Cards bomb away, sink Razorbacks 96-66

Recap

Louisville came into St. Louis facing an undermanned Arkansas team decimated by suspensions. It stood to reason if Louisville could apply consistent pressure to Arkansas, coupled with the fact Louisville can go ten or eleven deep, the Razorbacks would eventually wear down. That very thing happened and the end result was a 96-66 victory for the Cards.

The teams played even, and fairly sloppy, early. The Cards helped out Arkansas by committing way too many fouls. Arkansas was shooting one and one with ten minutes to play in the 1st half. However, the Cards eventually broke out in front thanks to the scalding hot shooting of Reginald Delk. The senior transfer from Mississippi State came off the bench andprovided a big time offensive spark to help extend the Louisville lead to 17 at halftime by the score of 48-31.

Coming out of half, Louisville appeared to leave their shooting touch in the locker room. The Razorbacks came out fired up and quickly cut into the lead. By the first television timeout of the 2nd half, Louisville only held a 48-45 advantage. However, the Razorbacks would get no closer.

Louisville came out of the timeout and Delk quickly hit a backdoor lay-up to end the scoring drought for the Cards. With the Cards back in the scoring column, they got things going again and proceeded to put a 17-3 run together to effectively end the game. By the end of that run, the Cards were up 65-48 and Arkansas had to call their final timeout. Game over.

My Take

Rick Pitino has told us since basketball Media Day the 2009-2010 Louisville Cardinals are a great passing and shooting team. Tonight, the shooting was good, not great, but the passing was excellent and the Cardinals used some fine team passing en route to a thirty point win. Senior Reginald Delk exploded off the bench for a team high 20 points and Samardo Samuels added 17 to lead the scoring for the Cards. In total, Louisville had six players score double figures for the game.

Offensively, Louisville was very good. The Cards shot 47% for the game, including 40% from three point range. While I’m not sure I would categorize those numbers as great, I do feel those numbers are very solid, particularly the 40% from downtown. Louisville will rely a lot on the three this season and tonight they took 38 from behind the arc. That many attempts does not bother me because this team has several good shooters. As long as they do not take too many challenged shots, I am fine with them shooting the three with great frequency.

From what I saw tonight, and assuming this is close to what the Cards will look like the rest of the season, this team looks to be reminiscent of the early-Kentucky Pitino teams. They pressure consistently, play fast, and shoot the three. The thing that excites me the most is their defense will get better and once that happens, I think this team can really take off.

The defense was okay, but nowhere near where it needs to be or will be later in the season. Arkansas guard Rotnei Clark scored 51 points in the season opener, but the Cards hounded him all night and held him to 16 points. Louisville also took care of the glass as they outrebounded Arkansas 37-30 andwhen they got a rebound it was off to the races. Ultimately, the Cards were decent on defense, but there is still much room for improvement.

The Cards are pretty darn spectacular in transition. Louisville definitely will use their pressure to create transition opportunities and with the unselfishness of this squad, we could see plenty of highlight reel plays off the fast break. The thing I really liked seeing was how on any given fast break, there were at least four Cardinals flying down the court. Louisville finished with 25 assists on 34 made field goals; that is a great percentage.

Individual breakdown

Reginald Delk- This was the game we all expected from this kid since he transferred from Starkville. When he just plays and doesn’t try to think too much, he can be very solid. He finished with 20 points on 8-9 shooting, including 4-5 from three point range. Delk also added 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. 

Samardo Samuels- Sam Sam did not have his greatest night, but he still finished with 17 points and four rebounds. I think he will average around 15-17 points per game, but his rebounding undoubtedly needs to pick up. Slick Rick has said frequently Sam Sam needs to pick up his rebounding and tonight I don’t think there was much improvement in that area.

Jared Swopshire- How about the man they call Swop? Swop produced 10 points and 11 rebounds along with 2 assists. I know Arkansas was not big time opponent, but Swop has shown me a lot this season (2 exhibition games and tonight’s game). He will never look like a beast, his body is very comparable to Francisco Garcia, but he has gotten stronger and looks more comfortable on the floor so far this year.

Edgar Sosa – Lil Eddie had a good game. He had a line of 12 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds with only 2 turnovers. There are many, many people who criticize Lil Eddie, a lot of it valid, but you take this line from him every single game. Yes he will still do things causing many of us to attempt a head first run into the wall, but if he puts up the numbers he did tonight, then the Cards will be in good shape.

Jerry Smith – Jerry still looks a bit unsure of himself at times, which is odd for a senior, but he still had a good game. Smith finished with 14 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. I watched the game again and the encouraging sign to me was even the shots he missed were on line, meaning the shots were missed either short or long, not off to the right or left. A consistent shooting Jerry Smith will be huge for the Cards.

Preston Knowles – PK-2 had a fairly quiet game, until you look at his stat line. He pitched in 11 points, including 3-5 from three point range, and also produced 8 assists. People may not be aware, but PK-2 was a big time offensive player in high school and we are starting to see the evidence of that with more frequency.

Peyton Siva – Peyton did not have a good game. He was particularly bad on the defensive end as he reached and slapped way too much. He will get better defensively, but it will take time. However, Siva did have the play of the game with his up and under baseline lay-up and one. It was simply sensational. Siva finished 3 points and an assist.

Terrence Jennings- TJ is still trying to get things going. He did not have a poor game, but he wasn’t very good either. He did have 2 points, 2 rebounds, andblock, but he did not play with the energy he played with the latter part of last season. He is kind of like Delk in that when he just plays basketball, rather than thinking about where he’s supposed to be on the floor, he is much more effective.

Rakeem Buckles- Bucktown is going to have his ups and downs this year, which is par for the course as a freshman. He did grab 3 boards and picked up a point, but he fouled four times and was slow on defense. However, he is skilled and will only get better with experience.

Kyle Kuric- I love Double K. He only had 4 points and 3 rebounds, but he is as active as any player on the court. He flies to the glass and has some great hops. He had a very smooth lay-up off a feed from Siva in which he just glided to the basket. However, it’s Kuric’s energy that excites me.

Mike Marra - God bless this kid. Slick Rick tells everyone he is the greatest high school shooter he has ever seen and the kid threw up a few airballs in his first official college game. He will get it together, but tonight was not his greatest showing.

Chris Brickley and Stephan Van Treese – Hey, you got in the game!!!

The Cards return to the floor this Saturday in the Hall of Freedom as they welcome in East Tennessee State. The game will tip at 4:00 pm and Neil will be here Friday with a preview of that game.