Louisville-Long Beach State Postgame Notes

Nov. 28, 2011

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2

TEAM

Louisville's win came in the first-ever meeting between the Cards and Long Beach State. The Cardinals are 6-0 against the current alignment of the Big West Conference, winning the six contests against six different teams.

UofL extended its home winning streak to 14 games, improving to 24-2 in 26 games at the KFC Yum! Center. The win streak is the 16th different string of 14 or more consecutive home wins in school history and first since a 15-game streak from Jan. 10-Dec. 27, 2008. Louisville has not had a home streak of longer than 16 games since the 1987-88 and '88-'89 seasons (17 in a row from Feb. 1, 1988-Jan. 22, 1989).

Longest home win streaks, Louisville history
26 - 1.4.79-12.13.80; 12.19.55-12.20.57
25 - 1.23.68-12.6.69
24 - 1.19.74-12.9.76
22 - 12.8.82-1.25.84
21 - 12.6.76-12.28.77
20 - 1.29.66-12.1.67
19 - 1.17.81-1.16.82; 2.27.52-12.29.53
17 - 2.1.88-1.22.89
16 - 3.1.03-1.28.04
15 - 1.10.08-12.27.08
14 - 1.5.11-Present; 2.4.99-1.20.00; 12.2.72-3.3.73; 2.7.44-12.5.45

The streak is the second-longest active string in the BIG EAST, behind only Notre Dame's 24 straight wins at Purcell Pavilion.

Louisville improves to 6-0 for the second straight year, its first back-to-back 6-0 starts since the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons (6-0 and 8-0, respectively). A win over #20/19 Vanderbilt on Friday would give the Cards consecutive 7-0 starts for the first time in program history.

The contest was the third of a string of 10 straight home games for UofL, tying the school record. The Cards also played 10 in a row at home from Dec. 8-30, 2006, and from Nov. 16-Dec. 18, 2010.

UofL allowed more than 54 points in a game for the first time this season. Louisville had been the only school in the nation to hold each of its 2011-12 foes to fewer than 55 points.

Also snapped was Louisville's streak of seven consecutive home games holding the opposition to 60 points or less. The 49ers became the first KFC Yum! Center visitor to eclipse that mark since Syracuse scored 69 on Feb. 12, 2011.

UofL's 14 steals in the game tied for its most in a little over a year, since the Cards collected 19 in a 106-65 victory over Chattanooga on Nov. 22, 2010.

Clinging to a six-point lead (58-52) with under eight minutes to play, Louisville went a perfect 10-for-10 from the line down the stretch to halt any hopes of an LBSU comeback.

Louisville held the 49ers to 0-for-4 shooting with three turnovers in a game-opening 8-0 run.

The Cards made six of their first eight 3-pointers in the game before missing eight of their last nine.

PLAYER

Freshman Chane Behanan connected on his first 3-point try of the evening, his first career make from beyond the arc. He had begun the season 0-for-7 from long range.

Behanan also collected seven rebounds in the game, giving him six or more in every game of his career. His second-half block gives him one of those in every game as well.

Sophomore Gorgui Dieng registered another solid points-rebounds night, finishing with eight rebounds and nine points before fouling out. The center is averaging 9.7 points and 10.3 rebounds over his last three games.

Dieng blocked fewer than two shots for the first time this season, ending the game with one stuff. His five straight games with 2+ blocks to start the season fell two games shy of the school record of seven, set by Pervis Ellison in 1985-86.

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. 5 - Gorgui Dieng, 2011-12 (5-4-2-4-2)

Dieng has still blocked at least one shot in 30 of his 35 career games, including each of the last eight.

Senior Chris Smith increased his career point total (counting two seasons at Manhattan) to 985 after a 16-point outing on Monday night.

Smith set a Louisville career best with four made 3s in the game (six attempts), hitting each of his first three tries. He made four or more treys in a game twice while at Manhattan, going 5-for-7 against Long Island on Dec. 22, 2008, and 4-for-5 against Princeton just eight days earlier.

Smith recorded three assists and zero turnovers on the night, giving him 11 assists and no turnovers over his last 101 minutes of floor action dating back to the second half of the Butler game.

He also extended his streak of consecutive free throws made to 12, another streak beginning in the Butler contest, and tied a Louisville career best with three steals. Smith had one four-steal game with the Jaspers, nabbing a quartet against Morgan State on Nov. 19, 2008.

Junior Peyton Siva notched five assists in the game, including three in the first two minutes and 23 seconds, to give him 23 in four games this season. Siva is averaging 6.2 dimes since March 2 of last year, collecting at least five in eight of 10 games over that span.

Siva is bidding to become only the second Cardinal to average six or more assists per game over an entire season. The only member of that club so far is Labradford Smith, who dished out 6.5 per game in 1989-90.

Siva also recorded his fourth career five-steal game, all of which have come at the KFC Yum! Center. He has eight career games with four or more steals, 14 with three or more, and 31 with at least two.

Peyton Siva five-steal games
7 vs. St. John's, 1.19.11
6 vs. Connecticut, 2.18.11
5 vs. Long Beach State, 11.28.11
5 vs. Morgan State, 12.27.10

With an 11-point effort, Siva is now over the halfway mark to 1,000 career points, ending the game with 503.

Siva has now made 17 consecutive free throws after a 4-for-4 evening from the charity stripe. His lone miss this season came in his first try against UT Martin in the opener.

Sophomore Russ Smith's two steals give him 10 this season - at least one in every game - and 23 in 201 minutes for his career, translating to 4.6 per 40 minutes of playing time. Smith has a steal in 17 of 23 career games despite averaging just 8.7 minutes.

Smith's 11 points marked a career high, besting the nine points he had reached on three separate occasions. He also tied a career best with three assists.

Redshirt junior Jared Swopshire pulled down six rebounds, the 14th time in his last 15 games he has recorded five or more (dating back to the 2009-10 season).

Louisville forced LBSU senior guard Larry Anderson, a two-time first-team All-Big West selection, into five turnovers in the first half alone on Monday. Anderson had not had more turnovers in an entire game since recording six against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 7, 2010.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Chane Behanan

Gorgui Dieng

Terrence Jennings

Peyton Siva

Chris Smith

Russ Smith

Jared Swopshire

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