Big East Sports Blog

The tandem of Deonta Vaughn and John Williams, plus some stingy last second defense, helped Cincinnati prevail over Louisville 58-57 on New Year’s Day to  jump-start conference play in the Big East.

Vaughn and Williams scored 13 points apiece and Marvin Gentry added 10 points for the Bearcats, who shot 47 percent from the field against the Cardinals.  The Bearcats gave the Cardinals problems from beyond the arc as well, shooting 57 percent on 8-of-14 attempts. 

For Louisville, Jerry Smith led the way with 17 points and David Padgett returned to action for the Cardinals, scoring 13 and grabbing four boards.  Padgett had been sidelined since Nov.18th with a fractured kneecap.

Louisville had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, however, Edgar Sosa had his shot partially blocked and Terrence Williams’ tip-in attempt rimed out as the buzzer sounded.  Louisville drops their first conference game (9-4, 0-1) and had their four-game win streak snapped.

It was a nip-and-tuck contest throughout the entire second half, with the largest lead for either team being six points.  Padgett gave Louisville the lead 57-56 with just under two minutes to play, but Vaughn put Cincinnati right back in front 58-57 after sinking two free throws.  Terrence Williams missed a jump shot with about 40 seconds left and the Bearcats looked to ice this one, but Vaughn had the ball stolen away on an attempt to get to the rim and the Cardinals had one last gasp to pull out the victory.  The jumper by Sosa fell short, as did the put-back attempt by Williams and the Bearcats spoiled the start of 2008 for Louisville.

Tough start for Louisville on the first day of 2008.  They get a home game against a big-time rival, not to mention an emotional lift with the return of Padgett, who a few months back looked as if he were done for the year.  It seems as if this could be a tell-tale sign of things to come for Louisville in the conference if they don’t start playing with a lot more consistency.  Earl Clark and Terrence Williams have largely been the focal points so far this season.  The sophomore slump Edgar Sosa is in has to be a great concern for Rick Pitino.  The health of Padgett and Juan Palacios will make or break how successful, or unsuccessful the Cardinals will be, as well the maturation process of Derrick Caracter.

Up next for the Cardinals, Rick Pitino and company will venture into his old stomping ground, with a Saturday afternoon match-up at Kentucky looming at 4 p.m.  Cincinnati will aim for their third consecutive win on Saturday when they’ll face off against St. John’s at 6 p.m.

It was student squaring off against teacher on this afternoon in Freedom Hall.  Memo from Rick Pitino to Kevin Willard: class is in session.  Advantage teacher in this one.

Louisville held Iona to only 36 points on a brutal 19 percent shooting from the field, as the Cardinals breezed by the Gaels 67-36.  Iona’s 36 points were the fewest surrendered by the Cardinals this year and the fewest scored by an opponent in 26 years. 

Terrence Williams poured in a season best 22 points and Derrick Caracter added 13 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Cardinals attack.  Louisville used multiple defense looks, from man-to-man to zone to using their trademark style press.  Whatever defense looks Louisville threw at Iona, everything seemed to work, as Iona’s offense was smothered and looked extremely out of sync for a team that entered the contest shooting 49 percent from the field.

Kevin Willard, who worked as an assistant coach under Pitino for the last six seasons, witnessed his team suffer through a long scoring drought, going eight minutes without scoring a basket from the field.  Offensively nothing worked for Iona and defensively Louisville flexed their muscles and proved to be too much for the visiting Gaels.

The Cardinals get the victory, their fourth straight, and improve to 9-3, while they also get some more good news concerning injured center David Padgett. 

The senior could see action sooner than expected.  Out since Nov. 18th with a fracture kneecap, there’s a good chance Padgett will play on New Year’s Day when Louisville opens up Big East play against Cincinnati.  Padgett’s return against the Bearcats would be a few games ahead of schedule, as he was expected back on Jan. 10th against West Virginia.  If Padgett returns on Tuesday, it will be the first time this season Louisville would field a completely healthy roster.

Turns out Louisville senior center David Padgett won’t miss their remaining 2007-08 campaign after all.  In fact, he may return sooner than later.

Padgett has been given the go-ahead to begin working out and it’s quite possible he may be able to return in January for the Cardinals.  Potentially, Padgett may return Jan. 10th when Louisville will host No. 23 West Virginia.

Padgett has been sidelined with a fractured right knee since Nov. 18th, an  84-53 win over Jackson State.  He was expected to be out a minimum of ten weeks and possibly lost for the rest of the season. Padgett originally hurt the knee in a November practice and then again during the game against Jackson State. 

It was expected to be a big season, a coming out party of sorts for the senior, who was healthy coming into the season for the first time in quite some time.  During his tenure in Louisville, Padgett suffered a broken foot just before the start of his sophomore season and then had to have surgery on both knees in March of 2006.  Both injuries cost Padgett significant time in a red and white uniform.  Last season in 33 games played, Padgett averaged 9.5 points  and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Cardinals. 

Louisville appears to be getting all of their ducks….er, cardinals…in a row.  They’ve already returned Derrick Caracter and Juan Palacios this month, and with the potential expected return of Padgett, the Cardinals could boast one of the best front courts in the Big East. 

They welcomed back forward Derrick Caracter back from a suspension on Dec. 18th against Marshall, in which Caracter had 18 points and a team high 8 rebounds in an 85-75 victory.  Then four days later, the Cardinals got forward Juan Palacios back against New Mexico State.  Palacios sunk two key free throws to give Louisville a 70-65 win over the Aggies.

Louisville shook off a rusty first half, and used a 21-4 run to get things started in the second half, as the Cardinals blew past Morehead State 73-49 on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals got a career-high 17 points from guard Jerry Smith, 15 of his 17 points coming from beyond the arc, to help Louisville improve to 8-3 on the season. Terrence Williams also added 17 points and forward Derrick Caracter fell a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 11 and grabbing 9 boards.

The Cardinals looked like a different team in the second half compared to the first 20 minutes.  Their 21-4 run out of the break helped them bust this non-conference matchup wide open, and their tenacious press defense that has given their opponents problems all season long, was in full effect against the Eagles.  Louisville held Morehead State to just 35 percent shooting in the second half, and forced 22 turnovers.

The Eagles gave the Cardinals everything they could handle and more for the first 20 minutes, with Louisville clinging to a three-point lead at halftime, 30-27.  But the obvious difference in the second frame was the defense by the Cardinals.  Their in-your-face defense translated into offense and a plethora of easy baskets for Louisville.

Although the Cardinals cruised to the win, they still have work to do, and not a lot of time to get everyone in sync and on the same page.  15 turnovers against Morehead State isn’t something to hang their hats on, and they had trouble keeping the Eagles off the glass, only outrebounding Morehead State 32-26.

With 2008 just days away, the schedule gets bumpy in a hurry for Louisville.  They’ll ring in the new year on New Year’s Day for their first taste of Big East action, when they host Cincinnati, followed by an in-state clash against Kentucky.  Their litmus test arrives in the form of No. 23 West Virginia on Jan.10th and then again a week later, Jan.17th against No. 13 Marquette.  Both contests will be in the comfort of Freedom Hall.

Louisville will close out 2007 on Saturday, Dec. 29th when they Iona at 3 p.m.

Welcome back Juan! 

He hadn’t played since October due to a right knee injury, but he picked the perfect time to return, sinking two crucial free throws with 22.9 seconds left to lift Louisville over New Mexico State 70-65.  The two free throws were his only points of the game.

The Cardinals, improving to 7-3, notched their second win this week, the first coming on Tuesday, Dec. 18th, a 10-point win over Marshall, 85-75.

Andre McGee and Earl Clarke led the way for the Cardinals, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively.  Louisville had a night they’d much rather forget from the field, only shooting 37 percent.  There weren’t many 3-point attempts Louisville didn’t like today either, bombing away from downtown 37 times, hitting only 12 (good for 32 percent).

One game removed from their second highest number of field goals made (32 in the win over Marshall), Louisville only hit on 23 field goals. They took a 35-23 lead into halftime, but a quick 7-2 spurt by the Aggies got them right back in the second half, cutting the lead to seven.

The comeback for NMSU was short lived, as McGee drained four straight three-pointers, and Louisville built up a 12-point again, 49-37.  At one point, the largest lead in the second half for Louisville was a 14-point lead, but NMSU refused to go away quietly, slicing the lead all the way down to three points with a minute to play. 

Palacios calmly stepped to the free throw and canned both attempts, putting the game out of reach for the Aggies.  His health is vital to the success Louisville hopes to achieve, and his presence as another big man on the floor is crucial for the Cardinals, with the likes of Roy Hibbert, DeJuan Blair, and Hasheem Thabeet to contend with in the Big East.

Senior forward Justin Hawkins scored a game-high 25 points and led the way for New Mexico State, but he received little help from the rest of his teammates.  Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young combined for 23 points, but were a combined 9-of-25 from the field.

Louisville won their second straight, both on their home floor.  They are in the middle of a five-game homestand, with their next game coming at Freedom Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 26th against Morehead State.  

After more than two weeks since their last victory, the Cardinals finally got their head coach Rick Pitino into an exclusive club: 500 wins.

Earl Clark paced the Cardinals with 23 points and Louisville slipped past Marshall 85-75, giving Pitino his 500th coaching victory.  Louisville improves to 6-3, while Marshall drops to 5-3 on the season.

Deadlocked at 37 going into halftime, the Cardinals turned up their defensive tone coming out of the locker room.  With a stifling press , Louisville held Marshall close to seven minutes without a field goal and used a 20-3 run in that span to balloon their lead to 66-49.

The Thundering Herd refused to go away quietly, responding with a 10-0 run and solving the Cardinals’ press, cutting the lead seven.  David Caracter, who returned from a one-game suspension for violating team rules, put the Cardinals on his back and carried Louisville the rest of the way, netting six straight points.  Marshall had no answer inside for Caracter, who finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The defense for Louisville force the Thundering Herd to cough up the basketball 17 times, and blocked 13 shots, a season high for the Cardinals.

Markel Humphrey notched a double-double, scoring a game-high 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.  Mark Dorris chipped in with 21 points and Tirrell Baines added 18 points, going 10-10 from the free throw line.

The Cardinals notched their first win since Dec.1st, a 47-44 squeaker over Miami-Ohio.  Louisville will have three more out-of-conference games before they venture into Big East play on New Year’s Day against Cincinnati.

It’s hasn’t been all peaches and cream for Louisville so far on the young 2007-2008.  An impressive 20-point pasting at UNLV.  A difficult three games in four nights stretch that saw BYU spoil a potential matchup against North Carolina.  Two straight losses to Dayton and Purdue have made for a bumpy ride.  Good news is, there’s still time to get all the kinks worked out before heading into conferece play.

Pitino has had to do some juggling of his lineup early on.  David Caracter still has some growing up to do, and his maturity is a must.  He presents a dominant low post threat that Louisville will need come March.

The return of senior center David Padgett is highly unlikey, due to a broken kneecap.  He’s their best player, the straw that stirs the drink for Louisville. Collectively it’ll take a huge effort to replace him and the Cardinals call ill afford to take nights off.  Juan Palacios has battled the injury bug and he’s struggling to regain last season’s form.  In turn, Pitino has had to use Edgar Sosa off the bench, rather than in the starting lineup and Sosa has struggled to adjust coming off the bench, rather than starting, as he did a year ago.

Next up for Louisville, they’ll welcome the New Mexico St. Aggies into Freedom Hall on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The WVU Mountaineers continue to control their own destiny in the Big East after surviving a scare at home against Louisville last night, 38-31. The game featured 7 turnovers, 4 by Louisville and 3 by WVU, as fumbles plagued both teams. Louisville trailed by 17 in the 3rd Quarter and was able to tie the score at 31-31 before Pat White’s 50-yard run proved to be the winning touchdown.

With the loss, Louisville drops to 5-5 (2-3 Big East) on the season while West Virginia improves to 8-1 (3-1 Big East) with 3 games remaining for WVU. The Mountaineers are @ Cincinnati on Nov. 17th, host #13 and Big East leading UConn on the 24th and host Pittsburgh on December 1st. If they can win out, WVU would earn the Big East’s automatic BCS Bowl game berth.