOn Monday, Smith was named the Big

East Freshman of the Week after averag-ing 16.5 points a game in two games. It is the fi rst weekly honor for Smith, who is averaging 11.5 points and three steals per game for the Cardinals.

Smith had 16 points, fi ve rebounds and a team-high three steals in a victory over Marquette. She shot 40 percent from the

fi eld and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Against St. John’s she had 17 points and three steals. She shot 66.7 percent from the fi eld and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line. For the week she shot 50 percent from the fi eld and 75 percent from the free-throw line.

REID HAS SURGERYMonique Reid, the Cards’ leading scorer

and All-Big East forward the last two sea-sons, had knee surgery last week. The se-nior forward is one of two team leaders out for the season with an injury. Starting shooting guard Tia Gibbs had shoulder surgery in December.

USF NEXTLouisville’s next opponent, South Florida,

started the season 1-1 in the Big East, de-feating Cincinnati 58-55 on the road Tues-day and falling 66-56 to Georgetown athome on Saturday. The Bulls have an overallrecord of 9-7. Senior guard Jasmine Wynneis averaging a team-high 15.9 points duein large part to her team-leading 69 freethrows (she is shooting 70.4 percent fromthe foul line). Wynne also leads the teamwith 6.0 rebounds per game. Junior guardKaneisha Sanders is averaging 12.1 ppgand leads the team with 46 assists. Louis-ville leads the series with USF 21-3, includ-ing 10-1 at home.

CARDS’ SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT ST. JOHN’S

Freshman McDonald’s All-American Bria Smith scored 11 of Louisville’s fi rst 13 points and 17 points total Sunday against St. John’s. - photo by Chuck Feist


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

By Russ BrownIf there ever was an early “must game”

for the University of Louisville’s reeling bas-ketball team, it’s Saturday’s tussle against DePaul (10-6, 1-3) in the KFC Yum! Center.

UofL (13-4, 1-3) was blown out by pre-viously impotent Providence 90-59 Tuesday night in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and is now in danger of being blown out of the Big East Conference race before it even reaches the halfway point.

The Cardinals enter the DePaul game having lost four of their last fi ve, including

their only two conference games at home, and are tied for 12th place in the league with the Blue De-mons and Villanova.

DePaul will be the fourth game in a four-game stretch that UofL coach Rick Pitino said the Cards needed to sweep before the schedule gets

considerably tougher, but now the best the Cards can hope for is a split.

After facing DePaul, Louisville will play three of its next four games on the road -- at No. 25/24 Marquette, at Pittsburgh and at No. 24/NR Seton Hall -- with the only home game coming on Feb. 25 against Vil-lanova.

The Blue Demons are also wobbling, as usual. Their 94-73 loss to Seton Hall Tues-day night was their third in the last four games, and they are now 3-56 in Big East road games since joining the league. DePaul also has lost 33 games in a row to ranked opponents, its last win over a ranked team coming against Villanova in 2008.

DePaul shot just 34.3 percent against Seton Hall while allowing the Pirates to shoot 58.7 percent.

Pitino has to get his players regrouped quickly because against the Friars (11-6, 1-4), UofL looked like a team that was com-pletely shaken, had lost its confi dence and -- at times, at least -- didn’t want to even be playing.

Pitino also had said going into the game that UofL was changing its offensive philos-ophy to more of an inside attack, but that didn’t work either. Gorgui Dieng, Chane Behanan and Rakeem Buckles combined for only 13 points and nine rebounds. They hit just 5 of 17 shots.

And the Cards’ woes continued from three-point range, where they were 4 of 19 for 21.1 percent.

Only a three-pointer at the buzzer by Kyle Kuric prevented UofL’s worst loss in Big East play -- the Cards lost 90-57 at Notre Dame on Feb. 12, 2009. Providence scored the most points Louisville had given up since losing to Western Carolina, 91-83, on Dec. 12, 2009.

It was an embarrassing defeat against a young, thin Providence team that was without one of its best players, sophomore guard Gerard Coleman (15.1 pg, 5.6 rpg), who missed the game due to a sore back.

“We just didn’t have it tonight,” said UofL assistant coach Richard Pitino, fi lling in for his dad on the post-game radio show. “I have no explanation, to be quite honest about it. They were more ready to play and did a much better job. It was an extremely long night. Hopefully, our guys will learn from it, but we just didn’t come to play. I don’t think they gave a great effort, and that’s probably the most troubling thing for us. We didn’t lay it on the line.

“You lose four out of fi ve, certainly we don’t feel great about ourselves right now. Regardless of confi dence, though, you should always give 100 percent effort ev-ery time you step on the court. We’re going to have to do something different certainly, because what we did tonight didn’t work.”

Everything seemed to work for Provi-dence, which was in last place in the Big East going into the game and had averaged just 59 points in four conference outings.

Bryce Cotton, a 6-1 guard, and 6-9,

250-pound forward Kadeem Batts, both sophomores, led Providence with 27 points each, and 6-2 junior guard Vincent Coun-cil narrowly missed a triple-double with 15 points, 14 assists -- equaling UofL’s entire team -- and eight rebounds.

Cotton, who was shooting 30 percent from three-point land on the season, hit all fi ve of his attempts behind the arc and added 10 of 12 free throws. Batts’ point total was a career high, as was his 10 re-bounds. He was averaging only 6.7 ppg and 3.3 rpg.

Providence shot 52.8 percent, best by a UofL opponent this season, and hit 9 of 15 three-point shots.

Chris Smith topped UofL with 16 points, while Kuric had 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds and two steals. The Cards shot just 37.9 percent.

Freshman forward Angel Nunez saw his fi rst action in a month, playing a season-high 12 minutes and hitting two of Louis-

ville’s four threes from the corner. But Rich-ard Pitino said that doesn’t mean Nunez willstep into the rotation.

“The problem with Angel is more de-fense than offense,” Richard said. “I thinkhe can help us offensively. Angel’s not readydefensively yet, but he’s working on it andhe’s getting better.”

The Friars led 43-25 at halftime and pushed their advantage to 21 points 1:30into the second half when Cotton naileda trey from the top of the key. UofL nevermounted a charge and Providence increasedits margin to 33 points, 71-38, midwaythrough the half.

Providence’s strategy of milking the clock on each possession to shorten the gameworked to perfection, and UofL mysterious-ly stayed in a 2-3 zone that played into theFriars’ hands, letting them dribble withoutpressure.

PITINO’S ‘87 TEAM HONOREDPitino’s 1987 Final Four Providence team

was honored by the school in a 25th anni-versary ceremony at halftime, but he wasn’taround to take part in it. He had said hewas going to stay on the court at intermis-sion and turn over the halftime duties toRichard, but with UofL trailing 43-25, hestayed in the locker room with his team.

The Friars fi nished 25-9 for the 1986-87 season and defeated Georgetown in theElite Eight to advance to the Final Four inNew Orleans. The joy-ride ended with a lossto another Big East rival, Syracuse.

“That’s one of my favorite teams of all-time,” Pitino said. “That team forever mademe dream. They set the standard for mak-ing me believe that anything is possible inthis game. They defi ed all logic and all oddsin accomplishing what they accomplished,and because of that team I’ve always beenable to dream on the basketball court.”

Dreaming was all that was happening for the Cards Tuesday night.

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

PRESSURE IS ON REELING CARDS AS DEPAUL VISITS

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

BIG EAST Pct Overall Pct

Syracuse 4 - 0 1.000 17 - 0 1.000

Seton Hall 4 - 1 .800 15 - 2 .882

Cincinnati 3 - 1 .750 13 - 4 .765

Notre Dame 3 - 1 .750 11 - 6 .647

Connecticut 3 - 2 .600 13 - 3 .813

Georgetown 3 - 2 .600 13 - 3 .813

West Virginia 3 - 2 .600 12 - 5 .706

St. John’s 2 - 2 .500 8 - 7 .533

USF 2 - 2 .500 9 - 8 .529

Marquette 1 - 2 .333 12 - 4 .750

Rutgers 1 - 2 .333 9 - 7 .563

LOUISVILLE 1 - 3 .250 13 - 4 .765

DePaul 1 - 3 .250 10 - 6 .625

Villanova 1 - 3 .250 8 - 8 .500

Providence 1 - 4 .200 12 - 6 .667

Pittsburgh 0 - 3 .000 10 - 5 .667

BIG EAST STANDINGS

Freshman Chane Behanan had 17 points against Notre Dame, but scored just seven against Providence Tuesday night. The Cardinals will need more from he and center Gorgui Dieng to survive a brutal Big East schedule. - photo by Gail Kamenish


LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

2 Louisville had just two assists in the fi nal 36:30 against Notre Dame. The Cardinals had seven assists in the fi rst 13:30, but then their passing slowed, and the shooting dropped off, too. The Cardinals didn’t have an assist in the fi nal 6:30 of the fi rst half and had just two in the second

half and both overtimes combined. Louisville fi nished the game making 22 of 52 shots (42.3 percent) but had just nine assists on those 22 baskets. UofL was third in the nation with 17.5 assists per game prior to the loss to Notre Dame.

8 Sophomore Russ Smith, who lit up the scoreboard in the previous three games, missed eight of his nine shots and fi nished with just three points in 25 minutes against Notre Dame. He had one rebound, two turnovers and no assists. Coach Rick Pitino also chided Smith for trying to swipe

at the ball from behind and giving up a foul-line jumper at a crucial point in the second overtime.

0 Freshman McDonald’s All-American Wayne Blackshear still has not logged any minutes this season. Predicted by many to be a starter by this point in the season, Blackshear has had two different surgeries on his shoulders and is currently working his way back into shape after Pitino

said he gained 15 pounds during his most recent shoulder rehab. “He may be back ready to play by the Big East Tournament,” Pitino said last week.

14 For the 2011 fall semester, 14 of the Cardinals’ 17 players achieved a 3.0 or better grade-point average, the most in program history. The team produced a combined 3.16 GPA for the semester, the highest ever for the Cardinals and the seventh straight semester near a

3.0 collective GPA.

58.7 Prior to giving up 90 points to Providence Tuesday night, Louisville was 30th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 58.7 points per game. The Cardinals are fourth in the nation in fi eld goal percentage defense, with

foes hitting just 35.9 percent of their shots. Using effective fi eld goal percentage (a stat that awards an extra 0.5 for three-pointers made to give a clearer picture of shooting strength), Louisville is still holding opponents to just 40.8 percent, good for fourth in the nation.

220 With an effective fi eld goal percentage of 48.2 percent, UofL ranks 220th in the nation. The Cardinals are second-to-last in the Big East in that category, ahead of only St. John’s, their lone Big East win through Sunday. UofL is tied with Vil-

lanova for 14th in the league in shooting at 43.0 percent. Syracuse leads the league in both categories.

27 As of Monday morning, Louisville was No. 27 in the NCAA’s RPI formula. The Cardinals currently have the 30th-toughest schedule in the nation but are projected to fi nish with the 13th-toughest slate. The Cards have faced more teams in the RPI top 65 (eight) than

any other team and are 6-2 against those teams.

BY THE NUMBERS

NOTRE DAME, 67 TOTAL 3-POINT REBOUNDS## PLAYER P FGM-FGA FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF TOT PF TP A TO BLK STL MIN 45 COOLEY, Jack f 6-12 0-0 6-7 5-5 10 3 18 1 1 1 1 43 00 ATKINS, Eric g 4-16 1-7 6-8 3-5 8 3 15 1 3 0 0 50 12 DRAGICEVICH, Alex g 0-4 0-3 0-0 1-0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 21 14 MARTIN, Scott g 4-14 0-7 3-3 3-9 12 2 11 3 3 1 3 48 22 GRANT, Jerian g 4-13 3-8 6-9 1-2 3 0 17 3 0 0 3 47 24 CONNAUGHTON, Pat - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 32 BROOKS, Joey - 1-3 1-1 1-2 1-3 4 5 4 1 0 0 0 26 33 BROGHAMMER, Mike - 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 4 2 0 1 1 0 7 TM TEAM - - - - 2-0 2 - - - - - - - Totals - 20-63 5-26 22-29 16-24 40 20 67 10 11 3 7 31.7% 19.2% 75.9%

LOUISVILLE, 65 TOTAL 3-POINT REBOUNDS## PLAYER P FGM-FGA FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF TOT PF TP A TO BLK STL MIN 14 KURIC, Kyle f 4-5 2-3 7-8 1-9 10 4 17 2 0 1 2 50 24 BEHANAN, Chane f 5-8 1-1 6-8 1-9 10 1 17 1 3 1 2 40 10 DIENG, Gorgui c 5-10 0-0 1-3 2-5 7 5 11 0 2 2 1 27 03 SIVA, Peyton g 4-7 0-0 0-2 0-2 2 3 8 5 5 0 1 45 05 SMITH, Chris g 1-3 0-1 0-0 1-2 3 2 2 0 2 0 0 24 02 SMITH, Russ - 1-9 1-6 0-0 0-1 1 4 3 0 2 0 0 26 04 BUCKLES, Rakeem - 2-8 0-1 3-6 6-3 9 4 7 1 3 0 2 25 21 SWOPSHIRE, Jared - 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 8 23 WARE, Kevin - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 TM TEAM - - - - 0-0 0 - - - - - - - Totals - 22-52 4-13 17-27 11-31 42 25 65 9 18 5 8 42.3% 30.8% 63.0%

LOUISVILLE, 59 TOTAL 3-POINT REBOUNDS## PLAYER P FGM-FGA FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF TOT PF TP A TO BLK STL MIN 4 KURIC, KYLE F 4-8 1-3 2-2 3-6 9 2 11 1 1 0 2 39 24 BEHANAN, CHANE F 2-8 0-3 3-5 1-2 3 0 7 3 0 0 0 20 10 DIENG, GORGUI C 2-5 0-0 0-1 1-1 2 3 4 0 2 3 0 18 03 SIVA, PEYTON G 1-5 0-2 0-0 0-2 2 5 2 1 1 0 1 19 05 SMITH, CHRIS G 6-11 1-4 3-4 0-0 0 3 16 4 0 0 1 27 01 NUNEZ, ANGEL - 2-5 2-4 0-0 0-1 1 0 6 0 2 0 0 12 02 SMITH, RUSS - 1-4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 8 04 BUCKLES, RAKEEM - 1-4 0-0 0-1 2-2 4 4 2 1 2 1 1 22 15 HENDERSON, TIM - 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-0 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 5 21 SWOPSHIRE, JARED - 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 9 22 JUSTICE, ELISHA - 1-3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 8 23 WARE, KEVIN - 1-3 0-0 2-4 0-0 0 2 4 2 1 0 1 13 TM TEAM - - - - 2-0 2 1 - - - - - - TOTALS.............. - 22-58 4-19 11-19 10-15 25 22 59 14 10 4 8 200 37.9% 21.1% 57.9% PROVIDENCE, 90 TOTAL 3-POINT REBOUNDS## PLAYER P FGM-FGA FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF TOT PF TP A TO BLK STL MIN 10 BATTS, Kadeem f 9-13 0-0 9-10 5-5 10 3 27 1 1 3 1 36 13 KOFANE, Brice f 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-3 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 11 23 HENTON, LaDontae f 6-17 2-4 0-0 1-3 4 3 14 3 5 0 1 40 11 COTTON, Bryce g 6-7 5-5 10-12 1-0 1 1 27 2 2 0 2 39 32 COUNCIL, Vincent g 5-11 2-5 3-4 0-8 8 3 15 14 2 1 0 40 21 GOLDSBROUGH, Lee - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 34 GIPLAYE, Ron - 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 41 CARTER, Chris - 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 42 DIXON, Bilal - 1-3 0-0 3-3 1-4 5 4 5 2 0 1 1 29 TM TEAM - - - - 2-5 7 - - - 1 - - - Totals.............. - 28-53 9-15 25-29 11-29 40 17 90 23 12 5 5 200 52.8% 60.0% 86.2%

BOX SCORE: LOUISVILLE, 65 VS. NOTRE DAME, 67 BOX SCORE: LOUISVILLE, 59 VS. PROVIDENCE, 90

Gorgui Dieng, here making a move against Notre Dame’s Scott Martin, had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks

against the Irish although being limited to 27 minutes by foul trouble. Coach Rick Pitino said he intends to get the

ball inside to Dieng more. - photo by Gail Kamenish



By Russ BrownLacking the outside fi repower normally as-

sociated with a Rick Pitino team, the Univer-sity of Louisville basketball coach is restruc-turing the Cardinals’ sputtering offense to be more of an inside attack.

If Pitino follows through and his players successfully execute the new plan, expect Gorgui Dieng, Chane Behanan and Rakeem Buckles to get their hands on the basketball more often when No. 14/15 UofL (13-4, 1-3) returns to the KFC Yum! Center Saturday af-ternoon to host DePaul (10-6, 1-3) in a rare January home appearance.

Pitino has contended that UofL’s offense isn’t cause for concern, but his adjustments tell a differ-ent tale, as do the statis-tics.

Going into Tuesday night’s game at Provi-dence, UofL ranked 14th in the 16-team Big East

in both fi eld-goal percentage (43.0) and three-point percentage (32.1), ahead of only Villanova and St. John’s in both cases. The Cards were also 10th in scoring at 71.6 ppg. And the Cardinals did nothing to help those numbers Tuesday night, scoring just 59 points while shooting 37.9 percent from the fi eld and 21.1 percent from three-point range.

The poor shooting is a double-edged sword. It limits UofL’s ability to apply its full-court pressure after a made basket, thus forcing the Cards to rely on their half-court offense rather than fast breaks for easy buck-ets. And they’ve been unable to score effi -ciently off their set plays.

Pitino has said repeatedly that UofL misses Preston Knowles’ perimeter shooting, which enabled Kyle Kuric and others to get open more often when opposing defenses were concentrating on Knowles, who led the team with 100 threes while shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc last season. He attempt-ed 261, considerably more than Kuric (70 of 156, 44.9 percent) and Chris Smith (38 of 94, 40.4). As a team, the Cards shot 36.2 percent from beyond the arc.

This season, Kuric’s three-point accuracy has plummeted to 35.3 percent. Chris Smith is shooting 38.6 percent (22 of 57) and Pey-ton Siva 21.1 (8 of 38). Although sixth man Russ Smith (22 of 61, 36.1) has become a three-point threat, the Cards have been hurt by the absence of Mike Marra (knee injury), whose 45 treys were third on the team last season.

“Preston Knowles was the best three-point shooter on the team, and what hap-pened was that people keyed on Preston and left Kyle and Chris, not alone, but they concentrated more on Preston, rightfully so,” Pitino said. “Now, without Preston, they concentrate on Chris and Kyle, so that’s why their percentage is down. They’re not off-the-bounce guys, so they’ve got to move more without the basketball and they’ve got to create more defensively to get out in the open court.”

So, with the 6-11 Dieng and 6-6 Behanan showing steady improvement and the 6-7 Buckles getting healthier after knee surgery

last spring, Pitino hopes an emphasis on tar-geting that trio will boost his club’s offense.

“I’ve known our problems from Day One,” Pitino said. “I’ve said it all along that we’re going to miss Preston’s shooting, there’s no question about it. But we are concentrating on developing more of an inside attack, and we’re starting to do a better job. We’re not quite the three-point threat we once were, so you have to change.

“Kyle’s doing a good job shooting the three, but I think you need more than 2 1/2-3 players to be a good three-point shooting team. I think you need fi ve or six real threats. I’ve never called Peyton a three-point shooter. Just to show you how valuable it is we really had 6 1/2 players when we went to the Final Four in 2005. We had Taquan Dean, Fran-cisco Garcia, Larry O’Bannon, and we could shoot the three at the point and the wings, and Ellis Myles’ toughness inside. It’s one of the reasons we got to the Final Four, and it’s one of the reasons we lost a close game the other night.

“You need to shoot the basketball. Shoot-ing cures a multitude of sins, it really does.... I had some weak teams in the early years at Kentucky, but they could shoot and you can always upset an opponent if you can shoot. So we have to rely on defense and our low-post game now. It will just be for a year, but we have to do it in order to win, and that’s what we have. Now that doesn’t mean we can’t make threes in a given night; I just don’t think that’s the strength of this team right now.”

Dieng is the only one of the paint-patrol trio averaging in double fi gures at 10.3 ppg, while Behanan is contributing 8.8 and Buck-les 4.6. Dieng has taken 117 shots, third on the team behind Kuric (156) and Russ (163) and one more than Behanan. Dieng is shoot-ing a team-best 55.6 percent, while Behanan -- who had a career-high 17 points in Sat-urday’s 67-65 double-overtime loss to Notre Dame -- is at 44.0 and Buckles 41.9.

Deing was limited to 27 minutes by foul trouble against Notre Dame but got 11 points and four rebounds as UofL outscored the

smaller, less-athletic Irish 30-26 in the paint. The real test for Dieng, Behanan and Buckles will come when the Cards start playing big-ger, more physical teams like Syracuse, Con-necticut, Pittsburgh and Seton Hall.

“I think Gorgui and Chane are making im-provement, Rak is getting healthier,” Pitino said. “The frontcourt is improving steadily as the season goes along. We’ve been working steadily on low-post moves. Chane did a very good job in the last game (ND) of getting po-sition. He likes to post up seven or eight feet off the lane, and in this league that’s a pass-ing spot. We’ve tried to explain to him that if you want to score you have to get yourself in the middle of the rim, and he did that last game.”

The Cards’ poor marksmanship extends to the foul line, where they ranked 11th in the Big East at 67.9 percent. Kuric (78.8 percent), Siva (77.8), Russ Smith (76.0) and Chris Smith (73.5) are all good free-throw shooters, but Dieng (63.6), Behanan (61.4) and Buckles (58.8) bring the average down, and they’re the players likely to get fouled most often.

“I think we’re an average free-throw shooting team, not bad,” Pitino said. “We’re going to have to make them in the clutch, certainly. We spend as much time as you could possibly spend on free throws. Yes, you can get it; it’s repetition.”

CHRIS SMITH WAS SLUMPING Senior guard Chris Smith was mired in a

shooting slump that has resulted in the lon-gest double-digit scoring drought of his 1 1/2-year career at UofL. Going into the Provi-dence game he had failed to score in double fi gures for fi ve straight games while shooting a dismal 16.8 percent (7 of 38) and averag-ing just 5.5 ppg. Before that he was shooting nearly 45 percent and averaging 10.6 ppg, but those fi gures have dropped to 39.4 and 9.0.

“I have to get more shots and start taking my open shots, just get back into the fl ow of the game,” Chris said. “Once I do that, it will help our team out.”

Against Providence, he hit 6 of 11 shots

and scored 16 points, potentially breakingthe slump.

Said Pitino: “I think the defense is taking away his game, and he’s got to learn to doother things. Chris is a solid basketball player.He’s not going to give you things he can’tdo, and the defense is taking away certainstrengths, and what he has to do is to learnto do other things on the court that don’tnecessarily show up in a box score.”

CARDS MUST DO ROAD WORKPitino predicts that it is going to be a wild,

roller-coaster season for teams in the Big Eastnot named Syracuse because each club’s for-tunes will rise and fall almost weekly. He saystop-ranked and undefeated Syracuse (17-0,4-0) is an exception, calling the Orange “thepremier team in the country.”

“I think, with the exception of Syra-cuse, it’s going to be a marathon for a lotof teams, and we’re going to play musicalchairs throughout the season,” Pitino said.“The only difference-maker I’ve seen so farin the conference is Syracuse. It’s evident thatthey are not only deep, talented and long,they’ve got experience.... They’ve got thewhole package. The rest of us are trying toget to that level.”

UofL dropped its fi rst two Big East home games, to Georgetown and Notre Dame, andlost Tuesday night on the road to Providenceputting it behind the eight ball at this earlystage. The Cards are in a three-way tie for12th place in the conference.

Now, Pitino said, the Cards must make up for the two lost opportunities at home bywinning on the road.

“It’s not easy losing two home games, and when you do that you certainly put yourselfin a hole,” he said. “But I don’t think there’sany team I’d rather fi ght out of a hole withthan this team. So that’s a good thing. I toldthe team that we have to be a great roadteam, and we’re capable of doing that.”

Pitino said several close friends were elat-ed with UofL’s 73-58 victory at St. John’s lastTuesday, but then were devastated by theloss to Notre Dame.

“They told me, ‘You’re in big trouble,’” Pi-tino said, smiling. “I think that’s what the BigEast is going to be about this year. I think us,Pitt, Villanova and Marquette are all sayingthat right now, and Seton Hall, West Virginiaand Syracuse feel great. A week goes by andit could go the other way. You have to lookat the big picture.”

Pitino noted that teams like DePaul, Rut-gers, USF and Seton Hall are signifi cantly bet-ter than they’ve been in the past, while Vil-lanova, Pittsburgh and possibly Connecticut-- which dropped a pair of road games lastweek at Seton Hall and Rutgers and barelyescaped at USF -- have taken a step or twodown.

“I think somewhere in the middle, we’ve met each other,” Pitino said. “Now it’s a mat-ter of who’s going to be able to handle it forthe long haul.

“The top third may have been a little bet-ter the last few years, but there is no bottomthird anymore. At least I hope not becausewe’re in the bottom third. So I sure hope it’sa lot better.”

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was whistled for a technical foul against Providence Tuesday night. After the game Pitino said he was upset with some of the fouls called on big man Gorgui Dieng. - photo by Gail Kamenish

C A R D S M U S T G O T O W O R K O N T H E R O A D

PITINO PLOTS INSIDE JOB TO IGNITE CARDS’ OFFENSE

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN


WOMEN’S BASKETBALLCOFFEE BREAK

It looks as if Louisville fans have happily fi nished the annual episode of, “As the college football world turns.” It’s that anxiety-ridden period that occurs each year the Cards have a successful season and a relatively new coach is identifi ed as a potential hire by major schools in need of a winning program. That scenario played out again for be-leaguered UofL fans with the surprising 7-5 regular-season record attained by second-year coach Charlie Strong and his impressive staff on their way to a second consecutive bowl game. Many conferences hadn’t even played their league-title games before the pundits and “people close to the program” were naming Strong as a potential coach for anonymous U.

Unfortunately, it appears that a successful Louisville head coach (or assistant for that matter) is always going to be on some school’s radar as its next coach when there is an opening. But does it have to be that way? Can’t UofL fans have a respite from the annual end-of-season soap opera and coaching carousel? Maybe I’m a Pollyanna and unrealistic, but I’m of the opinion that Louisville should be a “destination” job in college football. And I’m not the only one; Charlie Strong agrees with me. I know, you’re saying, “But haven’t all UofL coaches said that?” Yes, they have, but I have never experienced the sincerity in their voices that Strong has when he makes that statement. Sure, I know he could

leave after next season, but I don’t think so. Strong himself gave some compelling reasons to stay at the University of Louisville:

Loyalty to the people who gave you a chance -- Strong is big on loyalty, whether it’s to his players, his family or his boss. In his press conference on Dec. 12 he mentioned that he owes those who hired him the same trust that they gave him when they hired him to be head coach. He has no intention of walking away when he has a job to do and after making a commitment to return UofL football to its former glory.

Working for a good athletic director – Strong considers Tom Jurich to be the best athletic director in the country, and he thinks that relationship is important for success. He said that Jurich makes available everything he needs to have a winning program and has never turned him down when he has asked for something to enhance the program.

Louisville is a good city – When recruiting, Strong and his staff have a good selling point in the city itself. They consider Louisville a good place to live and a good city for activi-ties for college students. It also has large national corporations that provide opportunities for employment after football.

Good facilities – The University of Louisville has excellent football facilities and lacks in nothing when selling the program to recruits. UofL’s facilities for football stack up against any program in the country.

Good school – The University is improving every year in academics and student life. There are now more than 5,000 students living on campus, and the environment is becom-ing more like a large university.

Good fan base – Strong believes that UofL has a good fan base that will become even more loyal as the Cards begin to win their home games. As the team improves, he expects the stadium to be full and that more fans will be attracted to the games.

Path to a BCS and other bowl games – At present the least-resistant path to a BCS game is through the Big East Conference. That will stay intact for at least two more sea-sons, and the Cards look well-positioned to achieve a BCS bid in the next two seasons and possibly beyond.

Mysteries of moving – As Strong said in the afore-mentioned press conference, “the grass is not always greener on the other side.” There is no way to really know what circum-stances exist at another school or the level of expectation that accompanies another job. A person never knows what goes along with another head coaching job and what obstacles have to be overcome.

Advice of former UofL coach – When word came that Strong was being considered for another head coaching position, former UofL coach John L. Smith called and told him, “Leaving Louisville was the worst mistake I ever made.” Strong took that advice to heart and considers Louisville the place for him to be for the foreseeable future.

I think there’s another reason that Charlie Strong wants to stay at Louisville -- to build a “brand.” He often talks of where he wants to take Cardinals football: to national-power status. At present there is not a Louisville “brand” of football. If you ask the average col-lege football fan across the country, he would not be able to distinguish UofL from other programs that have bounced up and down on the national consciousness. Strong would like to change that and make the Louisville football “brand” comparable to basketball at the school.

Let’s keep our fi ngers crossed. Maybe we’ve fi nally found someone who wants to stay in Louisville.

FANS CAN BELIEVE STRONG’S STATEMENTTHAT HE REALLY WANTS TO STAY HERE

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Joan Dunaway Burks attended UofL from 1977-1981 after graduating from Pleasure Ridge Park High where she was a multi-sport star. She led the PRP Cross Country team to a state championship and was selected as the Prep Track and Field Athlete of the Year in Kentucky by Coach and Athlete Magazine. She was also selected as Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year by the Louisville Area

Chamber of Commerce. She left from PRP as the all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball and was All-State twice. She was second behind Geri Grigsby in the voting for Miss Basketball. She was a four-year starter at UofL and upon graduation was the career scoring leader and held the single-season records for assists and scoring. Joan is married to former Male Principal and JCPS Assistant

Superintendent Joe Burks and has two children. She is presently the Girl’s Basketball Coach at Jefferson County Traditional School.

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By Russ BrownPerhaps no player took Louisville’s 67-65

double-overtime loss to Notre Dame last Saturday harder than Russ Smith.

Normally exuberant and chatty, the soph-omore guard sat slumped in his locker and quietly answered questions from the me-dia after the Cardinals (13-3, 1-2) suffered their second straight Big East Conference defeat at home.

Smith, who has been the catalyst for Uo-fL’s offense lately, not only suffered through the worst shooting game of his college ca-reer, but he had been publicly criticized by coach Rick Pitino a few minutes earlier in his post-game press conference because of a defensive lapse late in the second over-time.

Smith, who averaged 20 points in his previous seven games, hit just 1 of 9 shots, missing two wide-open three-point attempts from the corner in the second OT. He scored only three points and uncharac-teristically failed to produce any meaning-ful contributions in other areas. He didn’t register a steal or assist and had only one rebound while committing two turnovers and four fouls in 26 minutes.

What raised Pitino’s ire, though, was a defensive miscue his Super Sub made while guarding Notre Dame’s Eric Atkins. With the score tied at 63 in the second OT, Russ went behind Atkins to attempt a steal and Atkins exploded past him and hit a 12-footer in the lane for the go-ahead basket with 14.5 sec-onds remaining.

“Anybody can have an off night shoot-ing, but you have to play defense,” Pitino said. “”Four or fi ve times during the game I told him to stay solid. You try to make the big play because you’re not shooting well, and you can’t do that. You have to stay solid in your stance. Russ probably learned a valuable lesson. You can’t try to do some-thing spectacular because you are having an off night.”

Pitino also compared Smith’s attempted steal to a “junior high play.”

Ouch. Said the contrite Russ: “I played the ball

and thought I cut him off and had it, but I planted too strong on one leg and he just burst by me. I was totally caught off guard. It was a stupid play. I want to apologize for that play, and I promise I’ll make it up.”

Russ called his off shooting day “just one of those games” but said he didn’t believe Notre Dame’s defense had much to do with it.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “I’m not even sure what they were doing. Maybe they weren’t doing anything, maybe it was me. It was tough, and I’ve just got to get through it.”

Going into the game Russ was hitting 38.3 percent overall and 38.2 percent from three-point range. He also was leading the team in steals with 36 and was third in as-sists with 30. He said he was more upset with other facets of his performance than his shooting.

“I really wasn’t worried about my of-fense, I was worrying about how I could do

some other things because I always want to fi ll the stat sheet,” he said. “It’s pretty em-barrassing and I’m upset because of that, and I’m going to do everything in my power to not ever again have a zero spread with steals, rebounds and assists. I feel like I con-tributed to a loss, and it really sucks. I made a bad defensive play, and I felt I didn’t do anything to help the team win.”

BLACKSHEAR IN POOR SHAPEThe timetable for Wayne Blackshear’s de-

but as a Cardinal keeps shifting. The fresh-man underwent surgery on Nov. 1 for a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and the most recent estimate had him returning this month and being able to relieve Kyle Kuric at small forward down the stretch.

But now Pitino says he doesn’t expect much out of the 6-5 Blackshear this season because he has gained too much weight and is so out of shape. Blackshear was expected to be cleared by doctors to start practicing his week, but he hasn’t played competitively for almost a year, having last seen action in the McDonald’s All-Star Game last March.

“Wayne is going to be a struggle,” Pi-tino said. “We’re disappointed we didn’t pay more attention to his weight. He was sitting at the scorer’s table every day, and I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. I don’t think you’ll see a whole lot of Wayne this year, I really don’t. He does not look good. I think if anything he could be ready by the Big East Tournament.

“But his condition right now is not good. He hasn’t played basketball since March, so it will be a full year before he steps on the

court, and that’s a long time not to play. It’s one thing to get into shape, it’s one thing to get your body fat down, it’s one thing to learn the plays, but he hasn’t played basket-ball in a year. He looks like he hasn’t played in a long time.

“We need his position. He could back

up Kyle and give us some minutes and getKyle’s minutes down and maybe he’ll startplaying better basketball if he gets morerest from time to time.”

Kuric, who leads UofL in scoring at 13.0 points per game, is playing nearly everyminute of every game. He was on the courtfor all 50 minutes of the Notre Dame gameand is averaging more than 36 minutes perouting.

Asked when Blackshear might be ready, Pitino replied: “I don’t know when thatwould be. I think it’s a long, long way off. Hemay get cleared by the doctor (this week),but he’s not ready to step on the court andplay. He could probably sub in for 10 per-cent of practice, but that’s about it. He’s invery poor shape.”

PITINO ON EXIT: NEVER MINDPitino, 59, is backing off his recent state-

ment about his retirement. He indicated inhis press conference prior to the George-town game on Dec. 28 that he would retireafter his current contract expires at the endof the 2016-17 season when he would be65, but he said last week that he was onlykidding.

He also expressed dismay and annoyance that both the local and national media out-lets took him seriously, although there wasreally no indication at the time that he wasjoking. He made the remark while talkingabout how much he enjoys coaching thecurrent UofL team and living in the present,saying: “When you’re 59, you’re realisticthat you don’t have a whole lot of years left.My contract’s going to run out in 2017. I’mnot coaching any more after that.”

But now he says: “I set no retirement date. That was a joke. I was talking abouthow much I’m enjoying my job. Suddenly Igo home and it’s all over ESPN that I set aretirement date. It’s ridiculous.”

RUSS SMITH EAGER TO ATONE FOR ‘EMBARRASSING’ PLAYRuss Smith, here getting rubbed off on a screen, had a miserable day against Notre Dame, scoring just three points on 1-of-9 shooting to go along with no steals or assists, one rebound, two turnovers and four fouls in 26 minutes. “I want to apologize,” he said, “...and I promise I’ll make it up.” - photo by Gail Kamenish

Freshman McDonald’s All-American Wayne Blackshear

has been sidelined all season with shoulder injuries. He’s

working his way back into shape now. - photo by Gail Kamenish



Wow, what do you call Tuesday night’s 90-59 loss other than UGLY? How about awful, stinky and downright embarrassing. Louisville didn’t just get beat by the Friars, the Cardinals got

trounced. Very little went right for Louisville. The Cardinals’ offense, which had been struggling for several games, still struggled, and UofL’s defense, which had been fairly strong, was nearly non-existent as the Friars poured in points from all angles. Coach Rick Pitino after the game noted that each season he’s coached there is usually one game where everything goes wrong. This was defi nitely that game. How the Cardinals recover will tell a lot about the future of this year’s team and the program.

We certainly don’t blame fans for being concerned about the direction this year’s team is heading. The Cardinals have lost four of fi ve games, including losses to Notre Dame and

Providence, two teams not expected to be in the top half of the league this season. That said, the harshness of some of the criticism of Pitino and the players over the last week has been way over the top. Yes, the Cardinals are struggling, but they are still 13-4 and have played a top 30 national schedule.

It was a BAD weekend for Louisville’s basketball teams. The men fell to 1-2 in league play with a disappointing 67-65 double-overtime loss to 10-6 Notre Dame, and the women’s six-

game winning streak was snapped 72-64 at St. John’s (10-6, 2-1). The UofL men’s bad weekend extended to Tuesday, and now the Cardinals will likely drop out of the top 25 next week. The women were No. 12/14 this week, and should stay in the top 25 with wins this week. The men must beat DePaul Saturday or their ability to contend for a top four seed in the Big East Tourna-ment is all but out the window.

Russ Smith had a BAD game against Notre Dame, going 1 of

9 from the fi eld and scoring just three points. He was clearly being sent a message by Pitino as he sat the bench against Providence. Peyton Siva has had a BAD set of games since coming back from an injured ankle in December, and Chris Smith has not been playing well. The Cardinals’ backcourt has been a bit off for several games now, and Pitino said Monday he believes the Cardinals need to start getting the ball into the post to open up Louisville’s offensive options. Whatever will work, we’re for. Seeing a stagnant offense for four, fi ve or six minutes at a time each game is not fun. Even more troubling Tuesday night was Siva’s body language. After he picked up his fourth foul he shuffl ed to the bench and was visibly frustrated. Then, when he got back in, he dove for a block, and was whistled for his fi fth foul. ESPN’s Doris Burke said it appeared Siva fouled on purpose. She described his fi fth foul as “the kind of foul you commit when you don’t want to play anymore.”

For a football coach, picking up a verbal commitment from a four-star recruit is great, especially when that recruit is an All-American. Picking up verbal commitments from two four-star All-Americans in the same day is huge. Picking up those

verbal commitments on national television (NBC) is beyond huge. Charlie Strong’s football pro-gram landed two such recruits - linebackers Keith Brown and Nick Dawson - in back-to-back commitment announcements during the U.S. Army All-American game Saturday. This was just two days after the Cardinals learned that two former Florida Gators - wideout/athlete Robert Clark and tight end Gerald Christian - decided to transfer to Louisville. Christian, who was an Army All-American in 2010, was a four-star recruit, and Clark is a three-star speedster. Earlier last week the Cardinals fl ipped three-star linebacker James Burgess from Miami to Louisville. Then on Monday, the Cardinals picked up a walk-on transfer from Tennessee who just happens to be a former four-star recruit and Rivals250 stud. Wide receiver Matt Milton, a 6-foot-6 pass catcher from Illinois, said on Twitter that he’s heading to Louisville for the spring semester. In all, the Cardinals added four four-star, All-Americans and two highly regarded three-star talents.

On Sunday, with the score tied at 23 and less than a minute to go, Pittsburgh was threatening, with the ball at Denver’s 45-yard line. Ten more yards and the Steelers could kick a game-winning fi eld goal. That’s when former UofL star and current

Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil beat his man, dove and knocked the ball out of Ben Roeth-lisberger’s hands for a loss of 11 yards. That forced the Steelers to take their fi nal timeout, and it ended up stalling Pittsburgh’s momentum. On the fi nal play of regulation, Dumervil and Robert Ayers met at the quarterback, with Ayers sacking Roethlisberger to send the game to overtime. As most of you know by now, the Broncos won the game on the fi rst play of overtime on an 80-yard TD pass from Tim Tebow to Demaryius Thomas. Tebow fi nished with 316 passing yards, more than any other quarterback has passed against the Steelers this season, but the Broncos likely would not have won the game without Dumervil’s long arms stretching out and stripping the ball from Roethlisberger’s hand.

We think our fellow writers in the Football Writers Associa-tion of America made a BAD pick when they chose Oregon State freshman Sean Mannion over Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater for

the 2011 FWAA Freshman All-America team, released Monday. Yes, Mannion threw for 3,328 yards and 16 touchdowns, but he also threw 18 interceptions. He rushed for minus-190 yards and one touchdown. Oh, and his team fi nished 3-9 and wasn’t even close to being in contention for a bowl, much less a conference title. Bridgewater, meanwhile, didn’t start right away but still put up 2,129 yards and 14 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He rushed for 66 yards and four touchdowns. More importantly, Bridgewater led his team to a road win over its archrival, a road win over Orange Bowl Champ West Virginia, a share of the Big East title and a berth in the Belk Bowl. Our pick was Bridgewater. It’s a shame more writers didn’t agree with us.

The GOOD news is that enough writers agreed with us that Louisville redshirt freshman lineman Jake Smith was placed on the Freshman All-America team. Smith, who started all 13 games for the Cardinals this season, is the fi rst Cardinal to

ever make the Freshman All-America team. A 6-foot-4, 315-pound behemoth from Jacksonville, Ala., Smith played both offensive guard and defensive tackle in high school but was rated only two stars by all three major recruiting services. He’s been a diamond in the rough for the Cardi-nals and, if he stays healthy, could be a four-year starter at guard.

With a BCS romp over Clemson in the Orange Bowl, West Virginia fi nished 18th in the fi nal USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Mountaineers dropped a bowl-record 70 points on the Tigers,

who were ranked No. 14 coming into the game. Clemson fell eight spots to No. 22. Cincinnati fi nished No. 21 in the poll, up from No. 24 in the fi nal regular-season poll in December. Among future Big East members, Boise State fi nished No. 6 and Houston No. 14. Rutgers was fi fth in the others-receiving-votes category. Future Big East members Boise State, Houston and SMU all won their bowl games, a good sign for things to come for the league.

Speaking of BCS games, what a boring display of football by LSU in the AllState BCS National Championship game. The Tigers got whipped 21-0 by then-No. 2 Alabama in what can

best be described as a butt-kicking in all phases of the game. LSU didn’t end a single drive in Alabama territory. Alabama pitched the only shutout in BCS bowl history and stymied every lame attempt at offense LSU could muster. And while it may look like a three-touchdown win, it wasn’t. Bama’s offense mustered fi ve fi eld goals and a touchdown with a missed extra point to give coach Nick Saban his third BCS title, two at Alabama and one at LSU.

Word arrived Monday that former Louisville coach Vince Gibson passed away. Gibson, who coached at Louisville from 1975-79, had been diagnosed in April 2010 with amyotrophic

lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). He was 78. Gibson, who also coached at Kansas State and Tulane, led Louisville to the 1977 Independence Bowl. His teams were 25-29-2 at Louisville. Gibson coached at Kansas State from 1966-1974 (33-52) and Tulane from 1980-82, compiling a 17-17 record. He took the Green Wave to the Hall of Fame Bowl in his fi rst season. Gibson also coached the Arena Football League’s New Orleans Night in the 1992 season. Funeral arrange-ments were incomplete as of press time.

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By Russ BrownThere were no signs of panic in the Uni-

versity of Louisville basketball team’s locker room after the loss to Notre Dame Saturday. It’s early and it’s a long season. But the cau-tion light is fl ashing after the Cardinals lost to Providence 90-59 Tuesday night. Another home loss Saturday against improving but still less-than-imposing DePaul (10-5, 1-2) or an-other defeat on the road against a non-con-tender and it will be time for the faithful -- not to mention the players and coaches -- to get seriously worried about the future.

Not since UofL got caught shorthanded in its inaugural season in the Big East Confer-ence in 2005-06 have the Cardinals lost two of their fi rst three league games or dropped two straight Big East games at home.

Going into the current four-game stretch against St. John’s, Notre Dame, Providence and DePaul, UofL coach Rick Pitino said vic-tories in all of those contests was “crucial.” The No. 14/15 Cards (13-4, 1-3) got off to a good start, ripping the Red Storm 73-58 in New York. But then came Saturday’s shocking 67-65 double-overtime loss to Notre Dame (10-6, 2-1), a 15-point underdog, and Tues-day night’s 70-59 loss to Providence, a team that was previously 0-4 in the league.

UofL had lost its Big East opener at home to then-No. 12 Georgetown 71-68 Dec. 28, followed by the 69-62 setback at Kentucky on Dec. 31.

“We’re very disap-pointed,” Pitino said after the loss to the Irish. “To lose two home games in the Big East with the type of schedule we have is very destructive, to say the least. We are in bad shape. We just have to go out and battle the rest of the way.

“Any home loss is of great magnitude. That’s why losing to Georgetown was a big hit for us in terms of winning the Big East. If you’re trying to win the Big East and you lose at home, it’s a major step back because the na-ture of our schedule this year is really lopsid-ed. You’re playing all the top-level teams on the road, and we didn’t expect Seton Hall to be the No. 3 team in the country in the RPI. We’ve got Cincinnati, West Virginia, Syracuse, Marquette, all on the road. So we know that’s a death march, and losing that opening game was very diffi cult for us.”

Pitino denied that the four games he men-tioned as “crucial” was due to their being against teams considered among the weakest in the conference. In other words, the softest part of Louisville’s league slate.

“I don’t ever consider any team in the Big East soft,” he said. “So, especially with us, it’s not a case of certain games don’t fi gure, big games do. There’s nothing about this part of the Big East schedule that’s soft. I don’t think the Big East is soft any more.”

However, the aforementioned quartet comprises the kinds of opponents that teams entertaining title hopes absolutely must beat. None was projected to fi nish in the upper half of the conference, and three of the four are perennial bottom-feeders.

It’s hard to overlook the impact losses to Notre Dame and Providence. Notre Dame, a young, under-sized, mediocre team with no potential NBA draft choices that was missing its best player, Tom Abromaitis (ACL), and hadn’t won in Lou-isville since Dec. 20, 1958, against Kentucky. The Irish were 0-6 on the road and at neutral sites this season -- losing by an average of 14 points -- and were 1-10all-time at UofL. And a Providence team under a fi rst year coach miss-ing their second-leading scorer.

“It defi nitely hurts,” junior point guard Peyton Siva said after the Notre Dame game. “You don’t want to lose Big East home games, and it puts you in a hole you have to really fi ght out of now. It’s a loss in the Big East, and it’s a tough loss, but we’ve just got to keep fi ghting through it.”

Said senior guard Chris Smith after Notre Dame: “Now we have to win on the road and get those games back. The Big East is tough, but I feel like we have the kind of team that can win anywhere. We need to handle busi-ness on the road and then start to take care of our home and we’ll be fi ne.”

Said sophomore guard Russ Smith: “It’s defi nitely tough. We’ve got to win our road games, it’s as simple as that. We’re going to have to get better and try to get on a winning

streak because we can’t afford to lose these games with the schedule we’ve got coming up in late January and early February.”

Yes, the bad news, as Pitino and Russ both indicated, is that the nitty-gritty of Louisville’s schedule is still to come. And Louisville clearly didn’t handle its business on the road Tuesday night at Providence.

Worse news? Beginning next week there will hardly be time to draw a breath be-tween diffi cult assignments.

The Cards still have road games remain-ing against Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, West Virginia, DePaul, Cincinnati and Syra-cuse, along with home games against Con-necticut and Syracuse. UofL’s other visiting foes are less formidable -- Villanova, Rutgers, Pitt and USF -- but as we’ve seen the Cards’ aura of invincibility and successful last-gasp comebacks in the KFC Yum! Center is history.

After DePaul, UofL will play three of its next four games on enemy courts, at Marquette, Pittsburgh and Seton Hall, with Villanova on Jan. 25 being the only home appearance dur-ing that stretch.

One thing in UofL’s favor is that the Big East looks more balanced than in previous years, with the exception of top-ranked Syracuse (17-0, 4-0). With losses by Georgetown and Cincinnati over the weekend, the Orange is

the only remaining undefeated team in theleague.

Pittsburgh (11-5, 0-3) and Villanova (8-8, 1-3) are a shell of their former selves, but onthe fl ip side, Seton Hall (15-2, 4-1) is vastly im-proved, Rutgers and USF are marginally better,and DePaul is talented enough to be danger-ous at home.

Referring to UofL’s bad start in league play, Pitino said, “We’ve been here before.”

True enough, but not for a long time, and that didn’t turn out so well. In Louisville’s fi rstseason in the Big East the Cardinals started1-2, dropped four of their fi rst six and woundup 6-10 and in a tie for 11th, then were oust-ed in their fi rst conference tournament gameby Pittsburgh.

And it’s hard to be very optimistic when UofL continues to labor at the offensive end.In their three losses the Cards have shot acombined 38.5 percent (67 of 174), includingonly 29.1 percent (16 of 55) from three-pointrange.

Pitino insists that UofL’s struggles are relat-ed to defense rather than offense. “I think theoffense is fi ne,” he said. “I think the offensewill do some great things. I think defense isthe problem.”

But the Cards limited Notre Dame to 31.7 percent shooting overall and 19.2 percent (5of 26) from beyond the arc, held their ownon the boards and STILL lost -- because theyshot just 42.3 percent themselves, committed18 turnovers (to Notre Dame’s 11) and madejust 17 of 27 free throws (to Notre Dame’s 22of 29).

And raise your hand if you weren’t among the 22,687 people in the stands, watching onTV or from the Notre Dame bench who weredead certain that UofL’s play when it needed abasket at the end of regulation and the secondovertime would be Siva rubbing off a high ballscreen and driving down the lane. Predictably,the Irish weren’t fooled and defended it well.

UofL failed to get a basket in the second OT until Rakeem Buckles’ insignifi cant tip-in atthe buzzer, and in four games now the Cardshave failed to reach 60 points in 40 minutes.They have a diffi cult time generating points intheir half-court offense.

Going into the Notre Dame game, UofL ranked 14th in the Big East both in overallshooting at 43.1 percent and in three-pointshooting at 32.2 percent, the former its worstsince 2005-06 (42.7 percent) and the latter itslowest under Pitino.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Russ Smith said. “Guys have to keep shooting and, hope-fully, we’ll start hitting.”

Said Chris Smith: “Our offense is kind of rough right now because at times we don’thave the right movement, and that’s hurtingus. So we have to fi nd a way to fi x it.”

Senior forward Kyle Kuric said the Cards need their defense to provide more help fortheir offense.

“We have to pick up our defense,” he said. “We have to create steals and get out on thebreak just like we did last year. We have toget back to that. But if it doesn’t happen,we’ve got to execute better in our half-courtdefense.”

There is certainly more room for improve-ment on offense than defense. The Cards leadthe Big East in fi eld-goal defense at 35.9 per-cent and are fourth in scoring defense at 58.7ppg.

Still rehabbing from a torn ACL, forward Rakeem Buckles had trouble defending Notre Dame’s frequent picks. Buckles and the Cardinals are now 1-3 in league play with two losses coming at home. - photo by Gail Kamenish

P I T I N O C R I T I C A L O F D E F E N S E , B U T O F F E N S E L A G S

CARDS IN ‘BAD SHAPE,’ NOW MUST FIGHT OUT OF HOLE


WOMEN’S BASKETBALLCARDINAL KIDS

Lindsey Rothgerber submitted a picture of her daughter, Reagan, who is a huge Cardinal fan.

Kameron, Kianna and their mom, Cherie, celebrated

Kameron’s birthday at the UofL-Syracuse football game.

Avery and Nola, the grandchildren of Cardinal fans Rick and Belinda Elmore.

Stan Bentley’s grandson, Asher “Beau Zack” Caudill, was happy after the WVU game!


DEPAUL GAME PREVIEW

BREAKING DOWN THE BLUE DEMONSBy Rick CushingThe Blue Demons have been tied to

the kicking post in the Big East for the past several seasons, going 0-18, 1-17 and 1-17 in league play the past three. A new coach, Oliver Purnell, and some young talent signaled the potential for a

turnaround last season, although the 7-24, 1-17 record didn’t refl ect that.

A victory over Pittsburgh last Friday did. DePaul snapped a 15-game home losing streak in league play, albeit against a team that is struggling (Pitt is 0-3 in league play after starting the season in the top 10). But it was a signature victory for DePaul.

Sophomore guard Brandon Young was the hero, scoring 26 points, including the last seven points of the game as the Blue Demons rallied from an 81-77 defi cit to triumph 84-81.

“That’s the fi rst time our fans have stormed the court, and I loved every moment of it,” said Young who also had six as-sists, fi ve steals and four rebounds. “This was a big win.”

Sophomore forward Cleveland Melvin added 20 points for DePaul and echoed Young’s appreciation for the fan response. “It was the best feeling in my life when the fans rushed the court,” he said.” I just loved it…. I want to thank all the stu-dents and fans for their support. We couldn’t have done it with-out (them).”

Said Purnell: “The guys kept believing, and so many of them played well tonight…. It’s no secret how you turn a program around. You put together two or three good recruiting classes and grow the team with positive experiences. That’s the hard part, providing the positive experiences. The students storming the court tonight – that was a positive experience.”

As of press time DePaul was 10-5, 1-2 after losing at Vil-lanova on Sunday. The Blue Demons played at Seton Hall Tues-day before traveling to Louisville Saturday for a 4 p.m. game. The Cards, who have lost two straight Big East games at home, had best come ready to play. DePaul appears to have turned a corner, and the Blue Demons played UofL tough at the Yum! Center last season before falling 61-57.

GUARDSThe 6-3 Young is following up a promising debut season

(fi rst-team All-Big East freshman) with an outstanding sopho-more season. He is second on the team in scoring at 16.8 ppg, leads in assists at 5.1 a game (60th in the country) and in steals at 1.9 a game (68th in the country) and is shooting 50.6 percent. He also averages 2.9 rpg. He is particularly adept at slashing to the basket, and if he is fouled, he’s averaging 73.3 percent on free throws. His only below-par stat is his three-point shooting – 31.5 percent.

Jeremiah Kelly, a 6-0 senior , is third on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg and second in assists at 4.1 a game and in steals at 1.6 a game. He’s shooting only 41.7 percent overall but leads the team in three-point shooting at 39.2 percent. He had 11 points and fi ve assists against Pitt.

DePaul employs a traditional two-guard lineup. Providing backup are 6-3 freshman Charles McKinney (3.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg),

who is shooting only 43.5 percent on free throws, and 5-11 junior Worrel Clahar (4.9 ppg), who’s shooting 51.9 percent and is credited by Purnell with a nice defensive job on Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs (he held Gibbs to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting).

BIG MENMelvin, who was the Big East Freshman of the Year last

season, leads the team in scoring (18.9 ppg) , rebounding (6.6 rpg) and blocks (1.2 a game). He’s shooting 44.8 percent over-all and will step out and shoot the trey, although he’s connect-ing only at a 23.3 percent rate (10 of 43). He also has only eight assists as opposed to 31 turnovers.

The starting center is 6-10 senior Krys Faber (5.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg). He’s not very mobile and doesn’t stray from the basket area (no three-point tries). He’s shooting 55.1 percent from the fi eld and 82.6 percent on free throws.

Moses Morgan, a 6-6 sophomore, and 6-4 freshman Jamee Crockett alternate at the other forward spot. Morgan is averag-ing 7.9 ppg and 2.7 rpg but is shooting only 36.7 percent over-all. He is OK on treys at 36 percent and made 3 of 5 against Pitt in scoring 13 points. Crockett is averaging 6.6 ppg and 1.8 rpg and is shooting 45.5 percent overall, 38.2 percent on treys.

The top reserve up front is 6-9 sophomore Donnavan Kirk (3.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg), a transfer from Miami (Fla.) who had eight rebounds against Pitt.

Another freshman who has been seeing playing time is 6-10 Derrell Robertson (0.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg), who’s second on the team in blocks at 1.1 a game.

STARMelvin and Young share the honor, and either is capable of

taking over a game.TEAM STRENGTHSAfter years of watching a plodding, walk-it-up style, DePaul

fans were ready for some excitement, and Purnell promised to deliver it. He has. The Blue Demons press and run and are av-eraging 77.6 ppg, 34th in the country. They are shooting 45.7 percent, 94th in the country, and are averaging 9.2 steals a game, 17th in the country. Purnell, who has resurrected three programs (Old Dominion, Dayton and Clemson), knows that re-storing fan excitement is a big part of the rebuilding process.

TEAM WEAKNESSESThe defense hasn’t caught up with the offense. DePaul is

allowing 72.3 ppg, 279th in the country, and the opposition is shooting 46.1 percent, with DePaul’s defense ranked 291st in the country. The three-point defense is good – foes are being limited to 29.5 percent, 40th in the country – so the interior defense is lacking.

COACH’S RESUMEPurnell is in his 32nd season and is 411-308 overall. He

is in his second season at DePaul and is 17-29 there. He has been successful at all three previous stops and looks to have the Blue Demons headed the right way.

All-TIME SERIESUofL and DePaul have met 56 times in a series that dates

to 1957, with the Cards holding a 35-21 advantage. They have won the past seven meetings and 20 of the past 22.

NO NAME POS HT WT EXP (L) HOMETOWN (SCHOOL) 5 BELCASTER, JOE G 6-2 163 JR (2V) BERWYN, IL (MORTON HS)25 BROOKS, MACARI G 6-2 190 FR (HS) MATTESON, IL (RICH SOUTH HS)0 CLAHAR, WORREL G 5-11 179 JR (2V) BROOKLYN, NY (LAWSON STATE CC)35 CLEMONS, MONTRAY F 6-7 221 FR (HS) BALTIMORE, MD (POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE)21 CROCKETT, JAMEE F 6-4 201 FR (HS) CHICAGO, IL (CRETE-MONEE HS)33 FABER, KRYS C 6-10 261 SR (3V) PALMDALE, CA (RIBET ACADEMY)22 FREELAND, TONY F 6-7 229 JR (2V) LOS ANGELES, CA (FREMONT HS)11 KELLY, JEREMIAH G 6-0 163 SR (3V) CHICAGO, IL (AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ACADEMY)23 KIRK, DONNAVAN F 6-9 222 SO (2V) PONTIAC, MI (MIAMI (FL))2 MCGHEE, EDWIND F 6-3 207 SO (1V) CHAMPAIGN, IL (CHAMPAIGN CENTRAL HS)32 MCKINNEY, CHARLES G 6-3 178 FR (HS) EVANSTON, IL (QUALITY EDUCATION ACADEMY)12 MELVIN, CLEVELAND F 6-8 208 SO (1V) BALTIMORE, MD (LAKE CLIFTON HS)15 MORGAN, MOSES F 6-6 219 SO (1V) LAS VEGAS, NV (PALO VERDE HS)10 ROBERTSON JR., DERRELL C 6-10 239 FR (HS) PINOLA, MS (MENDENHALL HS)20 YOUNG, BRANDON G 6-3 190 SO (1V) BALTIMORE, MD (FRIENDSHIP COLLEGIATE SCHOOL)

DEPA

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S2011-12 DEPAUL BASKETBALL ROSTER

JANUARY 14DePaul at Louisville

4 PM

FEBRUARY 18Louisville at Depaul

12 PM Noon

2011-12 SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME NOVEMBER Nov 11 UT-Pan American W, 91-72Nov 14 Mississippi Val. W, 80-70Nov 24 Minnesota L, 86-85Nov 25 Texas Tech W, 76-70Nov, 27 Arkansas State W, 68-64

DECEMBER Dec 1 Mississippi L, 70-68Dec 5 UW-Milwaukee L, 87-76Dec 7 @Loyola (Ill.) W, 69-58Dec 10 Chicago St. W, 102-95Dec 14 @Northern Ill. W, 75-52Dec 17 Ark.-Pine Bluff W, 81-62Dec 21 Cal Poly W, 63-58

JANUARY Jan 1 Syracuse L, 87-68Jan 5 Pittsburgh W, 84-81Jan 8 @Villanova L, 87-71Jan 10 @Seton Hall 7:00 pmJan 14 @Louisville 4:00 pmJan 17 Georgetown 7:00 pmJan 22 South Florida 2:00 pmJan 25 @Rutgers 7:00 pm

FEBRUARY Feb 1 St. John´s (N.Y.) 8:30 pmFeb 4 @Cincinnati 7:00 pmFeb 6 Marquette 9:00 pmFeb 11 @Notre Dame 12:00 pmFeb 15 @Connecticut 7:00 pmFeb 18 Louisville 12:00 pmFeb 20 @St. John´s (N.Y.) 9:00 pmFeb 25 Providence 2:00 pmFeb 28 @West Virginia 7:00 pm

MARCH Mar 3 Seton Hall 6:00 pm

Coach: Oliver PurnellLast Season: 7-24, 1-17 Big East

Overall Record: 411-309 (32nd season)At DePaul: 17-29 (2nd seasonr)

DePaul has won just twoBig East games the last 3 years

CLEVELAND MELVINCLEVELAND MELVIN

HEAD COACHHEAD COACHOLIVER PURNELLOLIVER PURNELL


MARQUETTE GAME PREVIEW

BREAKING DOWN THE GOLDEN EAGLESBy Rick CushingThe recipe remains the same at Mar-

quette: Put together an athletic and talented group of players, employ a free-wheeling offense and helter-skelter de-fense, and turn them loose. The Golden

Eagles are seeking their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Marquette returned three starters from last season’s 22-15 team that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after upset victo-ries over Xavier and Syracuse before falling to North Carolina. Among those returning starters are leading scorer Darius John-son-Odom and leading rebounder Jae Crowder, both seniors, and they are the team leaders again. The Golden Eagles also are getting a valuable contribution from freshman Todd Mayo, the team’s third-leading scorer who is the younger brother of NBA star O.J. Mayo.

The Golden Eagles opened the season 10-0 and closed in on the top 10 before losing four of their next six games through last Sunday. Two of those losses were to ranked teams – No. 9 Georgetown and No. 1 Syracuse – but the other two were at LSU and at home to Vanderbilt, the latter by a 74-57 score.

Marquette trailed Syracuse 37-19 at the half but rallied to trail just 59-57 with 4:59 left. The Orange responded with a 9-3 run, and Marquette got no closer than fi ve points thereafter in losing 73-66.

Marquette, which is 12-4, 1-2 at press time, will entertain St. John’s Wednesday and Pittsburgh Saturday before hosting UofL on Monday.

GUARDSThe 6-2 Johnson-Odom is averaging 18.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg

and is shooting 44 percent overall, 37.3 percent on treys and 75.8 percent on free throws. He is most dangerous in the open court. He had 19 points against Syracuse but hit just 5 of 16 shots, 2 of 9 from three-point range.

The Golden Eagles employ a three-guard offense. Vander Blue, a 6-4 sophomore, is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.9 ppg and has improved his shooting to 42.4 percent, although he’s still shaky from long range (29.4 percent). He leads the team in steals at 1.6 a game and is second in assists at 3.6 a game. He had nine points, seven rebounds and fi ve assists against Syracuse.

The other starter in the backcourt is Junior Cadougan, a 6-1 junior who’s averaging 6.9 ppg and 1.9 rpg. He leads in assists at 4.7 a game but is shooting just 41.6 percent overall, 21.4 percent on treys. His assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.19-to-1,

62nd in the country.The 6-3 Mayo is coming off the bench and is averaging 9.8

ppg and 2.8 rpg. He’s shooting 42.3 percent overall, 34 percent on treys and has more turnovers (28) than assists (21). He had just four points against Syracuse and missed fi ve of six shots.

BIG MENThe 6-6 Crowder is averaging 16.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg. He’s

shooting 50 percent overall, 37.5 percent on treys and 70.8 percent on free throws. He’s a good defender and leads the team in steals at 1.9 a game. He had 15 points and seven rebounds against Syracuse.

Chris Otule, a 6-11 junior, was the starter at center for the fi rst eight games but has been out of action since because of a knee injury. He was averaging 5.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Now starting in his place is 6-8 sophomore Davante Gardner (8.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg), who’s shooting 59 percent but doesn’t stray far from the basket (0 for 2 on treys). Also seeing action up front are 6-7 sophomore Jamil Wilson (4.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and 6-6 sophomore Jamail Jones (2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg). Neither poses much of an outside-shooting threat.

STARJohnson-Odom is capable of a highlight-reel moment at any

time. TEAM STRENGTHSThe Golden Eagles can shoot (46.2 percent, 78th in the

country) and score (78.1 ppg, 28th in the country) and distrib-ute the ball (17.2 assists per game, 10th in the country).

TEAM WEAKNESSESMarquette is at its best in a free-fl owing game but strug-

gles when the opposition slows things down. The Golden Eagles average just 5.8 three-pointers a game (207th in the coun-try) and are shooting just 34.7 percent on treys (149th in the country). They also are foul prone (19.2 per game, 225th in the country).

COACHING RESUMEAfter just one year at Tulane (14-17), Buzz Williams took an

assistant’s job at Marquette. He then was named head coach one year later when Tom Crean left to take over at Indiana. Wil-liams is 81-41 at Marquette, 95-58 overall.

ALL-TIME SERIESUofL and Marquette have met 64 times in a series that dates

to 1951, with the Cards holding a 39-25 advantage. UofL has won fi ve of the last six meetings, including the 71-70 “Miracle on Main” victory last Jan. 15 when the Cards rallied from a 64-57 defi cit with 5 ½ minutes left.

HEAD COACHHEAD COACHBUZZ WILLIAMSBUZZ WILLIAMS

NO NAME POS HT WT EXP (L) HOMETOWN (SCHOOL)

10 ANDERSON, JUAN F 6-6 210 FR (HS) CASTRO VALLEY, CA (CASTRO VALLEY HS)

2 BLUE, VANDER G 6-4 200 SO (1V) MADISON, WI (MEMORIAL HS)

5 CADOUGAN, JUNIOR G 6-1 205 JR (2V) TORONTO, ON (CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTER ACADEMY)

32 CROWDER, JAE F 6-6 225 SR (3V) VILLA RICA, GA (HOWARD CC)

54 GARDNER, DAVANTE F 6-8 290 SO (1V) SUFFOLK, VA (KING’S FORK HS)

1 JOHNSON-ODOM, DARIUS G 6-2 215 SR (3V) RALEIGH, NC (HUTCHINSON CC)

22 JONES, JAMAIL F 6-6 210 SO (1V) ATLANTA, GA (MONTVERDE ACADEMY)

4 MAYO, TODD G 6-3 190 FR (HS) HUNTINGTON, WV (NOTRE DAME PREP)

42 OTULE, CHRIS C 6-11 265 JR (3V) RICHMOND, TX (FORT BEND BUSH HS)

23 THOMAS, JAKE G 6-3 185 JR (2V) RACINE, WI (SOUTH DAKOTA)

33 WILSON, DERRICK G 6-0 215 FR (HS) ANCHORAGE, AK (THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL)

0 WILSON, JAMIL F 6-7 220 SO (2V) RACINE, WI (UNIVERSITY OF OREGON)

MAR

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2011-12 MARQUETTE BASKETBALL ROSTER

JANUARY 16Louisville at Marquette

3:30 PM

2011-12 SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME NOVEMBER Nov 11 Mt. St. Mary’s W, 91-37Nov 14 Norfolk St. W, 99-68Nov 18 Winthrop W, 95-73Nov 20 Mississippi W, 96-66Nov 21 Norfolk State W, 59-57Nov 28 Jacksonville W, 96-66

DECEMBERDec 3 @Wisconsin W, 61-54Dec 6 Washington W, 79-77Dec 10 Green Bay W, 79-61Dec 17 Northern Colo W, 93-72Dec 19 @LSU L, 67-59Dec 22 UW-Milwaukee W, 64-50Dec 29 Vanderbilt L, 74-57

JANUARY Jan 1 Villanova W, 81-77Jan 4 @Georgetown L, 73-70Jan 7 @Syracuse L, 73-66Jan 11 St. John´s (N.Y.) 7:00 pmJan 14 Pittsburgh 2:00 pmJan 16 Louisville 3:30 pmJan 21 @Providence 7:00 pmJan 24 South Florida 8:00 pmJan 28 @Villanova 12:00 pmJan 31 Seton Hall 8:00 pm

FEBRUARY Feb 4 @Notre Dame 1:00 pmFeb 6 @DePaul 9:00 pmFeb 11 Cincinnati 3:00 pmFeb 18 @Connecticut 12:00 pmFeb 22 Rutgers 8:00 pmFeb 24 @West Virginia 9:00 pmFeb 29 @Cincinnati 7:00 pm

MARCH Mar 3 Georgetown 2:00 pm

Coach: Buzz WilliamsLast season: 22-15, 9-9 Big East

Overall record: 95-58 (5th season)At Marquette: 81-41 (4th season)

Has made NCAA Tournament last six years

DARIUS JOHNSON-ODOMDARIUS JOHNSON-ODOM


LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL PHOTO GALLERY

Kyle Kuric hit 4 of 5 shots and 7 of 8 free throws for 17 points against Notre Dame Saturday.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey nearly drew a technical when he leaped toward referee Pat Driscoll in the fi rst half of Saturday’s game.

Near the end of the second overtime, Peyton Siva drove and was bumoed by two Notre Dame defenders prior to his shot. No foul was called and Siva’s shot was blocked by Scott Martin (left). - photos by Gail Kamenish


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

2012 FOOTBALL COMMITSPROSPECT POS HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL HT. WT.Sid Anvoots OL Indianapolis, Ind. Bishop Chatard 6-4 285Big, tough offensive lineman from a strong program in Indianapolis.Joshua Appleby K Harvest, Ala. East Limestone 6-3 230Rated one of the top kickers in the Southeast. Appleby fi gures to replace senior Chris Philpott.Hunter Bowles TE Glasgow, Ky. Glasgow 6-6 245Strong tight end with a big frame could easily develop into an offensive lineman.DeAngelo Brown DT Savannah, Ga. Savannah Christian 6-1 285One of the top 15 DL in Georgia, Brown also had offers from GaTech, Miss. State and USF.Keith Brown LB Miami, Fla. Norland 6-1 225Rated the No. 4 inside LB in America by Rivals.com, Brown turned down Alabama and FloridaJames Burgess LB Homestead, Fla. Homestead 6-0 200Decommitted from Miami, he also had offers from UNC, Ole Miss and others.Nick Dawson LB Charlotte, N.C. Berry Academy 6-3 228The most physically impressive LB in the Army All-American game according to Rivals.comAbraham Garcia OL Miami, Fla. University 6-6 339Big, physical lineman is nicknamed “Nacho.” A three-star lineman with several other BCS offers before he picked Louisville.Will Gardner QB Douglas, Ga. Coffee County 6-5 190Louisville’s top choice at QB in the 2011 class. Also had offers from Alabama and Miss. State.DeAndre Herron OL Avon, Ind. Avon 6-5 325Big, heavy and mean offensive lineman set a school record with seven pancakes in one game.Gerod Holliman DB Miami, Fla. Milford Academy 6-0 185Four-star defensive back is ranked the No. 2 overall prep school athlete in the class of 2011. Elite safety prospect who is hoping to enroll at UofL for the spring semester.Kevin Houchins DB South Euclid, Ohio Brush 5-11 175Fast with speed to burn. Likely a cornerback, but could also return kicks.DeQuan Ivery DT Lake City, Fla. Columbia 6-1 310With a 405-pound bench press, Ivery is ready to play. He had offers from Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Syracuse and Southern Miss.Patrick Jean LB Port St. Lucie, Fla. Treasure Coast 6-3 200Three-star linebacker with great size and speed from a program that produced other UofL playersLarry Jefferson DE College Park, Ga. Banneker 6-5 218Reminds of BJ Dubose or Aaron Epps. Tall, athletic lineman who will gain weight, strength.T.C. Klusman OL Cincinnati, Ohio Elder 6-4 270Clone of Eric Wood? Maybe. Same height, same weight and same high school.Joe Manley OL Bowling Green, Ky. Bowling Green 6-7 307Has a long way to go to live up to his massive potential. Raw but huge frame.Devontre Parnell DB Winnsboro, SC Fairfi eld Central 5-11 163Four-star defensive back is among the best cover men in the nation for 2011.Pedro Sibiea DE Homestead, Fla. Homestead 6-3 251A big, physical defensive end, Sibiea claimed offers from Florida, Cincinnati, Minnesota, USF and many, many others.Brandon Snell WR Miami Gardens, Fla. Carol City 5-11 160Could he be the fastest wide receiver in Florida for 2011? Maybe. Scouts really like him.

By Howie LindseyI remember it vividly. Shortly after Charlie

Strong was introduced as Louisville’s head coach in December 2009, he was asked what kind of recruits he was going to tar-get to get the program headed in the right direction.

He confi dently replied that if Louisville’s goal was to be in a BCS bowl, it needed to recruit like other BCS bowl programs, and that meant going af-ter the same recruits he targeted at Florida.

When Strong said he’d target the same recruits as SEC powerhouse programs, the common media reaction was to scoff. I didn’t scoff (I’d checked Charlie’s recruiting record), but I did openly wonder whether Louisville could compete on that level for recruits.

Well, it’s two years later and UofL is re-cruiting toe-to-toe with some of the top programs in the country. Sure, the Cardinals’ overall classes in 2011 and 2012 are more like top 30 than top 10, but set recruiting rankings to the side for a second.

I believe that a great way to tell what kind of players a school is recruiting is to see which schools you beat out for the recruit. Sure, there are diamonds in the rough like Stefon LeFors and Amobi Okoye, but most of the time the top schools recognize big-time talent. The recruits the Cards are land-ing this year have offers from many of col-lege football’s best programs.

Miami linebacker Keith Brown stepped to the podium Saturday at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and picked up his Louisville hat over hats from Illinois and Miami. The No. 4 inside linebacker in the nation, Brown also had offers from Alabama, Florida, Geor-gia, Wisconsin, Florida State and others.

Fellow linebacker Nick Dawson from Char-lotte, who also picked Louisville on national television during the Army Bowl Saturday, had offers from Auburn, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Tennessee, USC, UCLA and several other ACC schools.

Savannah, Ga., defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown picked the Cardinals over offers from Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and USF.

Miami linebacker James Burgess de-com-mitted from Miami and picked Louisville in-stead. He had scholarship offers from West Virginia, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, North Caro-lina, Pitt, Rutgers, Wake Forest and others.

Douglas, Ga., quarterback Will Gardner

picked Louisville over offers from Alabama and Mississippi State.

College Park, Ga., defensive end Larry Jefferson picked the Cardinals over offers from Auburn, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Illinois, North Carolina and others.

Louisville is competing with the best pro-grams in the South for the top talent. Strong believes to be the best you have to beat the best, and nowhere is that philosophy better illustrated than on the recruiting trail.

The Cardinals had the top class in the Big East last season and had UofL’s highest-ranked recruiting class ever at No. 29 in the fi nal ranking. This season the Cardinals just moved up to No. 36 and have a class on the rise with three weeks left until National Sign-ing Day on Feb. 1.

Having two stud recruits put on Louisville hats in back-to-back ceremonies on national TV during the All-American Bowl is bound to create more positive momentum for a strong fi nish to the recruiting season.

With Brown and Dawson in the fold, in addition to Army All-Americans Gerod Hol-liman and Teddy Bridgewater from last sea-son, Strong is collecting the type of talent needed to not only make a BCS bowl game but WIN a BCS bowl game.

Strong, who can’t comment on individual recruits until Signing Day, tweeted out a thinly veiled note Saturday: “What a great day to be a Cardinal.”

And with Strong and his hard-working assistant coaches on the recruiting trail, I’m betting there are more great days ahead for the Cardinals.

HOWIE LINDSEYHOWIE LINDSEY

STRONG IS RECRUITING AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL

TRANSFERSPROSPECT POS HOMETOWN SCHOOL HT. WT.Gerald Christian TE West Palm Beach, Fla. Florida 6-3 235The nation’s No. 2 tight end coming out of high school in 2010 according to Rivals.comRobert Clark WR/DB West Palm Beach, Fla. Florida 5-9 170A speedy athlete, Clark could return kicks or play wideout or defensive back.Ryan Hubbell TE Council Bluffs, Iowa Iowa Western CC 6-5 235Enroll this week and will compete for playing time in spring practice.Matt Milton WR Mascoutah, Ill. Tennessee 6-5 200A four-star wideout, he’’ll sit out 2012, but will have two seasons left starting in 2013.

RECRUITING NOTEBOOK


By Jeff WaffordThe University of Louisville had arguably

the biggest recruiting haul in the football pro-gram’s history last week, picking up verbal commitments from a pair of four-star play-ers and another three-star player. All three commitments were announced during all-star games covered by national media, which added to the hype surrounding their deci-sions. The two four-star players – linebackers Nick Dawson and Keith Brown – made their announcements on national television during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which was

shown on NBC last Satur-day.

Brown (6-1, 225), a product of Miami Norland H.S. (Fla.), is rated as the No. 4 inside linebacker in the class of 2012, the No. 23 player in Florida and No. 110 player overall. While Brown had at one

time committed to both Illinois and Miami – his other two fi nalists – in the end it was a Louisville hat that he donned in front of the national audience.

“I’m taking my talents to the University of Louisville,” he announced.

Brown made an offi cial visit to UofL the weekend of Dec. 16. His hosts on that trip were several Miami-area transplants, includ-ing starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and wideout Eli Rogers, the team’s leading receiver last season. Seeing fellow Miami na-tives have success at UofL as freshmen gave Brown the confi dence that he could do it as well.

“That trip was a good visit because I know a couple players up there,” Brown said. “I liked the all-black coaching staff up there, and that played a major role.”

Another factor in Brown’s decision was a chance at early playing time. With middle linebacker Dexter Heyman graduating, Brown and Dawson both likely will compete for play-ing time early in their careers.

Like Brown, Dawson (6-3, 225) kept all his fi nalists – Clemson, Louisville and N.C. State – in suspense until he put on a Louisville hat and announced that he would head to UofL,

where he was born and where his father still lives just a few miles from campus.

“I’m going back home to Louisville,” Daw-son announced. “It’s a great opportunity to start a new chapter in the place where it all started off. It’s going to open up a lot of doors for Louisville. I say in the next couple years we are going to be in the national championship. On the defensive side, all they needed was a stud at middle linebacker, and now they’ve got them.”

After deliberating with his father and aunt over the holidays, Dawson arrived in San An-tonio for the all-star game with his decision already in mind.

“In Dawson, head coach Charlie Strong is getting a big middle linebacker prospect who showed all week in Army Bowl practices that he has the instincts to anticipate plays and the physical abilities to disrupt the offense’s plan before it develops,” said Rivals.com analyst Josh Helmholdt.

Dawson, a product of Phillip O’Berry Acad-emy of Technology (N.C.), is ranked as the No. 6 inside linebacker in the class of 2012, the No. 6 player in North Carolina and No. 132 overall prospect.

Earlier in the week, three-star outside line-backer James Burgess (6-3, 200), a product of Homestead H.S. (Fla.), made a verbal commit-ment to Louisville while playing at the Semper Fidelis Bowl, an all-star game held in Arizona. Rated as the No. 58 outside linebacker in the class of 2012 and the No. 95 player in Florida, Burgess chose the Cardinals over Miami.

The big week on the recruiting trail was huge in the recruiting rankings, moving the Cards from the No. 54 spot in the Rivals.com team rankings up to No. 36, which is good for third in the Big East based on the stars-per-player ranking. With an average ranking of three stars per player, Louisville trails only Rutgers and South Florida by a slim margin. Both of those schools average 3.07 stars per player at this point.

“Coach Strong has changed the culture at Louisville since he took over the program two years ago, and much of that goes toward the way he and his staff have been recruiting,” Helmholdt said.

While Louisville fans and the coaching staff

celebrated the big decisions in their favor, other recruits were watching as well. Deandre Herron (6-6, 305), an offensive lineman from Avon H.S. (Ind.), was watching the U.S. Army All-American game and saw the drama as it unfolded in UofL’s favor. Herron, who commit-ted to the Cardinals last summer, is a three-star player who will make an offi cial visit to Louisville this weekend.

“I think it’s good for us,” Herron said of Dawson and Brown’s commitments. “Our de-fense is going to be strong.”

“For my sake, it’s going to suck blocking them in practice every day,” he added with a laugh. “But it’s all in fun. Practicing with them with just make me better and make our of-fense better.”

Herron noted that he and the other play-ers who already have committed love seeing more players jump on board.

“I kind of see it as Coach Strong’s just bring-ing in a good recruiting class, and obviously we’re on the rise,” Herron explained. “Those kind of linebackers, and the more commits and the higher ranking they are, we can be up there and be mentioned like Alabama and LSU. They’re SEC schools, but we think we can be up there mentioned with them, too.”

UofL commitment Abraham Garcia (6-6, 339), a three-star offensive lineman from Uni-versity School (Fla.), also has paid close atten-tion to what kind of class Strong is bringing in.

“I know I keep seeing this guy commit and then that guy commit,” Garcia said. “And I know they are going for the same reason I did. You can tell it’s a family and they care about the players up there. That’s the place to be.”

Garcia noted that he and several of the re-cruits from Florida are friends and have known each other for several years. He said his rela-tionship with current Cardinals Bridgewater, Rogers and B.J. Dubose helped him decide to commit, and he already has a relationship with Brown.

“I actually went to a Miami game on a visit with him and we sat by each other, so we talk-ed quite a bit,” Garcia said. “As soon as he committed, I instant-messaged him on Face-book and told him ‘Welcome to the family.’”

Garcia said he’s looking forward to going up against highly rated defensive players like

Dawson, Burgess and Brown every day. “I’mnot afraid,” Garcia said with a chuckle. “I lovea challenge. If I see someone challenging me,I’m going to try and beat them the next time.I’m going to change something to try and getyou. Then once I have you, I have you the restof the game or practice. I love that, going upagainst each other. You know what the otherperson does and what they’re going to do be-cause you play against them every day.”

Like Garcia and Herron, UofL commitment Deangelo Brown has been keeping close tabson the Cards’ recruiting efforts. Brown (6-1,285), a defensive tackle, will have the luxury ofplaying on the same side of the ball as Brownand Dawson.

“It makes me feel good about our defense we’re going to have,” said Brown, a three-starplayer from Savannah Christian School (Ga.).“I actually played little league ball with Keith,so I know how he plays, and now Dawson,I know he’s supposed to be real good. Thenwe have (linebacker recruit) Patrick Jean andBurgess and some other defensive guys like(defensive end) Larry Jefferson. It makes mefeel good. I think we’re going to make a runfor the national championship, I really do.”

“I’m just excited about it,” added Brown, who said he plans to take an offi cial visit toLouisville this weekend. “This class is going tobe a good one. I’m glad to be a part of it.”

CARDS ADD THREE TRANSFERSWhile they don’t technically count as re-

cruits, the Cardinals added three more big-time players last week when Florida transfersGerald Christian and Robert Clark and Tennes-see transfer Matt Milton announced that theywere planning to enroll at Louisville.

Christian (6-3, 230) was rated a four-star recruit and the No. 2 tight end in the nationcoming out of Dwyer H.S. (Fla.) in 2010. Clark(5-9, 170), who was Christian’s three-starteammate in high school, is a speedster whocan return kicks and play cornerback.

Milton is a 6-foot-5 receiver that was rated among the top 20 receivers in the nation in2010. Milton was recruited to Tennessee bycurrent USC coach Lane Kiffi n.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, they will have to sit out next season before having two sea-sons to play beginning in 2013.

CARDS LAND TWO ALL-AMERICANS ON NATIONAL TVCARDS LAND TWO ALL-AMERICANS ON NATIONAL TV

JEFF WAFFORDJEFF WAFFORD


LOUISVILLE BASEBALL

The league’s head coaches picked St. John’s to win the Big East baseball crown in 2012, followed closely by Louisville. The Cardinals, led by junior right-hander Justin Amlung, got four fi rst place votes to eight for St. John’s.

The Cardinals had 110 points, St. John’s 118. Connecticut was picked third with 92 points and was followed by USF (88), Seton Hall (77) and Notre Dame (69). Cincinnati (64) was seventh, followed by Pittsburgh (60), Rutgers (42), West Virginia (39), Villanova (19) and Georgetown (14).

AMLUNG, IJAMES HONOREDAmlung, a third-team Preseason All-

America selection by both Collegiate Base-ball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, was named the Big East Preseason Pitcher of the Year by a vote of the league’s coaches.

The junior was 10-2 with a 2.31 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 15 starts while earn-ing fi rst-team All-Big East honors last sea-son. A graduate of Louisville St. Xavier High School, Amlung currently ranks second on UofL’s career ERA list at 3.06 to go along with an overall record of 15-4 entering the 2012 season.

Stewart Ijames, a second-team All-Big East selection in 2011, was named to the preseason fi rst team this year. Last season he hit .247 with 11 home runs and 45 RBIs. The senior was a Louisville Slugger Fresh-man All-America in 2008, when he was named third-team All-Big East, then also made second-team All-Big East in 2010.

Dan McDonnell enters his sixth sea-son leading the UofL baseball program. In his previous fi ve seasons, McDonnell is 217-106 with two Big East regular-season titles, two Big East Tournament titles, four NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and one trip to the College World Series.

The 15th-ranked Cardinals will open the 2012 season on Feb. 17 against Minnesota in Clearwater, Fla., at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. Louisville’s home opener at Jim Patterson Stadium is set for Feb. 22 against Eastern Kentucky.

Former Louisville St. Xavier star Justin Amlung was named Big East preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote of league coaches. - photo by Howie Lindsey

MCDONNELL’S CARDS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN BIG EAST

2012 PRESEASON BIG EAST BASEBALL COACHES’ POLL

2012 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM

1. St. John’s (8) 1182. LOUISVILLE (4) 1103. Connecticut 924. USF 885. Seton Hall 776. Notre Dame 697. Cincinnati 648. Pittsburgh 609. Rutgers 4210. West Virginia 3911. Villanova 1912. Georgetown 14

(First-place votes in parentheses)

Pos Name Cl School (2011 Stats) P Justin Amlung Jr. Louisville (10-2, 2.31 ERA, 105.0 IP, 80 K, 27 BB, .206 OBA)P Matt Iannazzo Sr. Pittsburgh (8-3, 2.73 ERA, 102.1 IP, 62 K, 22 BB, .242 OBA)P Kyle Hansen Jr. St. John’s (8-7, 3.09 ERA, 107.2 IP, 106 K, 41 BB, .223 OBA)P Jon Prosinksi Jr. Seton Hall (7-4, 1.91 ERA, 94.1 IP, 56 K, 30 BB, .228 OBA)C Joe Pavone Sr. Connecticut (.273, 5 HR, 20 RBI)1B Trey Mancini So. Notre Dame (.323, 9 HR, 34 RBI)2B L.J. Mazzilli Jr. Connecticut (.338, 3 HR, 32 RBI)SS Matt Wessinger Sr. St. John’s (.273, 6 HR, 42 RBI)3B Tim Martin Sr. Connecticut (.298, 4 HR, 29 RBI)OF Rand Ravnaas Sr. Georgetown (.352, 5 HR, 37 RBI, 25 SB)OF Stewart Ijames Sr. Louisville (.247, 11 HR, 45 RBI)OF Jeremy Baltz Jr. St. John’s (.311, 6 HR, 60 RBI)DH Dan DiBartolomeo Sr. West Virginia (.338, 6 HR, 28 RBI)


CARDINAL STARSMICHAEL EDWARDS - MEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe junior from Manchester, England, had the performance of the day for Louisville at the Indiana Open last Saturday in Bloomington when he cleared a personal indoor-best 2.20m/7-2 1/2 in the high jump. Not only does the mark rank third nationally, it is just two inches off a national qualifying mark (2.24m/7-4 1/4). It also ranks third-best in school history. “Michael Edwards’ mark should carry to the national championships,” associate head coach Dale Cowper said. “He should improve throughout the season, but that’s wonderful to be one and done.” Edwards achieved one of nine Big East qualifying marks by UofL on the men’s side.

MARGRET HARRIS - WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe junior from Lancaster, Texas, collected a pair of victories with strong season-opening performances in the long jump and 60m. Her mark of 6.00m/19-8 1/4 in the long jump was a personal indoor best, and her 60m time (7.59) was nearly two-tenths of a second better than the runner-up. A transfer from Prairie View A&M, Harris is expected to help Louisville score in a couple of events at the upcoming Big East Indoor Championships, where Louisville is the odds-on favorite after winning the last two seasons.

CALVIN ARSENAULT - MEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe freshman from Kitchener, Ontario, started his Louisville career off with a bang by winning the 60m hurdles at the Indiana Open Saturday with a time of 8.44 seconds. Arsenault was a member of Team Canada for the 2011 Pan Am Junior Championships and was the 2011 national title holder in the 400m hurdles. He also set the junior Canadian record in the 300m hurdles in 2010 at 38.03 seconds.

BRIA SMITH - WOMEN’S BASKETBALLDespite fouling out with more than four minutes left, freshman Bria Smith nearly helped Louisville take down St. John’s, her hometown school, last Sunday. Smith scored 11 of Louisville’s fi rst 13 points and fi nished with 17 points, three steals and two rebounds in 29 minutes against the Red Storm. The Cardinals lost 72-64, snapping a six-game winning streak. Smith was a 2011 McDonald’s All-American at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y. She also had 16 points and fi ve rebounds against Marquette last Wednesday and was named the Big East Freshman of the Week on Monday.

BECKY BURKE - WOMEN’S BASKETBALLThe senior shooting guard from Clarks Summit, Pa., hit fi ve three-pointers and scored 19 points during Louisville’s loss to St. John’s. She was 5 of 8 from three-point range and 7 of 11 overall. She leads Louisville with 40 three-pointers this season, seven more than Shoni Schimmel and 30 more than third-best Antonita Slaughter. She is hitting 39.6 percent from three-point range, also best on the team.

SEBASTIAN STIEFELMEYER - MEN’S TENNISThe freshman from Vienna, Austria, won the A Singles at the Orlando Invitational Sunday. He also teamed with senior Andrew Carter to win the A Doubles. “It was a good fi nal day for us, winning most of our matches against very good competition,” coach Rex Ecarma said. “What I liked the most is that our players got better each day and their fi tness held up. This group of players is starting to really bond as a unit, and it is nice to see. The seniors have been educating the freshmen in the `Louisville Tennis Way.’ The new players have really bought into it. We accomplished a lot and identifi ed areas that need to improve. Today’s MVPs were (freshman) Albert Wagner and Sebastian Stiefelmeyer.” The Cardinals will open dual match play on Jan. 19 when they play host to Austin Peay and Xavier at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

ADAM HADWIN - MEN’S GOLF The former University of Louisville golfer from Abbotsford, B.C., was named the Male Professional of the Year by the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. A full-time member of the Canadian Tour in 2011, Hadwin’s brilliant summer run thrilled Canadians coast to coast. He fi nished tied for 31st at the U.S. Open at Congressional before putting himself in position to win the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver, where he fi nished tied for fourth. He also had a seventh-place showing at the PGA Tour’s Frys.com Open and won the 2011 Pacifi c Colombia championship. Hadwin closed the year the highest ranked Canadian golfer on the Offi cial World Golf Rankings at No. 214.

BURKEBURKE

STIEFELMEYERSTIEFELMEYER

EDWARDSEDWARDS

HARRISHARRIS

ARSENAULTARSENAULT

SMITHSMITH

HADWINHADWIN

HOWIE LINDSEY’SHOWIE LINDSEY’S

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2011-12 MEN’S SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME / RESULTS OCTOBER10/14/11 Red-White Scrimmage KFC YUM! CENTER White, 86-8510/22/11 Red-White Scrimmage KFC YUM! CENTER Red, 105-6010/26/11 vs. PIKEVILLE * KFC YUM! CENTER W, 74-55NOVEMBER 11/03/11 vs. BELLARMINE * KFC YUM! CENTER W, 62-54GLOBAL SPORTS INVITATIONAL11/11/11 vs. TENNESSEE-MARTIN KFC YUM! CENTER W, 83-4811/13/11 vs. LAMAR KFC YUM! CENTER W, 68-4811/19/11 at Butler Indianapolis, Ind. W, 69-5311/22/11 vs. ARKANSAS STATE KFC YUM! CENTER W, 54-2711/25/11 vs. OHIO KFC YUM! CENTER W, 59-5411/28/11 vs. LONG BEACH STATE KFC YUM! CENTER W, 79-66DECEMBERBIG EAST / SEC CHALLENGE12/02/11 vs. #19 VANDERBILT KFC YUM! CENTER W, 62-6012/07/11 vs. IUPUI KFC YUM! CENTER W, 90-6012/10/11 vs. FAIR. DICKINSON KFC YUM! CENTER W, 80-58BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME SHOOTOUT12/17/11 vs. MEMPHIS TV KFC YUM! CENTER W, 95-8712/20/11 vs. C. OF CHARLESTON KFC YUM! CENTER W, 69-62BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC12/23/11 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY KFC YUM! CENTER W, 70-6812/28/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # TV KFC YUM! CENTER L, 71-6812/31/11 at Kentucky TV Lexington, Ky. L, 69-62JANUARY01/03/12 at St. John’s # TV New York, N.Y. W, 73-5801/07/12 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV KFC YUM! CENTER L, 67-6501/10/12 at Providence # TV Providence, R.I. L, 90-5901/14/12 vs. DE PAUL # KFC YUM! CENTER 4:00 p.m.01/16/12 at Marquette # TV Milwaukee, Wis. 3:30 p.m.01/21/12 at Pittsburgh # TV Pittsburgh, Pa. 9:00 p.m.01/25/12 vs. VILLANOVA # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.01/28/12 at Seton Hall # Newark, N.J. 8:00 p.m.FEBRUARY02/04/12 vs. RUTGERS # KFC YUM! CENTER 4:00 p.m.02/06/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.02/11/12 at West Virginia # TV Morgantown, W.Va. 12:00 p.m.02/13/12 vs. SYRACUSE # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.02/18/12 at DePaul # Chicago, Ill. 12:00 noon02/23/12 at Cincinnati # TV Cincinnati, Ohio 9:00 p.m.02/26/12 vs. PITTSBURGH # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 2:00 p.m.02/29/12 vs. USF # KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.MARCH03/03/12 at Syracuse # TV Syracuse, N.Y. 4:00 p.m.BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden) 03/06-10/12 TBD TBA * - Exhibition game, # - Big East Conference game

2011-12 WOMEN’S SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME / RESULTS

OCTOBER

10/30/11 VS. LINDSEY WILSON * KFC YUM! CENTER W, 118-41

NOVEMBER

11/13/11 at Missouri State Springfi eld, Mo. W, 73-64

11/15/11 at #4 Texas A&M College Station, Texas L, 76-58

11/17/11 at Eastern Kentucky Richmond, Ky. W, 77-53

11/20/11 vs. XAVIER KFC YUM! CENTER W, 62-44

11/22/11 vs. AUSTIN PEAY KFC YUM! CENTER W, 78-60

11/25/11 at #24 Florida State Tallahassee, Fla. W, 85-76

11/26/11 at Florida A&M Tallahassee, Fla. W, 86-66

11/29/11 vs. MURRAY STATE KFC YUM! CENTER W, 105-62

DECEMBER

12/04/11 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. L, 74-54

12/10/11 vs. GARDNER-WEBB KFC YUM! CENTER W, 92-27

12/14/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio W, 64-59

12/17/11 at Portland Portland, Ore. W, 71-42

12/19/11 at Washington State Pullman, Wash. W, 75-71

12/28/11 vs. UT-MARTIN KFC YUM! CENTER W, 70-57

JANUARY

01/03/12 vs. MARQUETTE # KFC YUM! CENTER W, 70-53

01/08/12 at St. John’s # TV Queens, N.Y. L, 72-64

01/11/12 vs. SOUTH FLORIDA # KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.

01/14/12 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. 2:00 p.m.

01/18/12 vs. PROVIDENCE # KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.

01/22/12 at Georgetown # TV Washington D.C. 5:00 p.m.

01/28/12 vs. VILLANOVA # KFC YUM! CENTER 2:00 p.m.

01/31/12 at DePaul # TV Chicago, Ill. 9:00 p.m.

FEBRUARY

02/04/12 at West Virginia # Morgantown, W.Va. 4:00 p.m.

02/07/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 7:00 p.m.

02/11/12 vs. SYRACUSE # KFC YUM! CENTER 2:00 p.m.

02/14/12 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 7:00 p.m.

02/20/12 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 2:00 p.m.

02/25/12 vs. DEPAUL # TV KFC YUM! CENTER 12:00 p.m.

02/27/12 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 7:00 p.m.

MARCH

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: Hartford, Conn.

03/02-8/12 TBD TBA


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK

Compiled from Yahoo! SportsSyracuse, one of three unbeaten teams in

Division I, is on top of The Associated Press’ college basketball poll for the fi fth straight week. The Orange (17-0) received 60 fi rst-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.

The Orange also sits atop the Big East standings at 4-0 after handling a late charge from Marquette to win 73-66 Saturday in Syracuse.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he’s seen Syracuse play enough this season to say they are special.

“The only difference-maker I’ve seen so far in the conference is Syracuse,” Pi-tino said. “It’s evident that they’re not only deep, talented and long, they’ve got expe-rience, they’ve got the whole package. I’d say right now they are the premier team in the country and the rest of us are trying to get to that level.”

The Orange didn’t look so special in the second half against the Golden Eagles. Af-ter holding a 23-point lead in the fi rst half, Marquette closed within 59-57 with just under fi ve minutes to play.

“Marquette’s going to come back at you — they did (by) driving at us,” Syra-cuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “But when the game got down to the line, we made a couple of big plays. When you lose a lead, particularly at home, it’s easy to start worry-ing about what’s happening.”

Syracuse will face Villanova in Philadel-phia Wednesday night before returning home to host Providence Saturday and Pittsburgh Monday.

RUTGERS SPOILS CALHOUN’S RE-TURN

Jim Calhoun’s return to the Connecticut bench following a three-game NCAA sus-pension was not a successful one as host Rutgers beat the eighth-ranked Huskies 67-60 on Saturday night.

“We weren’t very well-prepared to play basketball the last two games,” Calhoun said. “I came back for two, three days, and it hasn’t made any difference. I am incred-ibly disappointed in how we’re playing right now. We’re not in sync.”

The loss was the second straight for Con-necticut and came just four days after the Huskies also lost in New Jersey, falling to Seton Hall. It is the fi rst time since 1969 that the Huskies have lost to both Jersey schools in the same season.

Calhoun, who led Connecticut to its third national championship last season, missed the fi rst three games of the Big East sea-son for failing to maintain “an atmosphere of compliance” in the program. The NCAA sanctions were over recruiting violations.

“After 26 years in the Big East, you know you can get anybody, anytime, any night,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “This Rutgers is a hungry young basketball team that played with a sense of purpose. They’ll lose some more and win some more.”

The Scarlet Knights (9-7, 1-2) beat then-No. 10 Florida 85-83 in double-overtime on Dec. 29. It’s just the second time Rutgers has beaten two top-10 teams in the same season. The Scarlet Knights beat UCLA and

West Virginia in 1981-82. “I’m pleasantly surprised,” Rutgers coach

Mike Rice said. “Shocked? No. This team has it in them. They’re athletes. They’re just inexperienced right now. When we pay at-tention to details and we’re communicat-ing, these things can happen.”

UConn (13-3, 3-2) bounced back to beat West Virginia 64-57 Monday.

GATES RETURNS FOR CINCYThe old Yancy Gates fi t right in with the

new-look Cincinnati Bearcats. The return of Gates and two other players from a six-game suspension last Wednesday did noth-ing to derail Cincinnati. Dion Dixon led a balanced attack with 18 points, 14 in the second half, as the host Bearcats extended their winning streak to seven with a 71-55 victory over Notre Dame.

“It felt real good,” said Gates, who scored six points and led Cincinnati with eight rebounds in 21 minutes. “It was hard watching them on TV every night. To be out there with them felt real good.”

The Bearcats turned around and lost to visiting St. John’s 57-55 on Saturday. St. John’s (8-7, 2-1) led by 15 midway through the second half, but UC rallied to tie it at 55 in the fi nal minute. But Moe Harkless’ putback at the buzzer gave the Red Storm the victory. Gates had 10 points and seven rebounds.

UC (13-4, 3-1) then beat Georgetown 68-64 Monday for its sixth straight Big East road victory.

WVU STOMPS CLEMSONWest Virginia hired Dana Holgorsen last

winter and promoted him to head football coach last summer to do two things: a) Re-store the Mountaineers to the winner’s circle in a BCS game after a three-year drought, and b) Import some of the offensive fi re-works that set opposing secondaries on fi re during his stints as an offensive coordina-tor at Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma State. Last Wednesday night, they got both. They just never expected all of the fi reworks to go off at the same time as the Mountain-eers crushed Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl..

Six days after Baylor set a bowl record with 67 points in the Alamo Bowl, West Virginia saw the Bears’ bid and raised them a fi eld goal. Seventy points is the most against any Clemson team since 1931. The 37-point margin passed Florida’s 56-23 hu-miliation of Maryland in 2002 as the most lopsided fi nal score in any BCS bowl game. WVU’s Geno Smith set BCS records with six touchdown passes and 401 yards, cruising past Tom Brady’s 369-yard night for Michi-gan in the 2000 Orange Bowl. Tavon Austin set Orange Bowl and BCS records with four touchdown receptions.

“Never could we imagine we’d put up 70 points,” said Smith, who is from Miami.

Said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, “It was like a virus.”

The Mountaineers (10-3) won in their fi rst Orange Bowl appearance and improved to 3-0 in BCS games.

“Our guys felt like they weren’t getting too much credit,” Holgorsen said. “And they wanted to make a statement.”

SYRACUSE STILL NO. 1IN BIG EAST - AND NATION Big East Basketball Standings

1. Syracuse 17-0 (4-0)Top-ranked Orange travel to Villanova Wednesday, entertain Providence Saturday, Pittsburgh Monday.

2. Seton Hall 15-2 (4-1)Surprising Pirates beat visiting DePaul Tuesday, at USF Friday.

t-3. Notre Dame 11-6 (3-1)Irish beat USF Tuesday to extend home winning streak to 28 games, will go for 29 Saturday against UConn, at Rutgers Monday.

t-3. Cincinnati 13-4 (3-1)Bearcats won at Georgetown Monday, host Villanova Saturday,.

t-5. Georgetown 13-3 (3-2)After 11-game winning streak snapped by WVU, Hoyas lost to visiting UC Monday, at St. John’s Sunday, at DePaul Tuesday.

t-5. Connecticut 13-3 (3-2)Huskies beat WVU Monday, at tough-at-home Notre Dame Saturday.

t-5. West Virginia 12-5 (3-2)Mountaineers lost at UConn Monday, entertain Rutgers Saturday.

t-8. St. John’s 8-7 (2-2)Red Storm at Marquette Wednesday, entertain Georgetown Sunday.

t-8. South Florida 9-8 (2-2)Bulls lost at ND Tuesday, host Seton Hall Friday.

t-10. Marquette 12-4 (1-2)Golden Eagles entertain St. John’s Wednesday, Pittsburgh Saturday and UofL Monday.

t-10. Rutgers 9-7 (1-2)Knights at Pittsburgh Wednesday, at WVU Saturday, host Notre Dame Monday.

t-12. Louisville 13-4 (1-3)Cards entertain DePaul Saturday, travel to Marquette Monday.

t-12. DePaul 10-6 (1-3)Blue Demons lost at Seton Hall Tuesday, travel to Louisville Saturday, host Georgetown Tuesday.

t-12. Villanova 8-8 (1-3)Wildcats host Syracuse Wednesday, at Cincinnati Saturday.

15. Providence 12-6 (1-4)Friars picked up Cooley’s fi rst Big East win against Louisville, at Syracuse Saturday.

16. Pittsburgh 11-5 (0-3)Stumbling Panthers entertain Rutgers Wednesday, at Marquette Saturday, at Syracuse Monday.


LACROSSEDATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT 02/19/12 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio 1:00 p.m. ET02/24/12 at Longwood Farmville, Va. 4:00 p.m. ET02/26/12 at Old Dominion Norfolk, Va. 12:00 p.m. ET03/02/12 vs. DENVER UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET03/07/12 vs. NORTHWESTERN UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET03/10/12 vs. Presbyterian Cumming, Ga. 1:00 p.m. ET03/14/12 at Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 4:00 p.m. ET03/17/12 at Jacksonville Jacksonville, Fla. 12:00 p.m. ET03/24/12 at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 1:00 p.m. ET03/27/12 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio 5:00 p.m. ET04/05/12 vs. LOYOLA (Md.) # UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/07/12 vs. GEORGETOWN # UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET04/13/12 at Rutgers # New Brunswick, N.J. 5:00 p.m. ET04/15/12 at Villanova # Philadelphia, Pa. 1:00 p.m. ET04/20/12 vs. SYRACUSE # UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/22/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # UofL LACROSSE STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET05/03/12 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP Syracuse, N.Y. TBD

SWIMMING AND DIVINGDATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT 01/14/12 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio TBA01/20-21/12 SMU Classic (Men) Dallas, Texas TBA01/28/12 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind. 2:00 p.m. ET02/03/12 vs. KENTUCKY Ralph Wright Natatorium 2:00 p.m. ET02/10-12/12 BIG EAST Diving Championship # Pittsburgh, Pa. All Day02/15-18/12 BIG EAST Swimming Championship # Pittsburgh, Pa. All Day02/24-25/12 Championship Qualifying Meet Knoxville, Tenn. TBA03/08-10/12 NCAA Diving Zones TBA All Day03/09-11/12 Grand Prix - Columbus (LC) Columbus, Ohio All Day03/15-17/12 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship Auburn, Ala. All Day03/22-24/12 NCAA Men’s National Championship Federal Way, Wash. All Day03/29-31/12 Grand Prix - Indianapolis Indianapolis, Ind. All Day05/03-06/12 Grand Prix - Charlotte Charlotte, N.C. All Day06/07-09/12 Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational Omaha, Neb. All Day06/25/12 US Olympic Trials

BASEBALLDATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge02/17/12 vs. Minnesota Clearwater, Fla. 10:00 AM ET02/18/12 vs. Illinois St. Petersburg, Fla. 4:00 PM ET02/19/12 vs. Michigan State St. Petersburg, Fla. 10:00 AM ET02/22/12 vs. EASTERN KENTUCKY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET02/24/12 vs. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET02/25/12 vs. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET02/26/12 vs. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET02/28/12 vs. EASTERN ILLINOIS JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET03/02/12 vs. PEPPERDINE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ET03/03/12 vs. PEPPERDINE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/04/12 vs. PEPPERDINE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/06/12 vs. INDIANA JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 3:00 PM ETAlabama Tournament03/09/12 vs. Oral Roberts Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2:00 PM ET03/10/12 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 5:05 PM ET03/11/12 vs. East Carolina Tuscaloosa, Ala. 11:00 AM ET03/13/12 vs. OLE MISS JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET03/14/12 vs. OLE MISS JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 12:00 PM ET03/16/12 vs. BALL STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET03/17/12 vs. BALL STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/18/12 vs. BALL STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/20/12 vs. OHIO STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET03/23/12 vs. CINCINNATI # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET03/24/12 vs. CINCINNATI # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/25/12 vs. CINCINNATI # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET03/27/12 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. 4:00 PM ET03/30/12 vs. VILLANOVA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET03/31/12 vs. VILLANOVA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/01/12 vs. VILLANOVA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/03/12 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/05/12 at Georgetown # Bethesda, Md. 3:00 PM ET04/06/12 at Georgetown # Bethesda, Md. 4:00 PM ET04/07/12 at Georgetown # Bethesda, Md. 12:00 PM ET04/10/12 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 6:30 PM ET04/13/12 vs. SETON HALL # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/14/12 vs. SETON HALL # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/15/12 vs. SETON HALL # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/17/12 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind. 3:00 PM ET04/20/12 at USF # Tampa, Fla. 7:00 PM ET04/21/12 at USF # Tampa, Fla. 6:00 PM ET04/22/12 at USF # Tampa, Fla. 1:00 PM ET04/24/12 vs. KENTUCKY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/27/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/28/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/29/12 vs. CONNECTICUT # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/01/12 at Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. 7:00 PM ET05/05/12 at West Virginia # Morgantown, W.Va. 2:00 PM ET at West Virginia # Morgantown, W.Va. 5:30 PM ET05/06/12 at West Virginia # Morgantown, W.Va. 1:00 PM ET05/08/12 at Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 7:00 PM ET05/11/12 vs. ST. JOHN’S # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/12/12 vs. ST. JOHN’S # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/13/12 vs. ST. JOHN’S # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/15/12 vs. MOREHEAD STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/17/12 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 6:00 PM ET05/18/12 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 6:00 PM ET05/19/12 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. 1:00 PM ET05/23-27/12 BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA

SOFTBALLDATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT Florida International University Tournament02/10/12 vs. Michigan State Miami, Fla. 1:00 p.m. ET vs. Illinois Miami, Fla. 5:00 p.m. ET02/11/12 vs. UAB Miami, Fla. 9:00 a.m. ET at Florida International Miami, Fla. 11:00 a.m. ET02/12/12 vs. Massachusetts Miami, Fla. 9:00 a.m. ETEast Carolina University Tournament02/17/12 vs. Virginia Greenville, N.C. 11:00 a.m. ET02/18/12 vs. UNC Greensboro Greenville, N.C. 11:00 a.m. ET02/19/12 vs. Fordham Greenville, N.C. 9:00 a.m. ET02/18/12 vs. Hofstra Greenville, N.C. 9:00 a.m. ET02/25/12 vs. Creighton ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET02/26/12 vs. Creighton ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ETTennessee Classic03/02/12 vs. Middle Tennessee State Knoxville, Tenn. 1:30 p.m. ET vs. Dutch National Team Knoxville, Tenn. 8:15 p.m. ET03/03/12 vs. Memphis Knoxville, Tenn. 12:15 p.m. ET at Tennessee (W) Knoxville, Tenn. 2:30 p.m. ET03/04/12 vs. Boston University Knoxville, Tenn. 9:00 a.m. ET03/02/12 vs. Tennessee Tournament Knoxville, Tenn. TBA03/03/12 vs. Tennessee Tournament Knoxville, Tenn. TBA03/04/12 vs. Tennessee Tournament Knoxville, Tenn. TBARed and Black Tournament03/10/12 vs. Saint Louis ULMER STADIUM 11:00 a.m. ET vs. Michigan ULMER STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET03/11/12 vs. Saint Louis ULMER STADIUM 3:00 p.m. ET03/12/12 vs. Illinois State ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. Illinois State ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET03/14/12 vs. Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. 5:00 p.m. ETSacramento State Capital Classic03/16/12 vs. Colorado State Sacramento, Calif. 1:00 p.m. ET vs. Princeton Sacramento, Calif. 5:00 p.m. ET03/17/12 vs. Akron Sacramento, Calif. 2:00 p.m. ET at Sacramento State Sacramento, Calif. 6:00 p.m. ET03/24/12 vs. Pittsburgh # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. Pittsburgh # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET03/25/12 vs. Pittsburgh # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET03/28/12 vs. Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 5:30 p.m. ET03/31/12 vs. DePaul # Chicago, Ill. 1:00 p.m. ET vs. DePaul # Chicago, Ill. 3:00 p.m. ET04/01/12 vs. DePaul # Chicago, Ill. 12:00 p.m. ET04/04/12 vs. Kentucky ULMER STADIUM 6:00 p.m. ET04/06/12 vs. Rutgers # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. Rutgers # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/07/12 vs. Rutgers # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET04/11/12 vs. Villanova # Villanova, Pa. 11:00 a.m. ET vs. Villanova # Villanova, Pa. 1:00 p.m. ET04/14/12 vs. Longwood ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. Longwood ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/15/12 vs. Longwood ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET04/18/12 vs. USF # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET vs. USF # ULMER STADIUM 4:00 p.m. ET04/21/12 vs. Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 12:00 p.m. ET vs. Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 2:00 p.m. ET04/22/12 vs. Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 12:00 p.m. ET04/25/12 vs. Indiana Bloomington, Ind. TBA04/28/12 at Georgetown # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET at Georgetown # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/29/12 at Georgetown # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET05/05/12 vs. St. John’s # Jamaica, N.Y. 12:00 p.m. ET vs. St. John’s # Jamaica, N.Y. 2:00 p.m. ET05/06/12 vs. St. John’s # Jamaica, N.Y. 12:00 p.m. ETBIG EAST Championship05/10-12/12 BIG EAST Championship South Bend, Ind. TBA

SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT JANUARY 12, 2012 L

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LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT’S CARDINAL KIDS

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SUBMIT A PICTURE OF YOUR CARDINAL KID BY

SENDING AN EMAIL TO: [email protected]

DUE TO OVERWHELMING POSITIVE RESPONSE, WE ARE PRINTING ALL PICTURES IN THE ORDER

SUBMITTED.

Jon Reid submitted a picture of Cardinal Kid Ian Reid at less than a week old.

Cardinal Kids Jake, Zac and Chase Collins prior to a

Louisville football game.

This is Christian(5) and Luke(2) Clements before the UL vs Syracuse game.

Sisters Claire and Sophie Parrott met up with sisters Jude and Shoni Schimmel at the 2011 women’s basketball luncheon.

Little Robert Austin is a Cardinal Kid at just three weeks old.

louisville sportsreport: jan. 12 issue

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