By Catherine Laroche
With just a couple weeks left until the University of Louisville men’s basketball team heads into post season play, it’s no surprise I want to talk basketball right now. So, let’s talk some hoops…
Currently, the top four teams in the Big East are Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Marquette and Louisville. If someone would have asked me at the beginning of the season what Big East teams would hold down the top four spots in the conference going into the Big East tournament, I wouldn’t have predicted these to be the top four. So, what happened to the Hoyas of Georgetown (5-9 BE)? And who would have thought that the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (6-8 BE) would be fighting to make the NCAA tournament, much less trying to survive in the Big East? Before embarrassing Louisville with a 33-point win over the Cards, Notre Dame was on a 7-game losing streak, while Georgetown hasn’t grabbed a quality victory and failed to defeat Seton Hall, who is currently in the bottom five of the conference.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another shake-up in the Big East before or during the conference tournament. We’ll just have to wait and see.
What about Terrence Williams? Is there anything T-Will can’t do? He leads the Cards in scoring, assists, steals and is second to Earl Clark in rebounding. Against Big East opponents, he’s shot 47.4 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range, while averaging 12.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals. Whether he’s scoring 20 points a game or not, he’s constantly dishing the ball out to open teammates helping increase their scoring and the team’s chances to win. Seeing how the man is doing everything on the court right now, he’s one of the best players in the country, currently, and it’s no surprise he’s among the top 30 players in the nation up for the John R. Wooden Award and the Senior CLASS award. I expect him to continue his individual accomplishments and to help his team move closer to Detroit.
The Cardinals have just three more games left until they encounter the Big East tournament. They will play two consecutive home games against No. 10/11 Marquette and Seton Hall, and then travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia in their final game of the regular season. Initially, I thought Louisville would have no problem winning out the rest of the season and it would be easy holding on to a top four stance in the Big East to snatch a double-bye in the conference tournament. However, Big East teams are almost always finding a way to sneak in a victory unexpectedly. Seton Hall fought until the final seconds against No.1 Connecticut to lose by only eight points. West Virginia has quality wins over Marquette, Villanova and Providence, and only lost to U of L by six points in January. It’s no question the Cards are in for a battle when the Golden Eagles come to town. I can’t remember the last time the winner of this game didn’t come down to the final minutes or buzzard beating shot.
Last but not least, I want to recognize the students for improving school spirit. Whether the Cards are up by 20 or down by 2, the students haven’t stopped cheering the Cards to victory. While attending the game at Cincinnati, I ran into several U of L students and noticed the numerous C-A-R-D-S chants. Sometimes it sounded like I was in Freedom Hall. Keep it up fans, because the Cards are going to need the support to make it through the final weeks.
