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Louisville-Seton Hall Postgame Notes
January 05, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
TEAM
- The victory was the fifth straight for the Cardinals over Seton Hall in Louisville, who has not lost at home to the Pirates since Feb. 25, 1952 (81-83, the only win for Seton Hall at Louisville). The Cards lead the series 9-5, including a 5-1 record at home.
- The 19-point win was the second largest ever for Louisville over Seton Hall, with the only larger triumph coming on Dec. 14, 2002 (91-70).
- Louisville head coach Rick Pitino improves to 9-2 all-time versus Seton Hall.
- Pitino also moves to 26-7 against teams coached by his former assistants or players (SHU skipper Kevin Willard was an assistant at U of L under Pitino from 2001-07). Pitino is now 2-0 against Willard, having also beaten the Willard-led Iona Gaels 67-36 on Dec. 29, 2007.
- Kevin Willard's two head-to-head matchups with Pitino have not resulted in the best offense for the former Louisville assistant, as Willard's squads have scored just 90 points in two games (37 in the first half) against his former team while shooting just 24.2 percent (29-for-120) from the field, including 21.1 percent (12-for-57) in the first half.
- U of L's 12-2 record matches its best 14-game start since 2003-04, when Louisville won 16 of its first 17 games. Louisville also started 12-2 in 2005-06.
- The Cardinals improve to 3-3 all-time in BIG EAST openers, having won three straight after starting 0-3 in BIG EAST lidlifters.
- Louisville ups its record to 4-2 in BIG EAST home openers.
- Louisville picked up its 60th league win (to 27 losses) since joining the BIG EAST in 2005-06, the second-highest total of any BIG EAST team during that span (trailing only Pittsburgh, who is 62-26).
- Seton Hall did not get on the board until over six minutes had elapsed in the contest, first scoring at the 13:55 mark after Louisville had scored the game's first 10 points. The Pirates began the game 0-for-9 from the floor.
- Louisville would promptly score the next 14 points after SHU first got on the board to increase its lead to 24-2. The 24 points before the opponent's second made shot were the most for Louisville since the Cards took a 31-3 lead on South Alabama on Nov. 18, 2001.
- The 10-0 run to begin the game was Louisville's best start to a conference matchup since racing out to a 14-0 lead against Providence on Jan. 6 of last season (92-70 win).
- Louisville's 15-point halftime lead was its largest over a conference opponent since opening up a 51-21 lead at the break against DePaul on Feb. 15, 2009. Seton Hall's 21 first-half points were the fewest for a conference foe since Rutgers had just 20 on Jan. 21, 2009.
- Seton Hall's 22.6 percent (7-for-31) first-half shooting percentage lowered the shooting mark in the first half for Louisville's opponents this season to .350 (137-for-391).
- The 21 first-half points tie for the fewest by Seton Hall in any BIG EAST game since Jan. 4, 2006, when the Pirates managed just 15 in the first half against St. John's. The Pirates actually won that game, 69-61, thanks to 54 points in the second half and overtime.
- Seton Hall finished the game shooting 29.0 percent (18-for-62) from the floor, the lowest percentage for a Louisville conference opponent since St. John's hit 26.3 percent (15-of-57) on Feb. 21, 2007, in a 72-48 U of L win.
- The 29.0 percent clip was the lowest for Louisville's first league opponent since Jan. 5, 1981, when Tulane shot a slightly worse 29.0 percent (20-for-69) in a 73-53 Cardinal victory.
- Louisville held its first conference opponent under 60 points for the fourth straight season. U of L's first conference foes have averaged 55.3 points per game over the last four seasons.
BIG EAST openers for Louisville
1.5.11 - Louisville 73, Seton Hall 54
12.30.09 - Louisville 73, USF 52
1.7.09 - Louisville 71, USF 57
1.1.08 - Cincinnati 58, Louisville 57
1.3.07 - Notre Dame 78, Louisville 62
1.5.06 - Villanova 76, Louisville 67
- The 54-point output for Seton Hall, coupled with the Pirates' 53-point performance at Cincinnati on New Year's Eve, gives Seton Hall its lowest two-game point total since scoring 106 in the first two games of the 2005-06 season (66 against Manhattan and 40 versus Duke).
- Louisville shot 45.0 percent or better for the fourth straight game--the Cards are shooting 54.0 percent (163-of-302) over that stretch.
PLAYER
- Senior Preston Knowles tied a career high with nine rebounds and notched a season-high five assists, but failed to hit a three for the first time in 17 games. The 16-game streak with a three was the second-longest active stretch in the BIG EAST, trailing only the 19-game streak held by Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough.
- The 0-for-4 day from long range also ended Knowles' streak of seven straight games with multiple threes (which had been the longest active streak in the BIG EAST and the eighth-longest in Louisville history), his stretch of four straight games with 3+ threes (the sixth-best streak in Cardinal annals), and his two-game streak of 6+-three outings (tied for tops in Louisville history).
Consecutive games with multiple threes, Louisville history
1. 16 - Taquan Dean - 1.25.06-3.28.06 (4-3-5-6-4-4-3-2-5-3-3-3-7-3-5-5)
2. 11 - DeJuan Wheat - 12.2.95-1.10.96 (3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-4-2-4)
3. 9 - Edgar Sosa - 1.6.10-2.6.10 (5-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2)
3. 9 - Larry O'Bannon - 11.23.04-12.27.04 (2-4-3-3-3-2-2-2-2)
3. 9 - DeJuan Wheat - 1.3.97-1.30.97 (5-4-2-2-3-2-5-4-2)
3. 9 - DeJuan Wheat - 3.20.94-12.17.94 (2-2-5-2-4-5-4-3-3)
7. 8 - Reece Gaines - 12.7.02-1.8.03 (4-4-2-3-2-2-2-4)
8. 7 - Preston Knowles - 12.8.10-12.31.10 (2-2-2-6-3-6-6)
8. 7 - Jerry Smith - 1.19.08-2.9.08 (2-2-3-2-2-2-4)
8. 7 - Larry O'Bannon - 3.3.05-3.20.05 (5-5-2-2-3-3-2)
8. 7 - Taquan Dean - 2.20.05-3.12.05 (5-4-6-3-2-3-4)
8. 7 - Taquan Dean - 3.19.04-12.11.04 (6-4-2-3-4-3-4)
8. 7 - Taquan Dean - 12.30.03-1.21.04 (4-2-3-4-3-3-5)
Consecutive games with 3+ threes, Louisville history
1. 8 - Taquan Dean - 2.25.06-3.28.06 (5-3-3-3-7-3-5-5)
2. 7 - Taquan Dean - 1.25.06-2.18.06 (4-3-5-6-4-4-3)
3. 5 - Taquan Dean - 1.7.04-1.21.04 (3-4-3-3-5)
3. 5 - DeJuan Wheat - 3.12.95-11.26.95 (4-6-3-4-3)
3. 5 - DeJuan Wheat - 11.26.94-12.17.95 (4-5-4-3-3)
6. 4 - Preston Knowles - 12.18.10-12.31.10 (6-3-6-6)
6. 4 - Eight others
Consecutive games with 6+ threes, Louisville history
1. 2 - Preston Knowles - 12.27.10-12.31.10 (6-6)
1. 2 - Taquan Dean - 12.4.05-12.5.05 (6-7)
1. 2 - Reece Gaines - 2.1.02-2.5.02 (7-6)
1. 2 - Reece Gaines - 12.8.01-12.12.01 (6-6)
- Junior Chris Smith recorded another stellar shooting night, hitting 4-of-5 from the floor and 1-of-2 from distance. Smith leads the BIG EAST in three-point percentage at .538 and ranks second in field goal percentage (.598), including first among guards.
Highest three-point percentage, BIG EAST (through Wednesday's games)
1. .538 - Chris Smith, Louisville (14-for-26)
2. .486 - Larry Davis, Cincinnati (17-for-35)
3. .466 - Austin Freeman, Georgetown (34-for-73)
Highest field goal percentage, BIG EAST (through Wednesday's games)
1. .703 - Dante Taylor, Pittsburgh (45-for-64)
2. .598 - Chris Smith, Louisville (49-for-82)
3. .572 - Cleveland Melvin, DePaul (83-for-145)
Highest field goal percentage, BIG EAST guards (through Wednesday's games)
1. .598 - Chris Smith, Louisville (49-for-82)
2. .554 - Austin Freeman, Georgetown (102-for-184)
- Sophomore Peyton Siva's first steal on Wednesday night, while leading to a fast break, a dunk, and an 8-0 Louisville lead, also extended his steal streak to 14 consecutive games; Siva remains the only player in the BIG EAST with a steal in every game this season. He is averaging 2.8 thefts over his last four ballgames.
- Siva set a new career best with seven rebounds in the contest.
- Senior forward George Goode started his second career game on Wednesday night and first since Dec. 5, 2009, against Charlotte. Goode responded by scoring the game's first four points off of assists from Knowles.
- Freshman Gorgui Dieng recorded his fourth career four-block game on Wednesday, finishing with five (including four in just nine minutes of action in the first half).
- Sophomore Stephan Van Treese set new career marks in the game with 10 rebounds and 27 minutes played.
CORRECTION
- Postgame notes from the South Alabama and San Francisco games erroneously claimed sophomore guard Mike Marra and Taquan Dean as the only players in school history to hit multiple threes in the first six games of a season when DeJuan Wheat also belongs to that list. In fact, Wheat holds the school record for consecutive games with two or more threes to start a season, hitting 2+ in the first seven contests in 1994-95.
