No. 5/4 Cardinals Continue Homestand Saturday Versus Fairleigh Dickinson
December 09, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2011
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GAME NOTES
Louisville Game Notes 
| Fairleigh Dickinson Notes
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's basketball team continues its homestand on Saturday, Dec. 10, against Fairleigh Dickinson at the KFC Yum! Center. Tip is set for 4:07 p.m., and the game will be televised on WHAS (Ch. 11 in Louisville), with Drew Deener (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (color) calling the action.
The men's game is part of a doubleheader, as the game will follow the Louisville women's basketball team's contest against Gardner-Webb at noon.
The Cardinals, ranked No. 4 by the Associated Press and fifth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, continued their unbeaten streak on Wednesday by posting a 90-60 victory over visiting IUPUI. Chris Smith led all scorers with 19 points, surpassing 1,000 for his career, and Gorgui Dieng, who was 8-of-8 from the floor, added a double-double of 18 points and 12 boards in the win. Russ Smith (12 points) and Kyle Kuric (11 points) each tallied double-digit point totals as well. Collectively, the Cardinals shot better than 50 percent from the floor in the first and second halves, while connecting on 17-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe. Fifty of the Cardinals' points came in the paint, and Louisville had 18 fast break points compared to IUPUI's zero. Stephen Thomas totaled 14 points to lead the Jaguars, who made nine 3-pointers in the game.
Kuric, who leads the team with 12.3 points per game for 98 points on the year, is one tally shy of 600 for his career. The senior has reached double figures in 15 of his last 21 games dating back to the 2010-11 campaign.
Fairleigh Dickinson comes to Louisville sporting a 1-7 overall record, falling in both of its conferences games thus far. The Knights fell to 0-6 on the road after suffering their worst loss of the year at Stony Brook by a score of 70-46. Louisville graduate and former letterwinner George Goode led the team with 13 points and 11 boards, his second-straight double-double, while Mouhamed Lo chipped in 12 points. Fairleigh Dickinson committed 21 turnovers and only shot 34 percent (17-of-50) from the floor. Despite holding Stony Brook to 41.4 percent from the field for the game, the Seawolves shot 14-of-25 (56 percent) in the second period.
The Knights are under the guidance of Greg Vetrone, who's in his second full season at the helm of the program. He served as interim head coach from 2009-10 and directed FDU to a 5-24 overall mark last season, going 3-15 in league play. Alongside Vetrone on the staff is Chris Brickley, who was a walk-on player at Louisville from 2009-10. Fairleigh Dickinson returned four letterwinners, including two starters, from 2010-11. Lonnie Hayes currently leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game, while Goode is the team's leader in rebounds at 7.5 per game. FDU was picked to finish last (12th) in the Northeast Conference.
THE SERIES - Louisville vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Louisville was victorious in the only two meetings against Fairleigh Dickinson, winning the 2005 meeting, 89-66, and the 1986 contest by a score of 82-74. In the last meeting between the two schools, Taquan Dean tallied 19 points to lead the Cardinals' four double-digit scorers. Current program assistant, Andre McGee, had five assists and two points off the bench in the win. In the 1986 matchup, Pervis Ellison registered a double-double of 21 points and 12 boards.
GAME FACTS - Fairleigh Dickinson at Louisville
Date: Saturday, Dec. 10
Time: 4:07 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000)
TV: WHAS-TV (Ch. 11 in Louisville) will televise the game, with Drew Deener (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (color) calling the action.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) will broadcast the game on radio, with Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Doug Ormay (color) calling the action.
SIRIUS: Game will be available on SIRIUS Channel 93 and XM Channel 191.
Series History: Louisville leads the all-time series, 2-0 (2-0 in Louisville).
Officials: Pat Driscoll, Jeff Clark, Paul Szelc
Next U of L Game: Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. Memphis, Hall of Fame Shootout, KFC Yum! Center, 4 p.m. ET (CBS)
