Big game in the Big Apple for U of L, IU

Terry Rozier smiled wide on Friday at the first mention of Madison Square Garden.

The University of Louisville sophomore guard knows all about the World's Most Famous Arena, and he made it clear that he's still disappointed he didn't get to college in time to play in the Big East tournament in New York City before the Cardinals switched conferences.

Instead, he and his teammates get a different kind of New York City experience on Tuesday when fourth-ranked U of L takes on Indiana in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.

"I've always wanted to play there," said the 6-foot-1 Rozier, U of L's second-leading scorer.

"It's exciting for me, and the guys have been talking about this for a long time. It's one of the games on our schedule that we've been waiting to play."

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Louisville (7-0) needs Rozier and company to improve on offense when the Cardinals take the floor Tuesday night. They've had spotty offensive production this season, though their 82-57 win over FIU on Friday night shook out some of the shooting kinks.

Now all U of L coach Rick Pitino wants is better ball movement in Louisville and Indiana's 17th meeting in their long program histories.

The Cardinals, Pitino said Friday, have been "hunting shots" and points instead of passing the ball and finding open looks. They have assists on a little more than half of their made field goals this season.

"We just have to keep working and building with each other," junior forward Montrezl Harrell said. "We're going to hit shots and move it better. That's going to come."

Louisville's defense, though, is on course for another top-drawer season. U of L ranks second in defensive efficiency and has forced 137 turnovers in its seven games.

Pitino said last week that this U of L group is as far advanced defensively as any team he's coached in recent years.

"I've seen enough to know from last year and years past, and even a little bit this year, that their pressure defense is as good as anybody's in the country," IU coach Tom Crean told reporters after the Hoosiers' Saturday win over Savannah State.

It seems odd that U of L and IU haven't played each other in 11 years. The Cards bested the Hoosiers 95-76 the last time they met – in 2003.

But there's more recent familiarity between the programs beyond proximity. Not only did Pitino poach recruiting ace and U of L assistant coach Kenny Johnson from Crean's staff after last season, Pitino and Crean also have a long history of coaching against each other.

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Crean's Marquette teams beat Louisville six times in nine Conference USA games when the two programs were league powers in the early 2000s.

Both schools joined the Big East in 2005, and Louisville bested Marquette four times in five games. Just like their days in the Conference USA, Pitino and Crean's teams were league-title contenders in their new conference.

Crean left for Indiana in 2008, and the coaches haven't faced each other since. They know Tuesday night will bring back some of those mid-2000s memories, though.

"It'll be a hell of a game," Pitino said after the FIU win.

"They're a much better shooting team than us, much better passing team than us ... We have to extend our defense and play much better than we did (vs. FIU)."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).