Men's Basketball Travels to Western Kentucky
December 19, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GAME FACTS - Louisville at Western Kentucky
Date: Dec. 20, 2014
Time: Noon
Site: E.A. Diddle Arena (7,326), Bowling Green, Ky.
Television: Fox Sports 1-Ron Thulin, play-by-play; Mike Jarvis, analyst
Radio: WKRD (790 AM)- Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius 93, XM 193)
Series History: Louisville trails 38-39 (27-18 in Louisville, 8-16 in Bowling Green, 3-5 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 79, Western Ky. 63 (Dec. 14, 2013 in KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: 4th USA Today, 4th Associated Press
Officials: Pat Adams, Raymond Styons, Jr., Tim Nestor
Next UofL Game: Dec. 23 vs. Cal State Northridge, KFC Yum!Center, Louisville, Ky., 7 p.m., (ESPNU)
Game Notes vs. Western Kentucky
After a six-day break between games, Louisville faces its first true road test of the season as the Cardinals visit Bowling Green, Ky. to play the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday.
"More than anything we had some work to do to get ready for the road game," said head coach Rick Pitino. " What we like to do right before conference play is go into a hostile environment, last year it was Kentucky and now it's Western Kentucky, to get ready for conference play. It is going to be a very difficult game, they have a senior team and they are playing great basketball right now. The young man (T.J.)Price, their small forward, is playing outstanding. They shoot the ball real well and they have (George) Fant inside, another senior with great size. So we have our work cut out for us getting ready for this first road game."
Louisville defeated UNC Wilmington 68-57 in the Billy Minardi Classic on Dec. 14 as Montrezl Harrell won UofL MVP honors with 19 points, a career high 17 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Terry Rozier added 19 points as well.
Louisville has four players averaging double figures. Harrell leads the Cards in scoring with 17.0 points per game. Rozier ranks second on the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game while Chris Jones averages 12.9 points and Wayne Blackshear with 12.8. The Cardinals are solid on the boards, Harrell leads the team with 10.4 rebounds per game while Mangok Mathiang is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds and Blackshear is third with 6.2 rebounds.
Western Kentucky (5-4) has won four of its last five games, including including beating Chicago State 75-60 on Dec. 17 in its first of seven straight at home. T.J. Price led WKU in that game with 29 points, hitting 6-of-9 threes.
The Hilltoppers are 133rd nationally in the ratings percentage index (RPI) and 162nd in the Sagarin Ratings through Dec. 18. They have three players averaging double figures with Price leading the way with 17.1 points per game. Chris Harrison-Docks ranks second on the team with 12.0 points and George Fant is averaging 11.2 points per game. Fant also leads the team in rebounding with 7.1 boards per game. The teams share a common foe, with Minnesota beating WKU 76-54 on Nov. 18.
"They are a pattern team and a great shooting team," said Pitino. "They were down 18 at Ole Miss, a very good team this year, and came back and won the game because they shoot the three great. They like to control the tempo of the game."
Western Kentucky has a 39-38 edge over Louisville in the series which dates back to 1926. This will be the 10th meeting in the last 21 years and seventh straight year between the teams, with Louisville winning the last five matchups. Louisville won last year's matchup 79-63 (12/14/13). WKU's last victory in the series was 68-55 on Nov. 30, 2008 in Nashville. UofL won 114-82 on its last visit to Bowling Green (12/22/10).
"We have been a good road team the last three years, now this is a new team because of seven new guys that don't understand the road but the veterans do," Pitino stated. "I think we are ready to bring it, we've had good practices and we mixed in a little recruiting. So we are ready to go."
CARDINAL NOTES:
• Louisville Coach Rick Pitino won his 350th game at Louisville, where nearly half of his collegiate wins during his Hall of Fame career have come (350- 117). He gained his 700th collegiate coaching victory on Nov. 26. He is one of five active collegiate coaches in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Louisville has a 29-5 record in December over the last four years, including a 16-1 mark the last three seasons.
• Louisville has a 173-40 record (.810) against non-conference opponents in Coach Rick Pitino's 14 seasons (includes post-season). The Cardinals are 119-11 at home in regular season nonconference games under Pitino, including a 43-2 mark over the last five seasons in the KFC Yum! Center.
• Louisville's 105 victories over the last four years are the most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville is the only school in the nation with three straight 30- win seasons, including a school-record 35 victories by its 2012-13 NCAA Title team.
• Louisville has won 33 straight games at home against non-conference opponents, the fifth-longest current streak in the nation.
• Montrezl Harrell has scored in double figures in an ACC-leading 21 consecutive games, including 13 games with 15 points or more (has five straight double-doubles). He was named ACC and CBSSports.com national player of the week after averaging 20 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and shooting 63.3 percent from the field in victories over Indiana & UNC Wilmington.
