By Andrew Krumme
Louisville’s Taquan Dean said it best of the Cincinnati Bearcats: “Coming into the game, we knew we had to take their first punch and keep going.” The Cardinals took the first punch, pulled it together, and squeezed out a thrilling three-point victory against the Bearcats at the Shoemaker Center last Saturday.
Down 10-0, and then trailing later in the first half 25-8, head coach Rick Pitino and his basketball team clawed back to take down the Cats 69-66. Paced by Dean’s game-high 25 points, Louisville did something they could not have done last year – beat Bob Huggins and his team in Cincinnati.
It was common knowledge going into the game that UC was gearing toward stopping junior Francisco Garcia on the offensive side of the ball. While Garcia was held to just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting, he made up for it in several other ways. Garcia played great defense throughout, not to mention dropping six assists, including a pretty pass to Larry O’Bannon on a backdoor cut that took the wind out of UC late in the game.
On the other side of the ball, two UC guards – not the big boys down low – kept their squad in the game. James White totaled 15 points and seven assists (since, for one day, he figured out how to shoot and not just float around and rely on his athleticism) to combine with Nick Williams, who shot six three-pointers for 18 points.
Pitino credited his team’s comeback to the half time adjustments on defense. In the second half, the Cardinals limited the play of Eric Hicks, Jason Maxiell and freshman Roy Bright.
“We knew we had to play more zone because of our depth, but I think going from the 2-2-1 press into the zone was the big difference,” Pitino said.
Clearly Louisville’s defense change kept Maxiell and Hicks from ravaging the Cards in the paint and on the glass: they combined for just eight rebounds, nine short of their season averages.
Pitino tabbed the win as a pivotal turning point for the season. He praised the play of Dean throughout the post-game press conference and seemed to emphasize that the junior guard does not always get the credit he deserves. “Francisco and Taquan are like Batman and Robin: sometimes Francisco gets more publicity while Taquan is one special player.”
While the win was a big one for the Cardinals, who may still have been reeling on the inside from their three-point loss against an inferior Houston ball club, they will have just a couple days to enjoy the victory.
The Cards are slated to take on ECU tomorrow at home.
A closer look at ECU
ECU has long been the doormat of C-USA in both football and basketball. While nothing seems to have changed this year (the Pirates are 5-10 in hoops and finished the football season 2-9), coach Bill Herrion is gearing up for a possible move in the conference when the big dogs move out next year.
Herrion has an extremely young team with loads of potential. While juniors David Bell, Mike Castro and senior Moussa Badiane currently carry the team, the Pirates have two sophomores and five freshmen that log some serious minutes. But, unfortunately for ECU, they are still in the present and will have to wait for their young group to mature if they ever want to contend with a team like Louisville.
The Cards will be relieved to be back at Freedom Hall after two straight road games, and ECU will need a whole lot of help to pull out a win in Louisville.
Eastern Carolina is lead by sophomore guard Mike Cook who leads the team in scoring at 16 ppg. While Cook takes care of scoring, fellow sophomore and backcourt mate Japhet McNeil does the dealing. The promising young point guard is averaging almost five assists a game and runs the show for Herrion.
Badiane is the leader and lone senior on the team and averages a solid 12 points and seven rebounds per game. Badiane’s extremely raw and athletic frame makes him a force when it comes to blocking shots. He needs just 53 to break the C-USA all-time record and is a candidate for defensive player of the year in conference play.
Junior Coery Rouse is a nice complement to Badiane, averaging nearly a double double with 10 ppg and 9.8 rpg.
ECU lost to the Cardinals by 10 points last year during the Cardinals’ long winning streak. The Pirates will have to hope Garcia, Dean and company are pretty banged up from the UC game to have any chance at making a dent in the Cardinal defense on Wednesday.
Look for the Cards in a blowout, but after the thrilling victory at Cincinnati, they could be destined for a letdown and allow the Pirates to pull off an upset. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.
