BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE @ SOUTH FLORIDA

January 23, 2008


Louisville looks to rebound on the road following their 92-82 setback at Seton Hall on Saturday night. South Florida will look to snap a 5-game losing streak and re-enter the picture for the race for New York City and a spot in the Big East Tournament.

Here are the local media previews and articles on tonight's game:


Slump Just Another Thing to Overcome (St. Petersburg Times)
Gransberry is Indeed South Florida's #1 (Tampa Tribune)
Time For Cards to Just Move On (Courier-Journal)

The Bulls road woes are well documented as USF has yet to win a road game in the Big East in two+ years. However, their home success has not been much more as they have just five wins on their home floor since coming to the Big East. I highly doubt number six will come tonight when a motivated Louisville squad comes south.

Rick Pitino is unlikely to allow any mid-winter vacationing on the trip south. The Cardinals need to get better and in a hurry. Each time it looks like the Cardinals are starting to turn a corner, they pull a U-Turn. Just days after blitzing Marquette, 71-51, and continuing a stretch of excellent defense, the Cards give up 92 points and fail to get any defensive stops when they needed them in a 10-pt loss to Seton Hall.

With Juan Palacios and David Padgett back in the line-up, Louisville is as deep and talented as anyone in the conference. Coach Pitino is still trying to find consistent leadership out of his guards where Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith and Andre McGee all seem more comfortable as under-sized shooting guards than being true point guards. With talented forwards and big men such as Derrick Caracter, Earl Clark, Terrence Williams, Padgett and Palacios, the guards should be concentrating on allowing them to do the scoring and find ways to get them the ball in position to score. However, that is not always the case.

The Bulls really do not match up well with Louisville. Kentrell Gransberry is their biggest weapon, but Louisville is so deep and, can be, very active inside that Gransberry will have his hands full on both ends of the court. Dominique Jones is a dynamic scorer, but the Cards can lock him down if they give a consistent effort on defense. The rest of the Bulls are too inconsistent to count too much on anyone stepping up for a big game.

On a night when home dominance will be tested in each contest, I expect Louisville to come out with some fire and a little more skip in their hop. As a 7.5-pt favorite, the Cards could be flying high again.

NBE Blogeer Prediction: Louisville 73 South Florida 63