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Louisville-Pittsburgh Postgame Notes
February 27, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2011
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TEAM
- Louisville has now defeated four consecutive AP top-five opponents for the second time in school history and first since 1956. The Cards took down Dayton three times during the 1955-56 season (when the Flyers were ranked second, second, and third, respectively) and then downed #5 St. Louis in Freedom Hall on Dec. 28, 1956. U of L has never beaten five straight top-five teams.
- Louisville, Pittsburgh, and St. John's are the only three teams in the nation to have beaten two AP top-five teams this season.
Two wins over AP top-five teams in 2010-11
Louisville - 79-78 at #5 Connecticut (1.29), 62-59 vs. #4 Pittsburgh (2.27)
St. John's - 93-78 vs. #3 Duke (1.30), 60-59 vs. #4 Pittsburgh (2.19)
Pittsburgh - 78-63 vs. #4 Connecticut (12.27), 74-66 vs. #3 Syracuse (1.17)
- Of the three, only Louisville has had one of its wins come on the road.
- U of L won its third straight game against a top-15 opponent, also beating #13 UConn on Feb. 18 and #12 Syracuse on Feb. 12. Louisville's last four-game win streak over top-15 competition began during the 1985-86 national championship season (seven straight).
- Louisville has won its first eight conference home games for the fourth time in school history and first since 1974-75 (perfect 8-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference). The eight home league wins ties the school record.
Best starts in conference home games, Louisville history
8-0 - 2010-11 (BIG EAST)
8-0 - 1974-75 (Missouri Valley)
8-0 - 1968-69 (Missouri Valley)
8-0 - 1967-68 (Missouri Valley)
7-0 - 1972-73 (Missouri Valley)
7-0 - 1966-67 (Missouri Valley)
- The Cards are one win from their first undefeated run at home in conference play since 1992-93 (6-0 in the Metro Conference). A perfect record at home in league action would be the 15th in Cardinal history.
- Louisville's nine-game home win streak in conference play is the second-longest active streak in the BIG EAST, trailing only Notre Dame's current 10-game run, and the second-longest in U of L's BIG EAST history. The Cards won 12 straight BIG EAST home games from Jan. 10, 2008-Jan. 31, 2009.
- The Cardinals and Panthers went to overtime for the third time in the past four meetings, with Louisville picking up its first overtime win against Pittsburgh. The Cards are 3-1 in their past four overtime contests.
- U of L is 6-1 this season in games decided by four points or less, losing only to Georgetown on Jan. 31 (61-57).
- Louisville has won four of its last five "White Out" promotions, the last four of which have come against top-10 teams.
Last five "White Out" games
W 62-59 (OT) - #4 Pittsburgh - 2.27.11
L 84-92 - #4 Villanova - 1.11.10
W 62-58 - #8 Marquette - 3.1.09
W 59-51 - #6 Georgetown - 2.9.08
W 68-54 - Connecticut - 1.22.07
- The Cardinals are 29-6 in their last 35 February contests dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
- U of L is now 5-2 against Pitt in regular-season games. The series is tied 5-5 thanks to Pitt's three BIG EAST Tournament wins over Louisville.
- Pittsburgh became the 22nd Louisville opponent out of 29 this season to record at least two more turnovers (16) than assists (12). Pitt entered the game tops in the conference and fourth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.56).
- Louisville held the Panthers without a field goal for a span of 11:11 in the first half, allowing the Cards to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 24-12 lead. Pittsburgh went 0-for-9 from the floor with seven turnovers during the stretch.
- The 22-point first half was Pitt's lowest-scoring period since the Panthers scored 16 in the second half of a loss to Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Tournament last season. It marked Pittsburgh's fewest points in the first half since Dec. 4, 2009, when Pitt led 15-7 at the break in a 47-32 win over New Hampshire.
- Pitt faced its largest halftime deficit in BIG EAST play since falling behind by 18 (44-26) after 20 minutes at Providence on Feb. 24, 2009.
- The nine-point halftime lead was Louisville's largest over a top-five team since Feb. 10, 2000, when the Cards led 46-36 at the half in an 82-69 win over #4 Syracuse at Freedom Hall.
- Pittsburgh's 8-for-25 (.320) opening-half shooting lowered the first-half shooting percentage for Louisville opponents this season to .383 (310-for-810).
- Louisville's last three opponents have managed just 64 points (21.3 per game) on 31.5 percent (23-for-73) shooting in the first half.
- U of L has held three straight opponents to fewer than 60 points for the first time since March 7-14, 2009 (59 for West Virginia and 55 each for Providence and Villanova).
- Louisville opponents are averaging 51.3 points over that stretch, the lowest three-game point average for Louisville opponents since Feb. 2-9, 2008 (152 combined points for Rutgers, Marquette, and Georgetown).
- The Cardinals collected 6+ steals (finishing with seven) for the 28th time in 29 games this season. The one game with fewer than six steals ties for the fewest in the nation.
- Pittsburgh held a +1 (39-38) rebounding average in the game, well below its +11.4 margin for the season (second nationally to Old Dominion).
PLAYER
- Senior Preston Knowles hit one three in the contest to break a tie with Francisco Garcia (2002-05) for seventh on the Louisville career three-pointers made list.
Career three-pointers made, Louisville history
1. 359 - Taquan Dean (2002-06)
2. 323 - DeJuan Wheat (1993-97)
3. 225 - Reece Gaines (1999-03)
4. 210 - Jerry Smith (2006-10)
5. 200 - Edgar Sosa (2006-10)
6. 195 - Terrence Williams (2005-09)
7. 181 - Preston Knowles (2007-Present)
8. 180 - Francisco Garcia (2002-05)
9. 163 - Larry O'Bannon (2001-05)
10. 159 - Everick Sullivan (1988-92)
- Knowles tied a career high with seven assists in the game, a mark he has now reached three times (including twice in the past three games).
- Knowles notched a steal for the 20th time in the last 21 games.
- Sophomore Mike Marra has hit three treys in back-to-back games, the third time this season he has accomplished the feat. Marra is 6-for-14 (.429) from downtown over the past two contests, scoring 20 points during that stretch.
- After going just 5-for-11 (.455) from the line over the previous five games, sophomore Peyton Siva hit all six of his free throw tries against Pittsburgh.
- Junior Kyle Kuric put together his second consecutive seven-rebound game, giving him 37 rebounds (6.2 per game) over his last six outings.
