The Pinkie Previews: Louisville (12-6 3-2) @ Seton Hall (10-6 1-4)

Louisville Cardinals @ Seton Hall Pirates
Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey
January 21, 20101
Time: 7:02 pm EST
T.V.: ESPN
Radio: WKRD 790 AM and 101.7 FM

The University of Louisville men’s basketball team will try and snap their two game skid when they visit conference foe Seton Hall tonight.  The Cardinals are coming off back to back tough losses to teams ranked in the top 16.  Last Monday the Cards blew a 17 point lead at home against #4 Villanova and this past weekend the Louisville blew a five point lead in the final minute on the road at #16 Pittsburgh.  The Cards ended up losing the Pitt game in overtime in what Rick Pitino called his “most disappointing loss since the Laettner game.”  The Cards were in control virtually the whole way against Pitt before falling short in the end because of poor free throw shooting.

The Cards look to bounce back on the road against a very good Seton Hall team.  Do not be fooled by the conference record of the Pirates.  Their four conference losses have all come against teams ranked in the top 13 in the nation, and their largest margin of defeat was just 12 at Georgetown in their last game.  The Pirates took then #6 West Virginia to overtime and lost to #5 Syracuse by just seven points.  Their lone conference win came against a very talented Cincinnati squad.  Seton Hall is not a team to be taken lightly and will give the Cardinals all they can handle. 

The Cards and Pirates have battled 12 times in program history with Louisville holding an 8-4 series advantage.  The Cards are 5-1 on their home court, but just 3-3 on the road.  Louisville has won five of the last six overall in the series.

Meet the Pirates

Seton Hall is a team that is built on offense and do an excellent job of taking care of the ball.  The Pirates rank fourth in the nation in scoring with an average of 84.7 points per game.  They also rank 13th in the country in turnover margin (+4.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.41). 

Seton Hall is a team full of scorers.  The Pirates average 84.7 ppg which is fourth in the nation.  They scored a school record 134 points earlier this season against VMI.  The 134 point outburst is the largest point total of the season for a Division 1 team this year.   The Pirates are lead in scoring by Junior phenom Jeremy Hazell with 22.9 points per game.  Their only other player averaging double figures is Sophomore forward Herb Pope who averages 12.4 ppg.  Just like Louisville, Seton Hall is a very balanced team when it comes to scoring.  Bothteams have only two players who average double figures, but both have a variety of players capable of putting up some big offensive numbers.  The Pirates have seven different players who average better than seven points per game.  It’s going to be a tough challenge for Louisville to contain all of these potential weapons. 

One reason Seton Hall scores so many points is because they love to shoot the three.  They have attempted 387 three pointer’s this season and connected on 118 of those attempts.  They average 7.4 three pointers made per game and recorded a season high 20 made three’s against VMI earlier this season.  Louisville will have to guard the perimeter and not give the Pirate shooters open looks. 

Seton Hall is so good at taking care of the ball that they have committed 10 or fewer turnovers seven times this season.  Their turnover margin is not only the 13th best in the country, but ranks number one in the Big East.  Louisville is a team that prides itself on pressure defense and forcing their opponents to turn the ball over.  Against Seton Hall, the Louisville defense will have a much tougher time of forcing the Pirates into mistakes.   

Besides being an outstanding scoring team, the Pirates also do an excellent job on the glass.  Seton Hall currently ranks second in the Big East with 41.8 rebounds per game.  They also have the conference’s leading rebounderon their side in Pope who averages 11.4 boards per game.  Louisville is also a very good rebounding team with 40.4 rpg and lead the conference in rebounding margin at +6.2.  It’s going to be a battle on the glass that Louisville must win.  They can’t give this Seton Hall offense extra opportunities.

Defensively, the Pirates are an average team.  They give up a pretty high 74 points per game.  They also allow their opponents to shoot 41.7% from the field including 35% from beyond the arc.  As a team, they do a decent job of forcing turnovers causing their opponents to give it up about 15.7 times per game.  The Pirates also record 8.8 steals per game which is pretty average.

Seton Hall Statistics

Points per game- 84.7  (4th nationally)
Opponents points per game- 74.0
Scoring Margin- +10.7
Field Goal %- 44.5%
Opponents Field Goal %- 41.7%
3-Point Field Goal %- 33.1%
Opponent 3-Point %- 35%
Avg 3-Pointers Made- 7.4 per game
Free Throw %- 65.4%
Rebounds per game- 41.8
Avg Rebound Margin- +2.6 per game
Assists per game- 15.8
Turnovers per game- 11.2
Opponent Turnovers per game- 15.7
Turnover Margin- +4.5 (13th nationally)
Assist/Turnover Ratio- 1.4 (13th nationally)
Steals- 8.8 per game
Blocks- 5.4 per game

Players To Watch

#21 Jeremy Hazell-  The 6’5 188lb Junior shooting guard is Seton Hall’s go to scorer.  He leads the team and is second in the Big East witha 22.9 points per game average.  This kid can flat out shoot the ball and loves the three point arc.  He is second among Big East active players in three pointers made in conference games with 127.  Scottie Reynolds of Villanovaleads the way with 134.  In a loss to West Virginia earlier this season, Hazellbroke the school record in three pointers attempted with 19.  In his career, Hazell has attempted 14 three’s in a game 11 different times.  He ranks fourthin school history with 238 three’s made and is on pace to break that record if he stays for his senior season next year.  Hazellalso ranks first in the league in three pointers made per game with 3.4.  Louisville fans should remember Hazell from the Cards last trip to New Jersey.  In 2008, Hazell nailed eight three’s against Louisville and scored 29 points en route to a Seton Hall victory.

In the West Virginia loss, Hazell recorded a career high 41 points.  He has recorded double figures in scoring for 15 straight games.  Outside of his Big East’s second best scoring average of 22.9 ppg, Hazell also averages 3.7 rebounds per game and a Big East best 2.1 steals per game.  He was named to the preseason All-Big East Second Team and has been on the Big East Honor Roll three times this season. 

#15 Herb Pope- Pope is a 6’8, 236lb Sophomore forward and is Seton Hall’s biggest inside threat.  Pope is an absolute beast on the boards and can also put the ball in the hole.  Pope averages a double-double with 12.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg, and 2.0 blocks per game.  His 12.4 ppg is second best on the team behind Hazelland his 11.4 rebounds per game ranks #1 in the Big East.  He recorded a career high 20 rebounds earlier this season against VMI.  He currently leads the Big East with 10 double-doubles this season and has produced 12 different double digit rebounding games.  Samardo Samuels, Rakeem Buckles, and Jared Swopshire are going to have a tough time containing this kid on the boards.  Pope has been named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll on two separate occasions this year. 

Keys To Victory

1) Contain Jeremy Hazell.  This kid loves to shoot the three and he can hit ‘em.  Louisville must follow him all over the court and not allow him to breathe on the offensive end.  Hazell is not shy about pulling from anywhere  once he passes half court.  If Louisville allows him to get shots off from deep, Hazell will get into a grove.  If Hazell is in a grove from deep, it’s lights out for the Cards.

2)  Turn up the pressure extra hard.  As I mentioned, Seton Hall does an excellent job of taking care of the ball.  Louisville must work even harder on the defensive end if they are to force the Pirates into mistakes.  Louisville’s defense is what leads to their offense, so the Cards better dial up the pressure if they want to out score the Pirates.

3) Keep Pope off the glass.  Louisville is a great rebounding team, but so is Seton Hall.  The big boys down low for the Cards (Samuels, Buckles, Swopshire, Jennings) need to control the glass and not let Pope dominate.  If Seton Hall is able to dominate the boards, it will create more opportunities for them on the offensive end.  The Cards can’t afford to let a powerful offensive team like Seton Hall get second and third chance looks or it will come back to bite them.  The Cards MUST win the rebounding battle.

4) Hit Shots!  This game has some similarities to the Villanova game.  Villanova was an outstanding offense team that put up a ton of points, but they also gave up a lot of points.  The same goes for this Seton Hall team.  They are a great offensive team, but they will give up good looks on defense and allow their opponents to score a lot of points.  Louisville must capitalize on this and knock down the open looks when the Pirates give it to them.  I expect a shootout just like the Villanova game was, so the Cards just have to outscore the Pirates.  This is something they didn’t do against Villanova when they shot 21% from deep and only 31% for the game.  It must be different this time around.

5) Get the ball to Samardo Samuels. Samuels has looked like a beast in his last two games against very good teams in Villanova and Pitt.  Samuels is coming off a 25 point performance at Pitt in which he was a man amongst boys.  Give the ball to Samuels early and let him establish himself in the paint.  Once this happens, he will draw some double teams and the outside shot will open up even more.  The Cards need to work the offense from the inside out.

Buckles Gets the Start

Rick Pitino will tweak his starting lineup a little bit for the Seton Hall game.  Pitino has decided to replace the struggling Jared Swopshire with Rakeem Buckles.  It will be Buckles first career start.  The starting five for Louisville will be Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith, Samardo Samuels, Reginald Delk, and Rakeem Buckles.  I am a huge fan of this move because it’s no secret that I am not high on Jared Swopshire.  I think this kid has been overrated since he arrived on campus and has had a major role in Louisville losing their last two games down the stretch.  Hopefully Buckles will step up, perform well, and replace Swop permanently in the starting five.