.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Louisville-Arkansas State Postgame Notes
November 22, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
TEAM
- Louisville improves to 3-0 all-time against Arkansas State, also winning 67-55 on Dec. 4, 2005, and 68-36 on Jan. 17, 1948. The Red Wolves have averaged just 39.3 points over the three matchups.
- The Cards are 80-44 all-time against the current alignment of the Sun Belt. UofL will also play SBC foe Western Kentucky on Dec. 23.
- UofL begins the year 4-0 for the third consecutive season, the first time the Cardinals have had back-to-back-to-back 4-0 starts since the 1953-54, 1954-55, and 1955-56 seasons.
- The game was the first of a string of 10 straight home contests for Louisville, tying the school record for consecutive home games. UofL also played 10 in a row at home from Dec. 8-30, 2006, and from Nov. 16-Dec. 18, 2010.
- Louisville has now won 12 straight at home, its longest streak since winning 15 straight at Freedom Hall from Jan. 10-Dec. 27, 2008. With wins over Ohio and Long Beach State, Louisville would record the 16th different home win streak of 14+ games in school history.
- The Cards are 22-2 in 24 regular-season games at the KFC Yum! Center since its opening last year.
- Through four games this season, the Cardinals have put together a defensive performance not seen in Louisville in over 65 years. Louisville held its fourth straight opponent to fewer than 55 points, the first time UofL has accomplished the feat at any point in the season since Dec. 4-14, 1946, when the Cards held Georgetown College (40), Western Kentucky (52), Hanover (43), and Indiana (46) all below the mark.
- Louisville has now held six straight home opponents to 60 points or fewer, the longest streak for the Cards since holding nine consecutive Freedom Hall opponents to 60 or less from Dec. 26, 2007-Feb. 18, 2008. In 24 games at the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville is allowing an average of just 58.3 points, including an astounding 41.0 this year.
- After taking 5-0 and 7-3 leads to begin the game, Arkansas State went cold for a period of over nine minutes (9:21), failing to crack the scoreboard during a 16-0 Cardinal run. The scoreless stretch set a new arena record for longest opponent scoring drought in terms of time, besting the period of 9:18 Louisville held San Francisco off the scoreboard during the Dons' 11-point second half.
Longest opponent scoring droughts (by time), KFC Yum! Center history
9:21 (16-0) vs. Arkansas State (16:53 to 7:32 in 1st), Nov. 22, 2011
9:18 (16-0) vs. San Francisco (19:34 to 10:16 in 2nd), Dec. 8, 2010
- The Red Wolves managed just 12 points in that first half, the fewest for any Cardinal opponent in a first half since the 1972-73 season (box scores unavailable prior). Only twice since that time has a Louisville foe had fewer tallies in a half, with those coming last year (11 in second half by San Francisco on Dec. 8) and in the 1981 Metro Tournament (11 by Cincinnati in second half on March 7).
Fewest opponent points in a half, since 1972-73
1. 11 - San Francisco - 12.8.10 (36-11, 2nd)
1. 11 - Cincinnati - 3.7.81 (20-11, 2nd)
3. 12 - Arkansas State - 11.22.11 (22-12, 1st)
4. 14 - Morehead State - 12.27.04 (53-14, 2nd)
4. 14 - Morgan State - 12.30.98 (46-14, 1st)
6. 15 - Arkansas State - 11.22.11 (32-15, 2nd)
6. 15 - Florida International - 12.1.10 (48-15, 1st)
6. 15 - East Carolina - 1.19.05 (52-15, 1st)
6. 15 - South Florida - 1.10.04 (40-15, 1st)
6. 15 - South Alabama - 11.18.01 (47-15, 1st)
- The 12-point half came just two days after the Louisville women's team also held an opponent (Xavier) to 12 in the first period, setting a school record for fewest points allowed in the first half.
- Arkansas State's 27 total points were also something Louisville had not witnessed in 64+ years. The Red Wolves became the first Cardinal opponent to score fewer than 30 points since Feb. 4, 1947, when Louisville won at Georgetown College, 20-13. No opponent has scored fewer in a Louisville home game since Nichols Hospital had 22 in an 87-22 UofL win on Feb. 19, 1944.
- Louisville became the first team to hold a Division I opponent to 27 points or less since Ohio State beat Samford 59-22 on Nov. 29, 2008. It is only the 20th time in the last 15 seasons a Division I team has scored 27 points or fewer in a game (and the first involving a BIG EAST team):
27 points or less by Division I team, since 1997-98
11.22.11 - Louisville 54, Arkansas State 27
11.29.08 - Ohio State 59, Samford 22
11.15.08 - Washington State 76, Mississippi Valley State 25
1.10.08 - George Washington 49, Saint Louis 20
1.7.08 - Kansas State 85, Savannah State 25
11.24.07 - Washington State 71, Mississippi Valley State 26
12.28.06 - Texas A&M 101, Grambling 27
11.28.06 - Florida 83, Southern U. 27
12.14.05 - Monmouth 41, Princeton 21
11.20.05 - Oregon 83, Savannah State 23
1.6.05 - Boston U. 73, Hartford 22
2.22.04 - Bucknell 75, Army 25
1.23.04 - Bucknell 56, Army 23
12.20.03 - Nebraska 70, Bethune-Cookman 26
12.2.03 - Oklahoma 94, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 24
11.22.02 - LSU 68, Nicholls State 24
12.29.01 - Dayton 60, Miami (Ohio) 23
11.16.01 - California 56, Eastern Washington 27
11.26.99 - Evansville 48, Northwestern 26
12.9.98 - Princeton 68, Bucknell 27
- Tuesday marked the first time Louisville doubled an opponent's score since Jan. 19, 2005 (92-41 over East Carolina).
- The teams' combined 81 points were the fewest in a Louisville contest since the Cards' 42-31 win over Cincinnati in the Metro Conference Tournament on March 7, 1981. The 34-point (22-12) first half was also the lowest scoring period since that game, when UofL outscored the Bearcats 20-11 in the second half.
- UofL's 54 points were its fewest in a win since a 47-44 victory over the Miami Redhawks on Dec. 1, 2007.
- Louisville held Arkansas State to just 10-for-41 (.244) shooting in the game, the third time this season Louisville has held an opponent under 30 percent from the floor. Coupled with Lamar's .231 (15-for-65) shooting on Nov. 13, the 2011-12 Cardinal squad is responsible for two of the five lowest opponent shooting percentages over the last 40 years.
Lowest opponent shooting percentage, since 1972-73
1. .190 (11-58) - Iona (H) - 12.29.07
2. .196 (11-56) - Memphis (A) - 2.26.05
3. .227 (15-66) - Holy Cross (H) - 12.7.03
4. .231 (15-65) - Lamar (H) - 11.13.11
5. .244 (10-41) - Arkansas State (H) - 11.22.11
- Louisville has now held seven different opponents to less than 30 percent shooting over the last two seasons, including three this year (UT Martin, Lamar, and Arkansas State). Last season, the Cards held FIU (.283), Seton Hall (.290), Rutgers (.295), and Marquette (.298 in BIG EAST Tournament meeting) below the mark.
- The Red Wolves also shot poorly from three (1-for-10, .100) and from the line (6-for-18, .333). The three-point mark was the lowest for a UofL foe since St. John's went 1-for-13 (.077) on Feb. 11, 2010, while the free-throw clip was the worst for an opponent since Jan. 28, 2009 (3-for-10 by USF).
- For the season, Louisville's opponents are shooting just .286 from the field, .215 from three, and .543 from the free-throw line.
- Coupled with Butler's 12 consecutive misses to end the Nov. 19 contest, UofL's opponents have connected on just one of their last 22 three-point attempts.
- Arkansas State managed only two assists in the game, the first time a Louisville opponent has had that few since Marquette also had two on Jan. 17, 2008, in a 71-51 Cardinal triumph.
- Louisville outscored ASU 8-0 on fast breaks in the game, giving the squad a 34-6 advantage in fast-break points for the season.
- The win gave head coach Rick Pitino his 603rd career victory (603-224, .729) and his 249th (249-96, .722) with Louisville. Pitino's 250th win with the Cards will make him the eighth NCAA Division I coach to amass 250+ more wins with one school and 200+ with another (Pitino went 219-50 at Kentucky from 1989-97). Active coaches currently on the list are Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and Roy Williams of North Carolina.
250 wins at one school and 200 at another, NCAA Division I history
Jim Calhoun, 1973-Present (Northeastern 248, Connecticut 611)
Hugh Durham, 1967-95 (Florida State 230, Georgia 297)
Lou Henson, 1963-96, '98-'05 (Illinois 423, New Mexico State 226)
Ralph Miller, 1952-89 (Wichita State 220, Oregon State 342)
Norm Sloan, 1952-55, '57-'89 (Florida 232, NC State 266)
Eddie Sutton, 1972-89, '91-'06, '08 (Arkansas 260, Oklahoma State 368)
Roy Williams, 1989-Present (Kansas 418, North Carolina 229)
- Louisville was facing the only team in the nation with two coaches on its staff who have led teams to the Final Four as head coaches. Current head coach John Brady guided the LSU Tigers to the Final Four in 2006, while assistant Richard Williams was at the helm of the 1996 Mississippi State Bulldog Final Four team.
PLAYER
- Sophomore center Gorgui Dieng blocked four more shots in the contest, his fourth multi-block effort in as many games to begin the year. Dieng is one of three Cardinals all-time to start the year with at least a pair of blocks in each of the first four games, joining recent teammate Terrence Jennings (six straight to open last season) and Louisville career blocks leader Pervis Ellison (seven straight to start the '85-'86 title campaign).
Consecutive multi-block games to begin season, Louisville history
1. 7 - Pervis Ellison, 1985-86 (4-2-2-2-2-3-5)
2. 6 - Terrence Jennings, 2010-11 (4-3-3-6-2-3)
3. 4 - Gorgui Dieng, 2011-12 (5-4-2-4)
- Dieng's 15 blocks through four games are the second most in Cardinal history over the first four games of the season. Jennings holds the Louisville record, blocking 16 shots over the first four games last year.
Blocks through four games, Louisville history
1. 16 - Terrence Jennings, 2010-11 (4-3-3-6)
2. 15 - Gorgui Dieng, 2011-12 (5-4-2-4)
3. 13 - Kendall Dartez, 2003-04 (0-1-9-3)
4. 12 - Pervis Ellison, 1986-87 (3-1-7-1)
- The four-block game was the eighth of Dieng's 33-game career and third in four games this season. He is the first player in Cardinal history with three four-block games over the first four games of the season.
- Dieng is the first Cardinal with three four-block games in any four-game span since Samaki Walker in 1994-95. Walker had seven blocks against Notre Dame on Jan. 7 of that year before recording four versus Southern Miss (Jan. 14) and seven at Charlotte (Jan. 19) in consecutive games.
- Sophomore Russ Smith matched a career-high in scoring for the second straight game, going a perfect 3-for-3 from long range to finish with nine points. Smith is the first player in arena history to hit three treys without a miss and the first Cardinal to do it in any game since Rakeem Buckles was 3-for-3 at Western Kentucky last season (Dec. 22). No Louisville player had done it in a home game since Dec. 2, 2009 (Edgar Sosa 3-for-3 versus Stetson).
- Smith also collected a pair of steals for the second straight game and third time this season. He as 20 steals in 157 minutes for his career, an average of 5.1 per 40 minutes of playing time.
- Senior Chris Smith set a new Louisville career best with seven assists, besting the six he had against Morgan State last season (Dec. 27). He reached the mark without a single turnover in the game, giving him 15 assists and just four turnovers for the year.
- Smith is the first Cardinal to have 7+ assists in a game without a turnover since Terrence Williams at Pittsburgh on Feb. 12, 2007 (seven assists).
- With seven rebounds in the game, redshirt junior Jared Swopshire has collected 5+ rebounds in 13 straight games dating back to his 2009-10 season.
- Sophomore Elisha Justice tied a career best with three steals in the game.
