Mathiang, Jones likely to play vs. Ohio State
The University of Louisville basketball team should have Chris Jones and Mangok Mathiang available and healthy enough to play when Ohio State comes to the KFC Yum! Center at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said Monday.
Mathiang dressed but did not play in Louisville's 45-33 win over Cleveland State last Wednesday after an ankle sprain sidelined the 6-foot-10 center. Jones, U of L's starting point guard, played 31 minutes in that game through pain stemming from his offseason stress fracture in his shin.
Pitino said Mathiang isn't 100 percent healthy, but that the Sudanese-born big man returned to practice on Monday after missing a few days of workouts. Jones, Pitino added, "is fine."
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The two players are among Louisville's top six scorers and rebounders. Jones averages 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists a a game so far this season. Mathiang, U of L's sixth man, plays about 28 minutes per game and averages 4.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a contest.
Charged atmosphere
Tuesday's game against Ohio State will bring the "best atmosphere we've had" at the KFC Yum! Center since its opening before the 2010-11 season, Pitino said Monday. The game will be on national television and it's part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, he said, plus it's four days after Louisville football's thrilling 44-40 win over Kentucky.
"The spirit's very high in this town," he said.
His proclamation may surprise some, given U of L's ongoing, intense rivalry with Kentucky and the two previous meetings between the teams at Louisville's new arena.
"I don't think Kentucky's a great atmosphere, I really don't," Pitino said. "There's 5,000 of them getting in our building. We've got five getting into their building and they get 5,000. I would put that 10th on the list of great atmosphere.
"When I was at Kentucky, we'd go into Freedom Hall and, at the end of the game you heard, 'Let's go Blue' cheers. I wish we'd have what they have. If you wear red, you don't get out of the building. I tell my children to wear blue so they can live."
Scott concerns Pitino
Ohio State point guard Shannon Scott is "one of the best in the Big Ten," Pitino said Monday. Scott, a senior, isn't a big scorer -- he averages 9.2 points a game -- but his assist-to-turnover ratio and decision-making impress Pitino.
Scott has 52 assists against just 11 turnovers in five games this season.
"My son (Minnesota coach Richard Pitino) told me he's one of the premier point guards because he really understands how to play," Pitino said. "He plays great defense, as well as great offense."
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).