By Whitney Spencer
The University of Louisville men’s basketball team seemed to leave their game in Louisville as they headed to New York to play St. John’s University. In early January the two teams met in Freedom Hall, with the Cardinals winning by seven. But anyone who watched the game on Thursday, Feb. 11 would have thought twice about which team was 2-8 in Big East play.
After trailing 12-0 in the opening minutes of the game, the Cards picked up their game. But sloppy sets on offense and poor rotations on defense left the Cardinals fighting an uphill game.
St. John’s forward D.J. Kennedy scored 15 points and forward Justin Burrell matched his season high, with 14. St. John’s now sits at 13-10 for the season and 3-8 in the Big East. The team hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2002 and has had five losing seasons in the last six years.
U of L head coach Rick Pitino attributed his team’s poor performance to the Red Storm’s defense.
“It was our worst game of the season,” said Pitino. “But I think St. John’s had a lot to do with that, with the way they play defense. Four or five of our guys had their poorest game of the season, but that’s due to their great defense.”
Sophomore forward Samardo Samuels had 18 points for the Cardinals. But Samuels was the only offense U of L could muster, as they were held 25 points below their season average. The team went 9-of-18 from the free throw line, missed 10 of their first 11 3-point attempts, and had 16 turnovers. U of L is now 15-9 for the season and 6-5 in the Big East.
Next up for the Cardinals is the best team in the Big East. U of L will play at Syracuse University on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. Syracuse is ranked No. 2 in the country and the team’s zone defense has caused problems for every opponent they have faced this season.
