BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Louisville @ South Florida

January 10, 2007


Things have not been going so well for Louisville, coming off their conference open pounding at the hands of Notre Dame, the Cardinals are still battling injuries and adversity. South Florida opened conference play with a brutal 2-game road trip to Connecticut and Pittsburgh, where the Bulls failed to combined to score 100 points in the pair of games. Tonight, a pair of struggling teams meet in Florida.

Here are the pre-game stories and previews:

Jenkins Returns to Line-up
McGee May Be Out for Season (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Howard's Future On-Line (Tampa Trib)



Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW





Not really sure where to begin with this game. The news out of Louisville continues to puzzle fans and frustrate them at the same time. This week it is that Brandon Jenkins will start tonight in place of freshman Jerry Smith. Jenkins has made just four of his last 35 field goal attempts in the last seven games and replaces Smith, who has averaged 9 PPG while shooting 50% from 3-pt range on the season. The move is defenviely motivated by coach Rick Pitino who does not like having two starting freshmen for defensive purposes.

The bad news on the injury front is that sophomore guard Andre McGee could be lost for the season. In the preseason, Pitino was praising the improvements of McGee in shooting and conditioning. With the freshmen guard tandem of Smith and Edgar Sosa and the struggled Jenkins has had coming back from injury, McGee will be sorely missed as Cornell transfer Will Scott is likely to see more time.

Some better news on the injury front is the Juan Palacios shoulder/neck is improving and he is closer to 70% of full strength and should be able to shoot tonight. However, the frontcourt looks to again be held hostage by the Derrick Caracter saga as Pitino says the talented but 'lethargic' freshman is unlikely to be brought along to South Florida...oh my...

South Florida, as we know, has their own struggles with injuries and depth. Soloman Bozeman has played well on the season for being thrown into the fire as a starting point guard, but the Big east is a new animal. Transfers Jesus Verdejo and Kentrell Gransberry have added depth, talent, scoring and rebounding to what Melvin Buckley gives on the wing and the athletic McHugh Mattis can cause problems in the frontcourt. Melvyn Richardson and Ade Saaka provide the bench support for now, but the Bulls could get a lift tonight if Chris Howard is cleared to play. Howard would add to the point guard depth and give the Bulls another talented player in the mix after missing the last year and a half with a pair of ACL tears. Howqard will definitely need some time to get his basketball legs back...but, at least there looks to be some help on the way for the injury-ravaged Bulls.

Maybe another sight for sore eyes is the appearance of the Cardinals, who seem in disarray for the Bulls. However, I still can not see a team with Jenkins, Palacios and David Padgett being this bad. I think this is a tight, low scoring game, but in the end, Louisville does just enough to pull it out.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 67 South Florida 63