Game Notes
Three of the last five games in the series have been decided by three points or less.
Louisville enters the game ranked third nationally in steals (11.5/game) and second nationally in turnover margin (7.2).
Preview
A week ago, Louisville was the top ranked team in the nation. Saturday, the Cardinals will be trying to fight off a two game losing streak amidst back to back games with Georgetown and Pittsburgh.
Much like Notre Dame, Louisville returns four starters in 2012-13, with a combination of strong inside scoring and a relentless defense that has led UofL to to three marks nationally in steals and turnover margin. Yet, much like Notre Dame earlier this week, Louisville's guard play failed them in a 73-64 loss at Villanova. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva shot a combined 7 for 26, 1 for 9 from three point range.
Traditionally, the series has come down to expert guard play. If Louisville coach Rick Pitino plans to reenergize his backcourt, he will do so with a Georgetown lineup that has been defensively stout against opposing backcourts, while remaining somewhat fragile inside. If Smith and Siva are the leaders to date this season, Georgetown fans may hear as much or more from big men Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng for Louisville to climb out of an unforeseen rut in the conference schedule.
Louisville arrives at Verizon Center with lots of unanswered questions. Georgetown's opportunity is to build upon the momentum of the Notre Dame and make some headway of its own. With three home games over the next week, the seven day stretch could be a turning point, with eight of 15 Big East teams currently within one game of .500 entering the backstretch.
Georgetown cannot ignore the potential of Louisville's starting guards, each of which could contend on an NBA roster after their college years are done. Peyton Siva, who led the Cardinals to the Big East title and the Final Four, continues to be the best assist guard in the league, setting up 13 assists in Tuesday's game at Villanova, averaging 11.5 per game. Siva's numbers over the past two games have been down, however, shooting under 33% from the field and just 2 for 12 from outside. The Cards can stand an off-night from Siva if all-Big East guard candidate Russ Smith picks up the slack, but Smith's shooting numbers are no better over the last two-- just 6 for 22 from the field, 2 for 12 from outside. If Pitino can get better performance from Siva and Smith, the Cardinals are a tough out.
Louisville is underrated up front, and up front may well decide if the Cardinals can control the tempo with a Georgetown team that needs to set the tone for the game. Sophomore Wayne Blackshear has succeeded Kyle Kuric at the small forward with some good effort, particularly with five threes and 17 points versus Villanova. Blackshear is foul prone and he is averaging just 21 minutes per game as a result.
The rebounding work will be divided between 6-6 sophomore Chane Behanan (10.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and 6-11 junior Gorgui Dieng (8.8 points, 10.1 rebounds). Behanan is on his way towards developing into a star player in the Louisville system, with averages of 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 53.5% shooting in his last nine games, including a 20 point, seven rebound efforts versus Kentucky. Dieng is among the best rebounders in the Big East, with back to back 16 rebound totals against UConn and Seton Hall. Despite his 6-11 frame, Dieng is not a a particularly strong inside presence, but may be called to shoulder more of the scoring load if Georgetown cannot match Dieng with consistent play from sophomore Mikael Hopkins, whose last five games continue a downward slope in scoring and rebound productivity.
Georgetown's formula for success absent Greg Whittington has been "15,12,10,and D"--15 or more points from Otto Porter, 12 or more from Markel Starks, 10 or more from a third scorer (most recently, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera), and consistently good defense. Outside of the first five minutes of the second half versus South Florida, the formula has held to form--a good opening start, weather through a couple of scoring droughts, and pick up the scoring midway into the second half. Where Georgetown could use some additional help is inside. Moses Ayegba's 10 rebounds versus Notre Dame is one step in that direction, getting more second half scoring from Nate Lubick another. Because Georgetown's rotation is no more than eight, and Louisville can go nine, the starters need to stay on the floor.
Keys to the game:
Assists and Turnovers: Louisville owns a +4.7 per game average in Big East play in assists to turnovers. Georgetown has been effective in limiting opponents assists but the Cardinals figure to be its toughest challenge yet.
Shooting Accuracy: As noted in an article at Card Chronicle, good shooting often proves the clincher in this series. Over the past five games versus UofL, Georgetown has not shot less than 46 percent from the field, while Louisville has only one game of better than 41 percent shooting versus the Hoyas. But...
Points Per Possession: There's the issue of ball control. For its part, Georgetown is giving up a lot of points off turnovers and this is an area for immediate concern with a less than 1.0 point per possession average. At 1.11 points per possession, the Cardinals gain, on average, about 6.4 extra points per game unless the defense compensates.
Off The Line: Keep Peyton Siva off the line--he is 13-13 in Big East play. Chane Behanan (9-18) is more of a liability.
The Rule of 70: Georgetown owns an exceedingly good record when they can get to 70 points (105-13 in the JT III era), though not always a given in Big East play, but a winning mark nonetheless. Louisville has reached 68 or more just once in its last seven meetings with the Hoyas.
Three of the last five games in the series have been decided by three points or less.
Louisville enters the game ranked third nationally in steals (11.5/game) and second nationally in turnover margin (7.2).
Preview
A week ago, Louisville was the top ranked team in the nation. Saturday, the Cardinals will be trying to fight off a two game losing streak amidst back to back games with Georgetown and Pittsburgh.
Much like Notre Dame, Louisville returns four starters in 2012-13, with a combination of strong inside scoring and a relentless defense that has led UofL to to three marks nationally in steals and turnover margin. Yet, much like Notre Dame earlier this week, Louisville's guard play failed them in a 73-64 loss at Villanova. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva shot a combined 7 for 26, 1 for 9 from three point range.
Traditionally, the series has come down to expert guard play. If Louisville coach Rick Pitino plans to reenergize his backcourt, he will do so with a Georgetown lineup that has been defensively stout against opposing backcourts, while remaining somewhat fragile inside. If Smith and Siva are the leaders to date this season, Georgetown fans may hear as much or more from big men Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng for Louisville to climb out of an unforeseen rut in the conference schedule.
Louisville arrives at Verizon Center with lots of unanswered questions. Georgetown's opportunity is to build upon the momentum of the Notre Dame and make some headway of its own. With three home games over the next week, the seven day stretch could be a turning point, with eight of 15 Big East teams currently within one game of .500 entering the backstretch.
Georgetown cannot ignore the potential of Louisville's starting guards, each of which could contend on an NBA roster after their college years are done. Peyton Siva, who led the Cardinals to the Big East title and the Final Four, continues to be the best assist guard in the league, setting up 13 assists in Tuesday's game at Villanova, averaging 11.5 per game. Siva's numbers over the past two games have been down, however, shooting under 33% from the field and just 2 for 12 from outside. The Cards can stand an off-night from Siva if all-Big East guard candidate Russ Smith picks up the slack, but Smith's shooting numbers are no better over the last two-- just 6 for 22 from the field, 2 for 12 from outside. If Pitino can get better performance from Siva and Smith, the Cardinals are a tough out.
Louisville is underrated up front, and up front may well decide if the Cardinals can control the tempo with a Georgetown team that needs to set the tone for the game. Sophomore Wayne Blackshear has succeeded Kyle Kuric at the small forward with some good effort, particularly with five threes and 17 points versus Villanova. Blackshear is foul prone and he is averaging just 21 minutes per game as a result.
The rebounding work will be divided between 6-6 sophomore Chane Behanan (10.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and 6-11 junior Gorgui Dieng (8.8 points, 10.1 rebounds). Behanan is on his way towards developing into a star player in the Louisville system, with averages of 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 53.5% shooting in his last nine games, including a 20 point, seven rebound efforts versus Kentucky. Dieng is among the best rebounders in the Big East, with back to back 16 rebound totals against UConn and Seton Hall. Despite his 6-11 frame, Dieng is not a a particularly strong inside presence, but may be called to shoulder more of the scoring load if Georgetown cannot match Dieng with consistent play from sophomore Mikael Hopkins, whose last five games continue a downward slope in scoring and rebound productivity.
Georgetown's formula for success absent Greg Whittington has been "15,12,10,and D"--15 or more points from Otto Porter, 12 or more from Markel Starks, 10 or more from a third scorer (most recently, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera), and consistently good defense. Outside of the first five minutes of the second half versus South Florida, the formula has held to form--a good opening start, weather through a couple of scoring droughts, and pick up the scoring midway into the second half. Where Georgetown could use some additional help is inside. Moses Ayegba's 10 rebounds versus Notre Dame is one step in that direction, getting more second half scoring from Nate Lubick another. Because Georgetown's rotation is no more than eight, and Louisville can go nine, the starters need to stay on the floor.
Keys to the game:
Assists and Turnovers: Louisville owns a +4.7 per game average in Big East play in assists to turnovers. Georgetown has been effective in limiting opponents assists but the Cardinals figure to be its toughest challenge yet.
Shooting Accuracy: As noted in an article at Card Chronicle, good shooting often proves the clincher in this series. Over the past five games versus UofL, Georgetown has not shot less than 46 percent from the field, while Louisville has only one game of better than 41 percent shooting versus the Hoyas. But...
Points Per Possession: There's the issue of ball control. For its part, Georgetown is giving up a lot of points off turnovers and this is an area for immediate concern with a less than 1.0 point per possession average. At 1.11 points per possession, the Cardinals gain, on average, about 6.4 extra points per game unless the defense compensates.
Off The Line: Keep Peyton Siva off the line--he is 13-13 in Big East play. Chane Behanan (9-18) is more of a liability.
The Rule of 70: Georgetown owns an exceedingly good record when they can get to 70 points (105-13 in the JT III era), though not always a given in Big East play, but a winning mark nonetheless. Louisville has reached 68 or more just once in its last seven meetings with the Hoyas.
