The University of Louisville men’s basketball team returns to the friendly confines - although they haven’t been so friendly, at least shooting wise - of the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night.
The Cardinals (19-4 overall, 7-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), who are ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 9 in The Associated Press Top 25, host Pittsburgh (16-8, 5-5) at 8 p.m. The game will be televised locally on WHAS-TV.
UofL, which entered the day fifth in the ACC standings, has played four of its last five games on the road. The first of those was the Cards’ 80-68 win at Pitt on Jan. 25. Terry Rozier led Louisville with 26 points that day while Montrezl Harrell added 18, Chris Jones 17 and Mangok Mathiang 11 off the bench.
UofL won three of those aforementioned four road games, losing only at third-ranked Virginia (52-47) this past Saturday night.
The Cards only home game since Jan. 17 was their 78-68 overtime win over North Carolina on Jan. 31. In that game they shot 25.9 percent in the first half before rallying from an 18-point deficit for the victory. That type of shooting has seemed to be commonplace at home for Louisville, which shot 29.5 percent in its loss to Duke, 32.7 percent in its win over Clemson and 25.9 percent in its loss to Kentucky.
Rick Pitino hopes his team will shoot better Wednesday against the improving Panthers. Pitt, which enters the day tied for eighth in the ACC, has won its last three games in a row, including a 76-72 triumph over Notre Dame on Jan. 31.
The Panthers are led by 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Michael Young (13.2 ppg, 8 rpg), 6-7 sophomore forward Jamel Artis (12.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg), 6-3 junior guard James Robinson (10.2 ppg, 5.1 apg), 6-5 senior guard Cameron Wright (9.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg), 6-6 sophomore swingman Chris Jones (8.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and 6-1 sophomore guard Josh Newkirk (7 ppg).
The Cards lead the all-time series against Pitt 9-5, including 5-1 on their home court.
Photo courtesy University of Louisville Men’s Basketball Facebook Page