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Louisville-St. John's Postgame Notes
January 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2011
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TEAM
- The win for Louisville extended its home winning streak against unranked (Associated Press) conference opponents to 16 games. The Cards last lost in Louisville to a BIG EAST foe outside the top 25 on Jan. 1, 2008 (58-57 to Cincinnati in the league opener).
- Louisville still has never lost at home to St. John's, improving to 6-0 all-time against the Red Storm in Louisville. U of L leads the all-time series 9-4 and has taken five of the past six.
- The game was the 800th of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino's coaching career. Pitino's career record stands at 587-213, tying him with the Cardinals' own Denny Crum for the fourth-most victories ever for a men's basketball coach in his first 25 seasons. With four more victories, Pitino will pass current West Virginia coach Bob Huggins (590 wins from 1981-2005) for third place.
Best coaching starts by victories (first 25 seasons)
1. 647-133 (.829) - Jerry Tarkanian, Long Beach State & UNLV (1969-92)
2. 600-208 (.743) - Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (1977-2001)
3. 590-211 (.737) - Bob Huggins, Walsh, Akron, & Cincinnati (1981-2005)
4. 587-213 (.734) - Rick Pitino, Boston U., Providence, Kentucky, & Louisville (1978-83, '85-87, '89-97, '01-Present)
4. 587-224 (.724) - Denny Crum, Louisville (1972-96)
6. 579-171 (.772) - Dean Smith, North Carolina (1962-86)
7. 573-218 (.724) - John Thompson, Georgetown (1973-97)
8. 571-219 (.723) - Mike Krzyzewski, Army & Duke (1976-2000)
- The Cards last had a better record through 18 games in 2003-04, when Louisville began 16-2.
- Louisville shot 65.4 percent (17-for-26) in the first half of Wednesday's game, its highest first-half percentage in a BIG EAST game since Feb. 23, 2009 (70.0 percent in a 76-58 win at Georgetown). It was the Cards' best first-half shooting percentage in a BIG EAST home game since Feb. 10, 2007 (68.0 percent in an 83-63 triumph over USF).
- The Cardinals shot 50.0 percent (13-for-26) from three in the game, their highest percentage in a BIG EAST regular-season game since hitting at a .529 (9-for-17) clip on March 7, 2009, at West Virginia. Louisville is shooting 45.8 percent (99-for-216) from distance over its past nine games.
- The 25-point win was Louisville's largest ever over St. John's, as was its point total of 88.
- U of L notched 13 steals in the contest--seven of which came from Peyton Siva--marking the team's 23rd straight game with at least six thefts. That ties for the longest streak by a Louisville club in the last 25 seasons (the 1994-95 squad had 6+ steals in the first 23 games of that season).
- St. John's entered the game committing just 11.8 turnovers per contest this season, yet turned the ball over 25 times in the game. The 25 turnovers were the most for the Red Storm since March 1, 2006 (27 at Villanova).
- The 25 turnovers were the most by a Louisville conference opponent since Providence had 26 in the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament (March 12) and the most by a regular-season league foe since the Friars had 26 on Jan. 13, 2007.
- Louisville is forcing a league-leading 18.1 turnovers per game this season. Now 13 of Louisville's 18 opponents have had at least 16 turnovers and 15 have had at least two more turnovers than assists.
PLAYER
- Sophomore Peyton Siva's career-high seven steals give him his seventh multi-steal game in Louisville's last eight contests. His steal average this year is 2.39, a mark that would put Siva fourth in Cardinal history if it holds up.
Highest single-season steal average, Louisville history
1. 2.61 - Tick Rogers - 1994-95 (86 in 33 G)
2. 2.44 - Alvin Sims - 1995-96 (83 in 34 G)
3. 2.43 - Alvin Sims - 1996-97 (85 in 35 G)
4. 2.39 - Peyton Siva - 2010-11 (43 in 18 G)
4. 2.39 - Darrell Griffith - 1979-80 (86 in 36 G)
6. 2.32 - Terrence Williams - 2008-09 (86 in 37 G)
7. 2.22 - Tick Rogers - 1995-96 (71 in 32 G)
8. 2.18 - Jason Osborne - 1994-95 (72 in 33 G)
9. 2.18 - Rick Wilson - 1975-76 (61 in 28 G)
10. 2.11 - LaBradford Smith - 1989-90 (74 in 35 G)
- The seven steals tie for the third most in a game in Cardinal history and the most since Alvin Sims had nine against VCU on Nov. 25, 1995.
Steals in a game, Louisville history
1. 10 - Tick Rogers vs. Western Carolina - 12.5.94
2. 9 - Alvin Sims vs. VCU - 11.25.95
3. 7 - Peyton Siva vs. St. John's - 1.19.11
3. 7 - Terrence Williams vs. Syracuse - 3.14.09
3. 7 - Edgar Sosa vs. Sacramento State - 12.2.06
3. 7 - Alvin Sims vs. Michigan State - 12.2.95
3. 7 - Jason Osborne at Tulane - 1.21.95
3. 7 - LaBradford Smith vs. Houston - 2.6.88
3. 7 - Lancaster Gordon vs. Tulane - 2.4.81
- Siva also notched a career-best 10 assists, tying for the 18th most in a game in Louisville history and the most since Terrence Williams had 13 on Nov. 17, 2008, against Hartford.
- Siva is the first player in Louisville history with 10 assists and seven steals in the same game. He is just the second player in the NCAA this season to have 10+ assists and 7+ steals in a single game, joining Byron Mulkey of Buffalo (also 10 assists and seven steals against Navy on Nov. 13).
- Siva becomes the first Louisville player to even have eight assists and five steals in one contest since Cameron Murray on Nov. 22, 1998, against Western Kentucky (eight and five).
- With 10 points as well, Siva secured his first career double-double. He also went 4-for-5 from the floor (including 2-for-2 from long distance), turned the ball over just twice, and picked up his fourth career block in the game.
- Senior Preston Knowles continued his impressive scoring display of late, finishing with 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting (including 4-of-12 from long range). He is averaging 19.8 points per game over his last nine contests.
- The 25-point game was the second of Knowles' career.
- Knowles has hit 38 threes over his last nine games, the second-highest nine-game total in Cardinal history, behind only Taquan Dean's 39 from March 20-Dec. 10, 2005.
- Knowles came one three-pointer away from becoming the first player in Cardinal history to hit five threes in three straight games. By hitting four, however, Knowles joins Taquan Dean, Brian Kiser, and Marques Maybin as the only U of L players to hit four or more threes in three straight contests. Dean holds the school record with four straight games with 4+ threes made.
Consecutive games with 4+ threes made, Louisville history
1. 4 - Taquan Dean - 1.30.06-2.11.06 (5-6-4-4)
1. 4 - Taquan Dean - 12.4.05-12.13.05 (6-7-4-4)
3. 3 - Preston Knowles - 1.12.11-Present (6-5-4)
3. 3 - Taquan Dean - 3.20.05-3.26.05 (4-5-7)
3. 3 - Taquan Dean - 2.20.05-3.3.05 (5-4-6)
3. 3 - Taquan Dean - 1.26.05-2.2.05 (4-5-5)
3. 3 - Marques Maybin - 1.29.98-2.5.98 (4-5-4)
3. 3 - Brian Kiser - 2.3.96-2.10.96 (4-4-5)
- Knowles' first free throw miss of the night snapped a streak of 13 consecutive tries made for the senior.
- Senior George Goode scored eight points in the game and has now scored 29 of his 53 points this season in the last five games.
- Junior Chris Smith continued his BIG EAST-best three-point shooting on Wednesday, hitting 2-of-3 from long range to up his season percentage to an even .500 (19-for-38). The league's top three-point shooters, through Wednesday's games:
Highest three-point percentage, BIG EAST
1. .500 - Chris Smith, Louisville (19-for-38)
2. .479 - Austin Freeman, Georgetown (45-for-94)
3. .469 - Larry Davis, Cincinnati (23-for-49)
4. .449 - Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh (61-for-136)
5. .442 - Dwight Buycks, Marquette (23-for-52)
- Junior Kyle Kuric made his first three three-point attempts for the third time this season, also doing so against UNLV on Dec. 11 (3-for-3) and versus Morgan State on Dec. 27 (5-for-5). Kuric would add a fourth trifecta before his first miss of the night.
- Kuric finished the game 5-for-7 in threes, upping his season three-point percentage to .439 (29-for-66) and his mark in home games to .473 (26-for-55). Over his last 17 home games dating back to last season, Kuric has connected on 49.2 percent (31-for-63) of his treys.
- Freshman Elisha Justice had two turnovers in the game, the first time he has committed more than one turnover in a game this season.
- Sophomore Stephan Van Treese went 2-for-2 from the floor in the game, giving him seven consecutive shots made over the last two games.
