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Georgetown Hoyas Begin Big East Play At Louisville Cardinals
Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng is averaging 10.8 points and 10.2 boards per game.
Louisville Cardinals fans can be excused if they didn't have their full attention on Tuesday night's Belk Bowl that found the football team taking on North Carolina State. After all, a huge week for the basketball squad has arrived, starting with Wednesday's Big East opener against the Georgetown Hoyas.
Tip-off from Louisville's KFC Yum! Center is slated for a few minutes past 7:00 p.m. (ET) with ESPN2 televising the action. Oddsmakers sent the Cardinals out at -5½ with 128 for the scoreboard hurdle.
Believe it or not, Rick Pitino faces the danger of his team looking past the Hoyas despite this being the conference opener against a Georgetown team ranked 12th in both polls. Louisville, No. 4 according to the AP and coaches, will travel to face their in-state rivals from Lexington this weekend when they meet No. 3 Kentucky.
Saturday's trek to Rupp Arena promises to be a true test for the Cardinals who have rolled out to a 12-0 start (4-4-1 against the spread) thanks in part to having left the comforts of home just once this season. That was more than six weeks ago, the third game on the schedule, when Louisville went to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to meet Butler. The Cardinals poured it on in the second half of that game for a 69-53 victory as 4-point road chalk.
Pitino's crew might have been looking ahead to Christmas the last time out when turnovers and some cold shooting early on plagued the Cardinals in a 70-60 win over a scrappy Western Kentucky team. The Hilltoppers bolted to a 22-9 lead midway through the first half before Louisville woke up.
The Cardinals were huge 25-point favorites vs. WKU, and have failed to cover any of their four lined games on the college basketball betting board this month. That includes a 95-87 win over Memphis that 'pushed' the 8-point spread.
Turnovers have been a problem all season for 'Ville, capped by the 20 gaffes in the win over Western Kentucky. The Cardinals are averaging 14.5 per game, with only Rutgers (15.7) and West Virginia (15.2) committing more among Big East squads. By contrast, Georgetown ranks among the better teams with just 11.8 turnovers per game, tied for 26th-best in the country and fourth among Big East sides.
This is not a particularly deep or experienced group, something the turnovers might be attributed to. Senior Kyle Kuric (13.3 PPG) leads the team in scoring with fellow senior Chris Smith fourth (10.4). Between those two are sophomores Gorgui Dieng, who is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and Russ Smith (10.5 PPG). Those four players plus junior point guard Peyton Siva and freshman forward Chane Behanan have accounted for over 80 percent of the floor time for the Cardinals thus far.
John Thompson III has been able to spread the minutes around a little more for Georgetown (10-1 SU, 6-0 ATS), and the Hoyas have been tested away from home with four off their home court. They were 7-point underdogs in Tuscaloosa on Dec. 1, pulling off the 57-55 upset of Alabama. Georgetown also played three in Hawaii during the Maui Invitational where they suffered their only setback, a 67-63 defeat at the hands of Kansas who was laying 5½.
Sitting 45th in the country in scoring (76.9 PPG) and 25th in shooting (48.7 FG%), the Hoyas are led by three upperclassmen with good balance inside and outside. Jason Clark tops the team with a 15.7 scoring mark, and is trailed by Hollis Thompson (14.9) and Henry Sims (12.5). It's a true team effort on the glass, and Georgetown's ability to pull the slight upset will be determined by how well the Hoyas keep the Cardinals off the offensive glass.
This will be the seventh meeting between the schools since the Cards joined the Big East for the 2005-06 season. The Hoyas own a 4-2 advantage in the previous six, having won the last two meetings and two of the three played in Louisville. Georgetown was a 4½-point favorite this past January when pulling off a 62-59 victory. Four of the last five battles have finished 'under' the total.
As mentioned, Louisville will be at Kentucky on Saturday while Georgetown returns home to continue Big East play vs. Providence. If the Hoyas and Cardinals meet again, it will be during the conference tournament in March.
Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng is averaging 10.8 points and 10.2 boards per game.
Louisville Cardinals fans can be excused if they didn't have their full attention on Tuesday night's Belk Bowl that found the football team taking on North Carolina State. After all, a huge week for the basketball squad has arrived, starting with Wednesday's Big East opener against the Georgetown Hoyas.
Tip-off from Louisville's KFC Yum! Center is slated for a few minutes past 7:00 p.m. (ET) with ESPN2 televising the action. Oddsmakers sent the Cardinals out at -5½ with 128 for the scoreboard hurdle.
Believe it or not, Rick Pitino faces the danger of his team looking past the Hoyas despite this being the conference opener against a Georgetown team ranked 12th in both polls. Louisville, No. 4 according to the AP and coaches, will travel to face their in-state rivals from Lexington this weekend when they meet No. 3 Kentucky.
Saturday's trek to Rupp Arena promises to be a true test for the Cardinals who have rolled out to a 12-0 start (4-4-1 against the spread) thanks in part to having left the comforts of home just once this season. That was more than six weeks ago, the third game on the schedule, when Louisville went to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to meet Butler. The Cardinals poured it on in the second half of that game for a 69-53 victory as 4-point road chalk.
Pitino's crew might have been looking ahead to Christmas the last time out when turnovers and some cold shooting early on plagued the Cardinals in a 70-60 win over a scrappy Western Kentucky team. The Hilltoppers bolted to a 22-9 lead midway through the first half before Louisville woke up.
The Cardinals were huge 25-point favorites vs. WKU, and have failed to cover any of their four lined games on the college basketball betting board this month. That includes a 95-87 win over Memphis that 'pushed' the 8-point spread.
Turnovers have been a problem all season for 'Ville, capped by the 20 gaffes in the win over Western Kentucky. The Cardinals are averaging 14.5 per game, with only Rutgers (15.7) and West Virginia (15.2) committing more among Big East squads. By contrast, Georgetown ranks among the better teams with just 11.8 turnovers per game, tied for 26th-best in the country and fourth among Big East sides.
This is not a particularly deep or experienced group, something the turnovers might be attributed to. Senior Kyle Kuric (13.3 PPG) leads the team in scoring with fellow senior Chris Smith fourth (10.4). Between those two are sophomores Gorgui Dieng, who is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and Russ Smith (10.5 PPG). Those four players plus junior point guard Peyton Siva and freshman forward Chane Behanan have accounted for over 80 percent of the floor time for the Cardinals thus far.
John Thompson III has been able to spread the minutes around a little more for Georgetown (10-1 SU, 6-0 ATS), and the Hoyas have been tested away from home with four off their home court. They were 7-point underdogs in Tuscaloosa on Dec. 1, pulling off the 57-55 upset of Alabama. Georgetown also played three in Hawaii during the Maui Invitational where they suffered their only setback, a 67-63 defeat at the hands of Kansas who was laying 5½.
Sitting 45th in the country in scoring (76.9 PPG) and 25th in shooting (48.7 FG%), the Hoyas are led by three upperclassmen with good balance inside and outside. Jason Clark tops the team with a 15.7 scoring mark, and is trailed by Hollis Thompson (14.9) and Henry Sims (12.5). It's a true team effort on the glass, and Georgetown's ability to pull the slight upset will be determined by how well the Hoyas keep the Cardinals off the offensive glass.
This will be the seventh meeting between the schools since the Cards joined the Big East for the 2005-06 season. The Hoyas own a 4-2 advantage in the previous six, having won the last two meetings and two of the three played in Louisville. Georgetown was a 4½-point favorite this past January when pulling off a 62-59 victory. Four of the last five battles have finished 'under' the total.
As mentioned, Louisville will be at Kentucky on Saturday while Georgetown returns home to continue Big East play vs. Providence. If the Hoyas and Cardinals meet again, it will be during the conference tournament in March.
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