College Basketball Picks: DePaul Blue Demons vs Louisville Cardinals
Saturday, January 14, 2012
by Frank Martin
Things have fallen apart quickly for Louisville Cardinals. Once a top-five team, Louisville looked listless in a 31-point loss to Big East weakling Providence its last time out. How bad is it? A home game against longtime punching bag DePaul Blue Demons no longer seems like a sure win.
The 15th-ranked Louisville Cardinals limp home Saturday seeking to avoid their longest home losing streak in 11 years against the Blue Demons, who have dropped seven straight in the series between former Conference USA rivals.
Louisville has won 20 of the last 22 meetings and hasn't lost in regulation to DePaul since 1995. DePaul, meanwhile, has lost 33 straight to ranked opponents since a win over No. 17 Villanova in 2008.
- DePaul Blue Demons @ Louisville Cardinals
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 14, 2012
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
TV: 4:00 p.m. ET, WHAS-TV (Louisville), Big East Network, ESPN3.com
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SBG Global Sportsbook currently have the Cardinals listed as 16-point favorites versus the Blue Demons.
DePaul Blue Demons (10-6): DePaul, the Big East's worst defensive team allowing 74.6 points per game, suffered a 93-74 loss to No. 24 Seton Hall on Tuesday. The Blue Demons' full-court press has been largely ineffective, which has led to the worst field goal percentage defense (47.5) in the conference. The poor defense negates the fact that DePaul can score (76.9 points per game – 36th in the nation). Sophomore forward Cleveland Melvin, who's second in the Big East in scoring (18.6 points, 6.4 rebounds), is one of the most underrated players in the country. Melvin and Brandon Young (17.1 points) are looking to bounce back from sub-par outings, however. The duo shot a combined 10 of 30 against Seton Hall.
Louisville Cardinals (13-4): Coach Rick Pitino's 1987 Providence Final Four team was honored at halftime of the Cardinals' embarrassing 90-59 road loss to the Friars on Tuesday night – Louisville's worst loss in nearly three years. The humbling setback to a team previously winless in conference play must have made the 12-0 start, and not the Final Four run, feel like it happened a quarter-century ago. The Cardinals, who are off to their worst conference start since joining the Big East in 2005-06, shot just 37 percent and missed 15 of 19 3-point attempts en route to a fourth loss in five games. The main culprit has been a lack of outside shooting. What's more, the only player who had been producing – sophomore guard Russ Smith (11.4 points, 2.3 steals) – is in a slump and has taken up residency in Pitino's doghouse. Smith played just eight minutes against Providence. He has five points in the last two games after averaging 20.0 points off the bench in the previous seven contests.
1. “It’s always that one game a year that you can’t explain. You don’t know why it happens, but you’ve just got to get on to the next game.” – Pitino, on the meltdown versus Providence.
2. The Blue Demons’ last win over the Cardinals was a 60-58 overtime victory in 2003-04. Their last regulation road win over the Cardinals came in 1986.
3. Louisville hasn’t lost three straight at home since a four-game skid at Freedom Hall in 2000-01.
BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Cardinals 84, Blue Demons 62.
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brandon young - cleveland melvin - depaul blue demons - final four - kfc yum! center - louisville cardinals - rick pitino - russ smith
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