Men's Basketball Travels to Pittsburgh on Sunday
January 24, 2015 | Men's Basketball
GAME FACTS - Louisville at Pittsburgh
Date: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Site: Peterson Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. (12,508)
Television: CBS - Kevin Harlan, play-by-play; Bill Raftery, analyst
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius 91, XM 91)
Series History: Louisville leads 8-5 (5-1 in Louisville, 3-1 in Pittsburgh, 0-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 64, Pittsburgh 61 (Jan. 28, 2013 at KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: 10th USA Today, 10th Associated Press
Officials: James Luckie, John Gaffney, Joe Lindsay
Next UofL Game: Jan. 28 at Boston College, Boston, Mass., 9 p.m. ET (ACC Network/WHAS in Louisville)
After an eight day layoff, Louisville will play four of the next five on the road starting with the Pittsburgh Panthers in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Sunday. Louisville fell 63-52 to No. 4 Duke on Jan. 17 as the Cardinals shot just 29.5 percent from the field for the game, its fourth time shooting below 33 percent in a game this season. This week (Jan. 19-25) is ACC Winter Sportsmanship Week, promoting continued sportsmanship among the league's teams and fans.
Louisville has four players averaging double figures. Rozier leads the Cards in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Montrezl Harrell ranks second with 14.9 points, while Jones ranks third on the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game and Wayne Blackshear averages 12.2 points. The Cardinals are solid on the boards, Harrell leads the team with 9.2 rebounds per game. Mangok Mathiang leads four players averaging five or more rebounds with 5.6 per game.
Louisville ranks among the nation's top 20 in eight statistical categories through games of Jan. 17. Individually, Montrezl Harrell is 32nd nationally in rebounding (8.9) and 26th in field goal percentage (.584). Terry Rozier is 29th in steals (2.2) and Chris Jones 49th in steals (2.1).
Pitt (13-6, 3-3) has won two of its last three games, but fell 79-65 at Duke on Jan.19 as Jamel Artis led the Panthers with a career-high 21 points and six rebounds, his second straight game with 20 or more points.
Sophomore forward Michael Young leads Pitt in scoring (13.5 ppg, 15 double figure scoring games this season) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). Junior guard James Robinson (9.7 ppg) is second in the ACC in free throw percentage (.843) and is third in assists (4.7). Ranked sixth nationally in assist-to-turnovers ratio (1.54), Pitt is 71st in the ratings percentage index (RPI) and 89th in the Sagarin Ratings through Jan. 17. Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon earned his 300th coaching victory against Florida State on Jan. 14.
Louisville has an 8-5 advantage in its series with Pittsburgh, winning the last four matchups. In the last meeting, the Cardinals won 64-61 over the Panthers in the KFC Yum! Center on Jan. 28, 2013 as Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 20 points . Three of the last seven games have been decided in overtime. Three UofL losses to Pitt have come in BIG EAST Conference Tournaments. Louisville has a 3-1 mark in the Peterson Events Center and won 73-62 on its last visit there on Jan. 21, 2012 with ESPN's Gameday at the event.
CARDINAL NOTES:
• Louisville's academic performance in the recently completed fall semester was impressive, with 15 of its 16 men's basketball student-athletes achieving a 3.0 or better grade point average. The Cardinals posted a collective 3.33 GPA for the 2014 Fall Semester, just short of the team record of 3.47 achieved last fall.
• Over the last 11 games, Terry Rozier has averaged 20.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals, scoring over 20 points in four games. He leads the ACC in steals.
• Louisville's 111 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.
• Montrezl Harrell is two points short of becoming the 66th career 1,000-point scorer at Louisville. His seven double-doubles this season are tied for the ACC lead, including producing 10 points and 14 rebounds vs. Duke in his last game.
• While connecting on 66.2 percent of its free throws on the season, the Cardinals have made 75.9 percent from the line in its last 10 games (145-of-191) while making above 70 percent in eight games. UofL is 34th nationally in free throw attempts (430).
• Louisville has a 46-26 record in conference games on the road over the last nine seasons (.648), claiming the best road record in both the Big East and AAC during its time in those two leagues.
