The Pinkie Previews: Louisville (17-9, 8-5) @ DePaul (8-17, 1-12)

What: Louisville Cardinals @ DePaul Blue Demons
Site:Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL
Date: Saturday February 20, 2010
Time: 2:00 pm EST
T.V.: ESPNU
Radio: WKRD (790 AM, 101.7 FM) and SIRIUS Ch. 122 or XM 143
Officials:Ed Corbett, Clarence Armstrong, Wally Rutecki

The University of Louisville men’s basketball team looks to continue its push toward March Madness as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Depaul Blue Demons.  Louisville is coming off an exhausting double overtime victory against Notre Dame this past Wednesday 91-89.  Samardo Samuels scored a career high 36 points and was unstoppable in leading the Cards to victory. 

DePaul has lost seven in a row since chalking up their first (and only) conference win on January 20th against Marquette.  Depaul has had several close games, including a two point loss to Syracuse.  Depaul might be a bad team, but has gotten better under new coach Tracy Webster.  Rumor has it however that former UK coach Billy Gillispie is a candidate to take over the reigns after this season.

Louisville and DePaulhave faced off 54 times in program history with the Cards holding a 33-21 advantage. Louisville has dominated the Irish in Freedom Hall, going 19-7 all time. However, the Cards are just 14-12 in Chicago and are 0-2 at a neutral site.

Meet the Blue Demons

Depaul’s offense is in a word, embarrassing.  The Blue Demons average only 60 points per game and as a team they shoot a misely 39%.  From deep, they also struggle mightily as they connect only 31% of the time.  The best chance Depaul has to be effective on the offensive end is to try and penetrate the Louisville defense.  The Blue Demons need to get to the rim and try to finish in the paint and hopefully get Samardo Samuels into foul trouble.  If Depaul relies on their jump shot, they will struggle. 

Depaul also has major struggles on the glass.  They average a mere 33.2 rebounds per contest and are out rebounded by over four boards per game.  Against a tall physical team like Louisville, the Blue Demons must find a way to be effective on the glass.  It will come down to hustle and if the Blue Demons attack and go after the ball they might be able to get some loose balls and steal some boards away from the Cards. 

The one good thing Depaul does offensively is take care of the ball.  The Blue Demons rank 17th nationally, avergaing just 11.2 turnovers per game.   This is something that Depaul is going to have to continue to do well against the Cards.  Louisville likes to press all 40 minutes and apply tight pressure on opposing teams guards. The Blue Demons must be patient and not be forced into tough passes and shots.  They can’t be intimidated by the Pitino press and move the ball around till they find an open shot.  If they get some good looks, who knows they might knock them down. 

The strength to this Depaulteam can be found in its defense.  The Blue Demons are giving up only 66 points per game which is good for ninth in the Big East.  This three points better than Louisville’s defense which is ranked 11th in the conference at 69 points per game.  The Blue Demon defense also holds their opponents to only 42% shooting, but gives up 35% from beyond the arc.  The 35% ranks 15th in the conference.  The Blue Demons are going to have to find a way to guard the perimeter against a Louisville team that loves to shoot the deep ball.  Depaul must also find a way to create turnovers and get some easy buckets in transition of these turnovers.  The Blue Demons also can’t let Samardo Samuels dominate inside like he did against Notre Dame.  If Depaul lets Louisville dial it up from the outside and can’t stop Samuels inside, it’s going to be ugly.   

Team Comparison

Players to Watch

#30 Will Walker-Walker is the go to scorer for the Blue Demons.  He leads the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game and is second on the team in assists, dropping 2.5 dimes per game.  Walker is not a major threat from three, but he does a great job of creating off the dribble and getting to the rack.  Based on how the Cards looked against Notre Dame trying to contain the dribble drive, Walker could give Louisville fits. 

#13 Mac Koswal-Koswal is the Depaul force in the middle.  The 6’10 junior is almost averaging a double-double with 14.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.  His 14.3 points is second on the team and his 9.9 boards is best on the Blue Demons.  Koswal is also second on his squad in field goal percentage, connecting on 53% of his shots.  He is very good in the post and his height is an advantage for him against Samuels.  Samuels must try to force Koswal away from the basket and make him shoot outside the paint.  I also wouldn’t be suprised if Louisville tried to double down against this giant. 

Koswalis not only effective offensively, he is very active on the defensive end.  He has quick hands and leads the team in steals with 2.1.  When Samuels gets the ball in the post, he has to be strong with it and not put it on the floor to much.  Otherwise Koswal will strip him just like Notre Dame did the other night. 

Key’s To Victory

1) The most important key is don’t sleep on the Blue Demons.  Louisville has a tendency to play to the level of their competition as we saw in the St. John’s debacle.  If Louisville comes out and plays with a lack luster effort like they did against the Red Storm, they will get beat.  The Cards need to have a sense of urgency and realize they are playing for an NCAA birth.  A loss here would almost guarantee the Cards a trip to the NIT.

2) Force the role players of Depaul to beat you.  Depaul is a two man team with Walker and Koswal.  If Louisville can contain one of these guys or even both, Depaul will have to rely on someone else.  This is exactly what the Cards want.  Depaul doesn’t have the talent at any other position to comepte with the Cards.  If Louisville can shut down Kowsal or Walker they should win.

3) Feed the post.  We all saw what Samardo Samuels did to Notre Dame on Wednesday night.  Get the ball back into the post to the big man and let him go to work.  Samuels can be a weapon in several ways during this game.  He can score in the post, pass it out for the three which Depaul can’t defend, or get Koswal in foul trouble.  On Wednesday Samuels fouled out four Fighting Irish by himelf.  If he can put Koswal on the bench because of foul trouble, its a major advantage for the Cards. 

4) Play better defense.  Louisville’s press has been mostly ineffective over the past several games.  The Cards need to get back to creating havoc and forcing turnovers.  Depaul does a good job of taking care of the ball so this won’t be an easy task for Louisville.  The guards need to do a much better job of containing the drive.  Notre Dame exploited this weakness in the defense the other night and I expect Depaul to try and do the same.  Louisville needs to be quicker and force Depaul into mistakes that they normally wouldn’t make.