Men's Basketball Concludes Home Swing with Houston on Thursday
January 15, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2014
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's basketball team finishes its three-game swing at home on Thursday against American Athletic Conference foe Houston in the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m. ET.
The two programs have met 18 times previously, and Louisville owns a 13-5 edge. The last meeting, which happened in 2005, resulted with a 70-67 Houston home victory. Andre Owens scored 27 points, connecting on 7-of-16 3-pointers in the win. Juan Palacios scored 20 points off the bench to lead Louisville in a season that culminated with a trip to the NCAA Final Four.
| RELATED NEWS Keatts Elevated to Associate Head Coach |
The Jan. 16 game will air on CBS Sports Network, with Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Pete Gillen (analyst), and Evan Washburn (analyst) calling the action. Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will announce the game on WHAS 840 AM. The contest also is available on SIRIUS channel 85 and XM channel 85.
Last time out, the Cardinals (14-3, 3-1) held on for a 71-63 victory over SMU on Sunday at home. The Cardinals forced the Mustangs into 16 turnovers and just 36.9 percent shooting from the field. Louisville, which shot 47.2 percent from the field, knocked down 50 percent of its shots in the second half from the field (11-of-22) and 3-point range (5-of-10).
Luke Hancock, who earned his first start of the year, scored a career-best 23, while connecting on four 3-pointers. Russ Smith also added 23 points, seven assists, and four steals. Montrezl Harrell registered his third career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds in addition to tying a career high with four blocks.
After 17 games this season, Smith is pacing the Cardinals with 18.1 points per game and a team-high 84 assists. His assist total ranks 44th nationally, while his 34 steals are 39th-best nationally. Harrell, who is second on the team with 11.9 points per contest, is averaging 8.4 rebounds and has 11 blocks through his last seven games. He has the fifth-best shooting percentage (63.7) in the country.
Through Jan. 12, Louisville ranks in the top-10 statistically in total steals (No. 2, 172), turnover margin (No. 3, +7.0), scoring margin (No. 3, +20.1), and steals per game (No. 4, 10.1).
Houston is coming off its first loss in four games, dropping a 61-60 decision to Cincinnati at home on Jan. 7. The Cougars own a 10-6 overall record, going 2-1 in AAC play.
Houston had trailed Cincinnati by as much as 19 before it mounted a comeback late in the contest. The Cougars closed the game on a 13-3 run and fell just short despite hitting a 3-pointer with one second left in the game. Brandon Morris led Houston with 17 points, and TaShawn Thomas added 10 points and nine rebounds. Defensively, the Cougars limited the Bearcats to just 21 points in the second half on 31.8 percent shooting.
Thomas is leading the team in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (8.9) and has team highs in blocks (58) and steals (25). He is sixth in the country in total blocks and ranks seventh in both blocked shots per game (3.63) and field-goal percentage (62.9). Daniel House is second on the team with 15.6 points per game.
Nationally, Houston ranks 13th in total blocks (102) and 15th blocked shots per game (6.4).
The Cougars are under the direction of fourth-year coach James Dickey, who is 57-52 in his time there. Houston was picked to finish seventh in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll after going 20-13 last season and reaching the CBI quarterfinals. Thomas was named a second-team all-AAC preseason selection.
GAME FACTS - Louisville vs. Houston
Date: Thursday, Jan. 16
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000)
TV: CBS Sports Network will broadcast the game, with Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Pete Gillen (analyst), and Evan Washburn (analyst) calling the action.
Radio: WHAS 840 AM will broadcast the game, with Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) calling the action. The broadcast also is available on SIRIUS channel 85 and XM channel 85.
Series History: Louisville leads 13-5 (7-0 in Louisville, 6-2 in Houston, 0-3 neutral).
Next UofL Game: Saturday, Jan. 18 vs. Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., 9 p.m. ET (ESPN/ESPN GameDay)
