Masiello-Pitino reunion in NCAAs will be a bit awkward

ORLANDO, Fla. –

The University of Louisville brought its 12 wins in 13 games to town for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It brought its band and cheerleaders and dance team and tournament experience.

Manhattan brought a mirror.

When the teams step on the court in the Amway Center at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday, fourth-seeded U of L (29-5) and 13th-seeded Manhattan (25-7) might as well be practicing with each other. The only differences are the school names on the jersey and the players wearing them.

"I am afraid of playing him," U of L coach Rick Pitino said of Manhattan coach Steve Masiello, his former player and assistant. "He knows every single thing I've done since I was 28."

Pitino was more disappointed with the Cardinals' matchup against Masiello than he was about the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional, a tournament ranking that upset the fan base.

So was Masiello, whose Jaspers run sets similar to Louisville's, from matchup zone traps and 2-2-1 presses on defense to high ball screens and turnout plays on offense.

They p

lay the same tempo. Each team's best attribute? Forcing turnovers.

"I was going to cheer my tail off for them," Masiello said. "It took a little fun out of it. … Now I have to take all my emotion. Now it's just business."

Both teams have lost only once since Feb. 1, but the Cardinals have caught the attention of national basketball analysts, many of whom are picking them to reach the Final Four for the third consecutive season.

President Barack Obama, in his annual bracket selection on ESPN, picked them to reach the national championship game. Las Vegas has them among the favorites.

"I haven't even looked at who's in our bracket," U of L senior Luke Hancock said. "We're just worried about the first game because everybody knows that if you don't, you're going to lose."

So how can the Cards prepare for a team that's so similar to themselves? They say they're treating this like a conference game, when familiar foes jostle to find new wrinkles that give them the upper hand.

"We've changed almost everything," Pitino joked. "We've changed all our plays and calls and defenses. If I was him, I would just be thinking a lot and not sleep because of all the changes we are making."

The routine is far more familiar to U of L, which has won 20 of its past 21 postseason games, losing only to Kentucky in the 2012 Final Four in New Orleans.

The Cardinals steamrollered through the American Athletic Conference Tournament, routing Rutgers by 61 points and Houston by 29 before holding off a mild second-half Connecticut rally to win by 10.

Manhattan is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004, when it stunned fifth-seeded Florida and coach Billy Donovan, another Pitino protégé. That's why the experience was supposed to be fun for Masiello, who's in his third season as the Jaspers' coach.

He wanted to call Pitino and celebrate his first tournament berth as a head coach. He wanted to pick his mentor's brain about how to deal with the seemingly endless four-day stretch between Selection Sunday and the first day of games on Thursday.

Instead, Manhattan is the new kid on the block with a mirror, and U of L is hoping it doesn't jump from its own shadow.

"It's one thing to know it," Masiello said. "It's another thing to stop it. It's like the Mike Tyson quote that I keep referring to: Everyone has a plan until they get hit."

Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).