Last night, the 24th-ranked Louisville Cardinals spanked the
Saint Louis University Billikens, 75-48, and effectively avoided a
case of deja vu. Last year at about this time, the Cardinals, then
ranked second, visited the Billikens and were on the receiving end
of a nail-biting loss, thanks in large part to some Marque Perry
heroics just before the buzzer. But last night, the Cardinals came
in with revenge in mind, a strong game-plan and a lot of big plays
and wiped out any hint of another upset very early on.
“You have to give Louisville a lot of credit, they were very
impressive tonight,” coach Brad Soderberg said. “When you get
behind against Louisville it’s hard to come back.”
The game started off slow for the Bills as the Cardinals dunked
an alley-oop for the first basket of the game. The Bills answered
with a three from senior Josh Fisher, but that was the last time
Saint Louis was even close. The Cardinals went on an offensive tear
and played nearly flawless defensive basketball, ending the half up
40-19.
Saint Louis gameplanned for the defensive onslaught that Rick
Pitino-coached teams are famous for, but even though they were able
to handle the intense full-court press of the Cardinals, for the
most part, Louisville was able to force numerous turnovers in their
half-court defense and never let the Billikens get comfortable.
“We were prepared for the game, our game plan was great. I
really don’t know what happened tonight,” senior Chris Sloan said.
“We had lots of turnovers and we were not knocking down our
shots.”
The Cardinals had a red-hot shooting touch throughout the game
and ended up shooting 52 percent from the field. SLU’s 35 percent
from the field paled in comparison.
Louisville’s Francisco Garcia, a Conference USA Player of the
Year candidate, scored a game-high 17 points to lead all scorers,
and Otis George and Kendall Dartez, two Cardinal big men, were
right behind him, dropping in 13 and 12, respectively. Louisville’s
solid inside game did not go unnoticed by Soderberg.
“We couldn’t stop them. They got in the lane almost at will. If
this program is going to go anywhere, we have to, even on our worst
night, keep people out of the lane,” Soderberg said.
digits, dropping in 15 points, all on three- pointers. The loss
drops the Billikens to seventh in C-USA and likely dashes all
embers of hope left for the Billikens to make the NCAA tournament.
The Bills will most likely have to make a run through the C-USA
tournament next week and win the automatic berth that is awarded to
the tournament champion.
Louisville, on the other hand, is coming off a disastrous
February, and the resounding win last night re-established them as
a C-USA power. The Cardinals, ranked 16th in the RPI, have pretty
much been on the road for three weeks as their home court, at
Freedom Hall in Louisville, is unavailable to them for most of the
month because the city hosts a multitude of agricultural
conventions which take precedence over basketball.
The Billikens end the regular season tomorrow night, at home,
against the Houston Cougars. Houston is currently ranked 13th in
the conference and are one win away from making the conference
tournament. The Bills have no shot at getting a first-round bye,
but a win to close out the season and a solid showing in the
tournament would solidify them a spot in at least the National
Invitational Tournament.
Last Regular Season Game
Who: Houston Cougars
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Savvis Center
