Two surging Big East teams meet for the only time in the regular season on Monday night when Louisville (15-5, 5-2) travels to Connecticut (14-5, 4-3).
UConn has won three games in a row, two of them against ranked teams in Marquette and, on Saturday, Indiana.
"I think that raised an eyebrow for everybody," Louisville center David Padgett said. "They're probably playing as well as anybody in the conference and maybe the country."
UConn coach Jim Calhoun called the Indiana victory, which snapped the Hoosiers' 29-game home winning streak, one of the signatures wins in his career.
"The win over Indiana certainly speaks volumes for us," Calhoun said. "We're going to have to obviously do more [to get into the NCAA Tournament], but I would think we'll move up a bit now."
The game meant a lot to Calhoun because UConn played without starting guard Jerome DysonDoug Wiggins, who will continue to serve indefinite suspensions due to an undisclosed team rules violation. Both players didn't practice Sunday and won't be at Monday's game. Calhoun has yet to decide the two sophomores' fate going forward.
Four of Connecticut's starters logged at least 32 minutes against Indiana; guard A. J. Price vomited twice, and forward Stanley Robinson suffered from cramps. Thus, the Huskies could be on fumes with a short bench and short rest from Saturday.But Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn't buying it.
"In the short haul, for two or three games you're a better basketball team because the other players have the wounded tiger syndrome," he said. "You're wounded, so you have to play better. You're a little shorthanded and everybody really steps it up."
His Cardinals have won 10 of their past 12 games and four of their last five on the road. And Louisville swept UConn last year, including a 76-69 victory in Hartford.
"You can't compare last year to this year because they're a totally different basketball team and Thabeet is a totally different player," Pitino said.
Pitino is referring to 7-foot-3 UConn sophomore Hasheem Thabeet, who had nine blocks in two games last season against the Cardinals. A project last year, he has blossomed into a more polished offensive player who now contributes at both ends of the floor. He is averaging 11.3 points per game and leads the conference with 72 blocks.
"He's a great shot-blocker," Louisville's Derrick Caracter said. "He's so tall and long. I just have to try different moves, go up and under and just try to go around him."
Both teams have stellar defenses - UConn ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in field-goal percentage defense at .375. The Cards are just behind at .376.
Both teams also have balanced scoring attacks -- U of L has five players averaging double-digit points, and UConn boasts four without Dyson.
Bet on Louisville-UConn at WagerWeb.com
(who leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game) and top reserve
No comments:
Post a Comment