Cardinals Put Away Providence 94-76; Rolf’s Recapsulation

By: Miller | February 18th, 2009 | Category: Cards

Despite trailing by a point at halftime, it appeared the Louisville Cardinals were poised to put a run together and take control of the game. It happened around the 10:00 mark of the second half. Six Louisville players scored in double figures to lead a balanced offensive attack that included 24 assists on 35 made field goals. Providence appears to be similar to Notre Dame in that they do not play defense, at least well, and rely heavily on outside shooting to score. That is not exactly a good recipe for defeating the 7th ranked Cardinals.

Edgar Sosa led Louisville in scoring with 18 points, but Samardo Samuels, T-Will, Jerry Smith, Earl Clark, and Preston Knowles also contributed double figure scoring outputs. T-Will returned to form with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Earl Clark flirted with a triple double yet again with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Samuels finished with 17 points, Jerry Smith added 10, and Preston Knowles contributed 11 points including several momentum altering shots.

SamSam finishing two of his 17 points

The game started as an offensive clinic, or defensive embarrassment depending on how you look at it, with each team red hot from the field. Featuring a frenetic pace, Providence finished the first half up 46-45. The second half started the same as the first with excellent shooting by the Friars coupled with suspect defense by the Cards. There were several instances in which Slick Rick was imploring his squad to man up and defend.

Slick Rick shouting instructions to his squad, or the most violent yawn ever

As I stated earlier, around the 10:00 mark, Louisville pulled away thanks to forcing Providence to turn the ball over. Louisville put together an 11-0 run and never looked back. A tense game at times, but in the end the Cardinals kept pace in their hunt for the Big East crown. Now time for the Good, the Bad, and the Ari Wolfe:

The Good – T-Will’s return and Ed Hightower. T-Will finally returned to form tonight after suffering the after effects of a sprained right wrist. It was evident the past three games he was not physically right, but it appears his wrist will no longer be a concern. He finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. The other special mention goes to my favorite official, Mr. Ed Hightower. This hilarious human makes a complete fool out of himself upon every call he makes by being as demonstrative as possible. Simply put, I love this human.

The hilarious Ed Hightower making a call

The Bad – Rebounding. Louisville lost the rebounding battle 33-26 to an undermanned Providence team. In thirty minutes of play, Samardo Samuels finished with only 3 rebounds. Terrence Jennings provided energy off the bench, but did not record a single rebound in 10 minutes of action. The post play of Louisville will be fine offensively, but they must start rebounding consistently.

The Ari Wolfe – The horrible Jim Burr. It is simply dreadful watching this man officiate a college basketball game, I don’t like him.