Louisville-Georgetown Postgame Notes

Dec. 28, 2011

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TEAM

The Cardinals dropped to 4-8 all-time against Georgetown and have lost three straight overall in the series.

With the loss, U of L fell one game shy of matching the school record for the best start in school history of 13-0 set three previous times with the most recent coming in the 1974-75 season. The loss also halted Louisville's longest winning streak overall since its 13-game stretch from Feb. 15-March 27, 2009. That winning streak ended with a loss to Michigan State in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Wednesday's defeat was the first at the KFC Yum! Center for Louisville in a BIG EAST Conference game and just the third overall in two seasons (30-3 record) in the downtown facility. Prior to the Georgetown loss, the Cardinals had won 20 straight at home, the sixth longest home winning streak in school history.

Louisville had its streak of three-straight wins in BIG EAST Conference openers ended with Wednesday's loss.

U of L dropped to 1-1 against ranked opponents this season. Overall, the Cardinals have won five of their last seven games against ranked foes, including a 62-60 overtime win against No. 19/20 Vanderbilt on Dec. 2.

The Cardinals were outrebounded for just the second time this season as the Hoyas finished with a 38-32 advantage on the glass. Long Beach State finished with a 37-32 rebounding edge in Louisville's 79-66 victory on Nov. 28.

Georgetown shot 47.9 percent (23-for-48) from the field, the highest percentage for a Louisville opponent this season. It is the highest field goal percentage allowed by Louisville since Syracuse finished at 51.1 percent (24-for-47) in the Cardinals' 73-69 win over the Orange on Feb. 12, 2011.

The Hoyas were 7-of-11 for 63.6 percent from three-point range, the highest percentage of the season for a Louisville opponent from long-range. It is the highest three-point percentage given up for a Louisville team since Villanova was 9-for-14 for 64.3 percent in its 92-84 win over the Cardinals in Freedom Hall on Jan. 11, 2010.

The Cardinals trailed by double-digits in the second half for the first time this season and were down by 11 (63-52) with 4:23 to go in the game. Louisville answered the deficit with an 11-0 run over a span of 1:55 to even the score at 63-63 before the Hoyas regained command for good with six straight points.

PLAYER

With 17 points, senior Kyle Kuric scored in double figures for the seventh straight game and led the Cardinals in scoring for the seventh time this season. Kuric has gone 40-for-79 (.506) from the field over that span, making at least half of his shots in six of seven contests.

Sophomore Russ Smith (14 points) has scored in double-figures in five straight games and six of the last seven games overall. In the Cardinals' last seven games, Smith is averaging 16.3 points.

Sophomore Gorgui Dieng had his streak of five straight double-doubles ended on Wednesday after finishing with seven points and eight rebounds prior to fouling out. Overall, Dieng has six double-doubles this season and seven for his career.

With his dunk at the 2:00 mark of the first half, freshman Chane Behanan ended a scoreless drought of more than 66 minutes (66:25 overall) dating back to the second half of the win over the College of Charleston on Dec. 20. After scoring his final points on a breakaway dunk against the Cougars, Behanan was held without a point in the win against Western Kentucky on Dec. 23 and was held scoreless for the first 18 minutes of tonight's game before breaking through with the slam.

Behanan, who scored eight points, pulled down eight boards on Wednesday, the 12th time in 13 career games he has recorded at least six.

Junior guard Peyton Siva scored 15 points, just one point shy of his season-high of 16 against Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 10. In the Cardinals' previous two games, Siva scored just five points total and was 2-for-12 from the field in wins against WKU and College of Charleston. On Wednesday, he was 5-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line to go along with six assists.

University of Louisville Athletics