Louisville at SU – The Student vs. The Teacher
Don’t look now, but the Louisville Cardinals are finally starting to look like they belong in the upper echelon of college basketball, where many pundits had pegged the team back in October. Following big wins at home over Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, the Cardinals will face the Orange, who need to be in their Sunday best for the noon tipoff.
There’s certainly no break for Arinze Onuaku, who will draw freshman Samardo Samuels in the low post. Samuels has averaged two blocks per game over Louisville’s last six games, but perhaps a more telling trend is that he has tallied at least four fouls in eight of his last ten games. It appears as though Samuels is still trying to establish what he can and can’t get away with down low, so AO will have to use his experience and repertoire of post moves to take advantage. Rick Jackson is going to have his hands full with Earl Clark, so he won’t be able to help contain as he did against the Irish.
On the wing, Paul Harris is out for retribution after fouling out at Pittsburgh, and he plans on taking his frustrations out on Terrence Williams, a similarly big small forward. Both Harris and Williams lead their team in rebounds per game despite playing in the backcourt; Williams is Louisville’s own do-it-all guy who can score, rebound, shoot the three and distribute. Last year at Freedom Hall, Harris had a rough go of it, shooting 3-12 from the field with just 3 boards to Williams’s 7, so there are plenty of reasons for Harris to show up in a big way Sunday afternoon.
In the backcourt, the Orange will be matched up against Louisville’s tight press. SU has proven capable of beating presses with excellent ball-handling from Flynn, Rautins and Devendorf. Devendorf makes plenty of mistakes handling the ball, but they usually come as a result of thinking ahead before putting the ball on the floor when driving. In a situation where the goal is to break the press, he’s a different animal.
