Joe Dzuback is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report after Louisville’s convincing win over Seton Hall tonight in Newark.
Louisville paid Seton Hall a visit and the Pirates hung with the top five team for the first 28 minutes of action, but depth, experience (and yes) talent prevailed as the Cardinals used a 12-2 run, fueled by Luke Hancock’s two three-pointers, to establish a lead and go on to beat the Pirates, 73-58.
Three Key Takeaways.
- All you need is two really quick guards and a really, really big guy under your basket. And Rick Pitino. The Cardinal guards applied a press on virtually every Seton Hall possession that so harassed point guards Aaron Cosby (a sophomore) and freshman Tom Maayan that the two had to dribble the ball over midcourt on over half of the Pirates’ possessions. Passes to the center or sidelines that broke the press left the ball-handler (often Brandon Mobley or Edwin Fuquan) with the task of trying to get by 6’ 11” Cardinal center Gorgui Dieng. The Hall managed only six points off fast breaks tonight, whereas the Cardinals scored 21 points off 16 Seton Hall turnovers.
- Kevin Willard learned defense at the knee of the master… Rick Pitino. Through the first five possessions of the second half Louisville led 36-34. Having had 41 possessions apiece, Louisville’s defense had allowed Seton Hall 0.84 points per possession, while the Hall had yielded 0.88 points per possession. The Cardinals had forced 10 turnovers while the Pirates had forced six Louisville turnovers of their own. Willard was a member of Rick Pitino’s Louisville staff for six years before taking his first head coaching job at Iona. Willard compiled a 45-49 record with the Gaels before moving over to Seton Hall.
- Brandon Mobley is a year away. Although the Pirates’ sophomore forward scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, he faded during crucial stretches of the second half. “He’s a sophomore. I expected to use him for 20-24 good minutes this season, not 33-36 minutes,” explained Kevin Willard who went on to describe the sophomore forward as “the most talented player on the squad” but prone to losing focus after playing too many minutes.
Stars of the Game. Gorgui Dieng and the Louisville defense. The junior all-conference candidate logged a double-double, scoring 16 points while he gathered 14 boards. Playing in only his third game back from a broken wrist, Dieng logged 33 minutes as he blocked three shots, dished two assists and intercepted a post pass to trigger one of Louisville’s fast breaks. The Cardinal defense forced 16 turnovers, credited to 12 steals and a pressure defense that forces numerous bad passes.
Quotable.
- Rick Pitino: Q – “Coach, Russ Smith is kind of…” Pitino — “Crazy? Out of control? Out of his mind? Every time he comes back home he puts too much pressure on himself.”
- Kevin Willard: “We don’t have a deep bench, we only play six guys. Unless I shoot and Shaheen (Holloway) shoots, maybe then we have a better chance, but my shooting percentage in college sucked too.”
- A sportswriter’s reaction to learning that Villanova freshman Ryan Arcidiacono won Big East Rookie of the Week honors for the second time: “Arcidiacono?! [pronounced Archie Deeya Cone No] That’s not a name, it’s an eye chart!”
What’s next? Louisville hosts winless (in conference play) South Florida Saturday, when the Cards will try to run their conference record to 3-0. Seton Hall hosts Providence on Sunday as the Pirates, 1-2 in conference play, will try to get their conference record back to .500 with a win over the winless (0-3 in conference play) Friars.