By Derek DeBurger
Louisville will look to stop the bleeding when the Arkansas State Red Wolves come to town.
Coming off of what should’ve been the first of three sure-fire wins, the Cards will need to be victorious to try and salvage the season. Ken Pomeroy only predicts three more wins for the Cards for the rest of the season, and according to his metrics, Arkansas State is the first.
The talent level between these teams is apples to oranges, yet statistically are almost identical. Two notable differences, however, are the assists per game and three-point shooting. The Wolves are averaging 3.8 more assists per game, and shooting 5.7 percentage points better than the Cards. These differentials could be the downfall for the Cards if they’re not careful in how they attack their offense.
The Wolves are also similar to the Cards in that they’re not huge fans of playing defense, so this should be an up-and-down game throughout like the season opener against UMBC. One player for the Wolves that could break this game wide open is Caleb Fields. Fields is the leading assister of Arkansas State, and he’s almost automatic from deep. Fields has hit 46.2% of his threes this season, and if the Cards don’t put a hand in his face on every possession then that number could look a lot higher for Wednesday’s game.
There’s not anything new to say about the Cards — they’re the same team they’ve been all year as long (as they don’t play in New York). They’re capable of winning any game, but so far they’ve lost to the majority of them.
Honestly, I don’t expect the Cards to win, and I expect the seat of Kenny Payne to get a lot hotter.
File Photo // Vinny Porco, The Louisville Cardinal
