Thoughts from Rick Pitino's Ohio State preview

Rick Pitino previewed Louisville's Tuesday night showdown with Ohio State on Monday, and he made it pretty clear how big the matchup is for both squads.

Here are three quick thoughts and updates from Pitino's press conference:

Mathiang and Jones are OK. Mangok Mathiang (ankle sprain) didn't end up playing in Louisville's 45-33 win over Cleveland State last Wednesday, but Pitino said the 6-foot-10 center should be good to go on Tuesday night. You get the sense it was a "don't play him unless you need him" situation with Mathiang.

As for Chris Jones and his sore shins, the 5-foot-10 guard played 31 minutes against Cleveland State, but he said his shin "was killing me" after the game. Jones missed about five or six weeks this offseason because of a stress fracture in his shin.

Struggling offense. Pitino admitted on Monday that he's concerned about Louisville's early-season offense, saying, "statistically, I don't like what I'm seeing." He wants more ball movement and more open shots. Louisville, he said, took 15 contested shots against Cleveland State. The U of L staff aims for a maximum of five per game. But he also said it's not an effort or a talent issue with his players. "I don't worry about their attitude," he said. "They play their asses off." It is early in the campaign, so Tuesday night and some of the December games will give us a clearer picture of Louisville's progress.

Nonconference scheduling. There's been some criticism of Louisville's nonconference opponents these past few weeks, but Pitino went into further detail on his thought process behind scheduling before conference play. This year, Louisville locked in for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (which is the Ohio State game). They also agreed to play Minnesota as part of ESPN's Armed Forces Classic and Indiana in the Jimmy V Classic. In theory, those three games, plus a road game at Western Kentucky and the annual series against Kentucky would serve as five solid nonleague games. But Pitino also said some 20 percent or so of their schedule isn't up to him. The Global Sports Showcase, he said, made up the field, not U of L, and that field included Marshall, Savannah State and Cleveland State. Still, Pitino added, he's not worried about his team's preparedness for ACC play.