Louisville-Western Kentucky Postgame Notes
December 23, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2011
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TEAM
- Louisville improved to 13-1 all-time in the Billy Minardi Classic, which originated in 2002 to honor the memory of Billy Minardi, the brother-in-law of U of L coach Rick Pitino, who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
- The Cardinals improved to 26-18 all-time at home against WKU, while the Hilltoppers hold a 39-36 advantage overall in the series, which dates back to 1926.
- Louisville coach Rick Pitino improved to 6-1 all-time against Western Kentucky.
- U of L has now won 12 straight games to open a season for the first time since the 1974-75 squad began 13-0, tying the school record for best season start. The 1960-61 and '66-'67 teams also ran off 13 consecutive wins to open the year.
- The 12-game win streak is the Cardinals' longest overall since a 13-gamer from Feb. 15-March 27, 2009, one ending with a loss to Michigan State in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Cardinal victory also extended Louisville's home win streak to 20 games dating back to a 78-63 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 31, 2010. That streak is Louisville's longest since winning 22 consecutive home contests from Dec. 8, 1982-Jan. 25, 1984, and ranks tied for the seventh longest in U of L history.
- U of L remains one of six unbeatens nationally entering Friday's games. Syracuse (13-0), Indiana (12-0), Missouri (12-0), and Murray State (13-0) are also without a loss this year, while unbeaten Baylor (11-0) is playing West Virginia tonight.
- Louisville battled back from a 13-point first half deficit (22-9, 9:54) in the victory, the 12th time in the last two seasons the Cardinals have come back to win after trailing by seven or more. Nine of those 12 contests have taken place at the KFC Yum! Center.
- The 13-point deficit (22-9) in the first half was the Cardinals' largest of the season, surpassing the previous high of nine (43-34) against Vanderbilt on Dec. 2, and the highest overall since they trailed by 16 (46-30) to Notre Dame in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament on March 11, 2011. Louisville came back to earn the win in overtime in that game against Notre Dame.
- Following a pair of early ties (2-2, 4-4), WKU went on a 10-0 run to push its lead to double-digits for the first time at 14-4 with 13:21 left in the first half. The Cardinals' first lead of the game came with 2:37 left in the first half when Kyle Kuric buried a three-pointer from the left corner for a 33-32 advantage.
- The Hilltoppers moved back ahead 34-33 at the 2:11 mark before Louisville regained the lead at 35-34 on a Rakeem Buckles layup with 1:39 left in the half.
- After WKU took a 30-19 lead with 6:35 left in the first half, the Cardinals outscored the Hilltoppers 18-4 over the final 5:46 to take a 37-34 advantage into the halftime break.
- WKU shot 53.8 percent (14-for-26) in the first half, the highest field goal percentage allowed by Louisville in any half this season and the highest since Notre Dame was 17-for-30 for 56.7 percent in the first half of the BIG EAST semifinal game on March 11, 2011.
- After taking a three-point lead into halftime, the Cardinals saw their advantage disappear as WKU opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 44-37 lead. Louisville was held scoreless for the first 5:32 of the second half before a Peyton Siva layup halted the Hilltoppers' second 10-0 run of the night.
- The Cardinals started each half of Friday's game very slowly offensively with only five points in the first eight minutes of the first half and only two points in the initial eight minutes of the second half. During those 16 minutes of action, Louisville was outscored 29-7.
- Trailing 47-39 in the second half, the Cardinals answered the challenge with a 22-3 run over a span of 8:05 to take a 61-50 lead with 3:20 to go. During the run, Louisville moved back into the lead for good at 52-50 on a Russ Smith three-pointer with 6:53 left in the game.
- Friday's game marked the third time this season Louisville (40 percent, 22-of-55) has finished with a lower percentage from the field than its opponent (WKU, 44.2 percent, 23-of-52). Prior to Friday, Louisville finished with a lower field percentage than its opponent in wins over Memphis and Ohio.
- U of L finished with a season-high 20 turnovers surpassing the previous high of 19 against Tennessee-Martin on Nov. 11.
PLAYER
- Sophomore Russ Smith led the Cardinals in scoring with 23 points, just one point shy of his career-best 24-point performance against Memphis on Dec. 17.
- Smith has scored in double-figures in four straight games and five of six overall.
- Sophomore Gorgui Dieng finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds on Friday for his fifth consecutive double-double to become the first Cardinal to accomplish the feat since Luke Whitehead had five from March 8-21, 2003 (after he had zero double-doubles over his first 26 games that year).
- Dieng has six double-doubles this season and seven for his career.
- Dieng has finished with 12 or more rebounds in all five games of the stretch, making him the first Cardinal to put together such a streak since at least the 1971-72 season.
- Senior Kyle Kuric scored in double figures for the sixth straight game, finishing with 15 points. Kuric has gone 35-for-66 (.530) from the field over that span, making at least half of his shots in all six contests.
- Freshman Chane Behanan corralled seven boards on Friday, the 11th time in 12 career games he has recorded at least six.
- Behanan (0-for-4 from the field, 0-for-2 on free throws) was held without a point for the first time in his 12-game collegiate career. His previous scoring low came in four-point performances against Fairleigh Dickinson and Butler.
- With his four assists before fouling out, junior Peyton Siva ended a stretch of seven straight games with at least five assists.
Players Mentioned
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