TV info, 3 story lines for U of L-Pitt
PITTSBURGH AT U OF L
Game time: 8:06 p.m. Site: KFC Yum! Center. Line: Louisville by 12 1/2 points. Series: U of L leads 9-5 and won the last meeting 80-68 on Jan. 25 at Pitt. Television: WHAS-11 in Louisville*. Radio: WKRD-790, joined in progress on WHAS-840.
* - If you are not in the Louisville area, and you want to watch this game, here's a list of the channels it'll be on in your metropolitan area (http://bit.ly/1vFgVey).
PROJECTED STARTERS
PITT (16-8, 5-5 ACC)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-James Robinson 6-3 Jr. 3.3 10.2
G-Josh Newkirk 6-1 So. 1.4 7.0
G-Cameron Wright 6-5 Sr. 3.1 9.1
F-Jamel Artis 6-7 So. 5.7 12.8
F-Michael Young 6-9 So. 8.0 13.2
Key reserves - Chris Jones, G/F, 6-6, R-So., 8.9 pts.; Sheldon Jeter, F, 6-8, So., 3.6; Ryan Luther, F, 6-9, Fr., 2.1; Aron Phillips-Nwankwo, F, 6-7, R-Sr., 1.7; Joseph Uchebo, C, 6-10, Jr., 1.8; Derrick Randall, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.5.
LOUISVILLE (19-4, 7-3 ACC)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Chris Jones 5-10 Sr. 4.1 13.6
G-Terry Rozier 6-1 So. 5.5 18.3
F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 Sr. 4.8 11.0
F-Montrezl Harrell 6-8 Jr. 9.0 15.2
C-Chinanu Onuaku, 6-10 Fr. 4.7 3.2
Key reserves – Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-So., 3.1 pts.; Shaqquan Aaron, G, 6-7, Fr., 2.1; Anas Mahmoud, F, 7-0, Fr., 1.2; Anton Gill, G, 6-3, So., 2.7; Quentin Snider, G, 6-1, Fr., 1.8; Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Fr., 1.3.
STORY LINES
The last time these two teams met, Louisville shot a season-high 70.8 percent from the field in the first half and staved off a few second-half rallies by home-standing Pitt. Since that game, Pitt has dropped a bad loss at Virginia Tech but recovered with wins over Notre Dame and Syracuse. In both of those wins, Pitt didn't batten down the hatches on defense, either. It was the Panthers' offense, which shot 50 percent vs. Notre Dame and just a tick under 50 percent vs. Syracuse, that got them two huge wins.
Welcome to the NCAA tournament-hunting gauntlet. Louisville's in great shape for a favorable seed in the NCAA tournament, and faces six should-win games before entering March and meeting Notre Dame and Virginia. But the challenge of these six games in which U of L will be the favorite is that three teams -- Pitt, NC State and Miami -- are desperate for meaningful wins to improve their chances of reaching the NCAAs. In other words, all three of those teams are coming to Louisville with a lot on the line.
Don't look now, but Louisville's defensive efficiency rating after the Virginia game moved the Cards all the way up to third in the nation. Louisville ranks seventh in effective-field-goal defense, eighth in 2-point field-goal defense and 13th in 3-point field-goal defense. The Cards are 10th in both steal and block percentage on defense. They'll rely a lot on that suffocating defense with five home games left. Louisville's shooting just 40.9 percent at home this season.