Let the good times roll!
After a rough start to conference play, the Louisville Cardinals are back on the winning side of things. They extended their longest winning streak of 2012 to three games by squeezing out a win against Big East opponent Seton Hall on Saturday, 60-51.
The win improves the Cards to 17-5 overall on the season, but more importantly, they move to 5-4 in conference, continuing to methodically climb in the conference standings. Combined with lackluster performances from other teams, Louisville has climbed back into a day one bye in the Big East conference tournament, currently sitting in a three-way tie for sixth place with West Virginia and Cincinnati (the top four teams get a two-day-bye, teams five through eight get a one-day-bye).
Louisville actually got outscored in the second half of this game 24-30 by the Pirates, but Louisville's 15 point halftime lead (36-21) would prove too much for Seton Hall to overcome.
Freshman guard Russ Smith came off the bench for Louisville in this one, and led the Cardinals with 14 points. Guard Chris Smith and Center Gorgui Dieng both scored 11, and were the only other Cardinals to get into double digits. Rebounding was a huge advantage for Louisville in this one, 40-29. Dieng cleared 14 boards and Chane Benhanan another 12 to lead the Cardinals on the glass.
The storyline of the night, however, was shooting. Seton Hall was beyond cold, frozen stiff might be the better verbiage. The Pirates shot 27.6% from the field and 16.7% from distance. Louisville, on the other hand, managed 45.5% from the field and 33.3% on 3 point shots.
By virtue of the three game winning streak, Louisville has hung on to the #25 ranking in the Examiner.com poll, as well as the Coaches Poll. They are still on the outside looking in of the AP Poll.
The Cardinals actually have the business week off; their next contest isn't until Saturday, when they will host Rutgers at the KFC Yum! Center. The game is Saturday, February 4th at 4:00pm. Insight customers can catch the game on ESPN3.com.
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