Basketball at Center Stage - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Basketball vs Wake Forest

I was about to write that Basketball continues its trek through the mid-pack of the ACC, but with the last outing being against Pitt, and today's vs Wake Forest...yeah, they're not the mid-pack.  It gets a bit better with Clemson upcoming, but alas if you're breaking the conference into thirds, which is how I tend to think about it, Clemson is still in the bottom chunk.  It won't be until the UNC match that we get back to the mid-pack.

In any case, we do have a game against Wake Forest today.  The Demon Deacons are tied for last in the conference with Virginia and Pitt all at 0-4, with Wake having the worst out-of-conference schedule of the three boasting only four wins in 16 outings.  So who did those wins come against?  Wofford (75-65), Saint Louis (94-66), Norfolk State (51-46), and Marshall (66-59).  Safe to say that they haven't been building much of an NCAA tournament resume there.

They're rolling into the KFC Yum! Center on a four game losing streak, all in-conference, and to be fair, they have mostly faced the absolute best of the best in the ACC so far, so let's give them some grace and consider that they may be better than their 0-4 record would suggest, and it'll improve as they start meeting up with mid and bottom pack ACC teams.  But so far, their losses have been to Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Syracuse, numbers 1, 3, and 5 in the conference.  And a Miami team (10th) that may also be better than their record gives them credit for if their play against us is any guide.

The Deacs have a trio of player scoring roughly 10 pts/game.  Kaia Harrison is the points leader on the team, 161, at a 10.1 per game clip.  Elise Williams scores a slightly higher rate, 10.3, but missed a game, leaving her total just a touch short of Harrison's, 154.  Malaya Cowles is the third of the trio, also with a total of 154, but spread out over all 16 games, drops her rate to 9.6 points per game.

So let's call this meeting another chance for the Cards to tune up, and work on some of the smaller things that are still tripping them up on occasion.  I think mostly it will be a test to see if they can keep their level of play together when facing a lesser skilled opponent.  We've seen that this Cardinals team has trouble putting together a full 40 minutes of solid, high intensity play, and to be fair, it's hard to maintain that level and edge against a team that's just not competing well, but it's something that this team still needs to learn to do.

2 o'clock is the start time, ACC Network linear is the TV coverage (Jenn Hildreth and Helen Williams will be on the call), and of course, the wonderful Cortnee Walton and Nick Curran have the radio call on 93.9FM in the Louisville area, and I presume that's streamable somewhere.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

AN "OLDIE" with Sonja and no Daryl

Case, Daryl, and I had a fun chat on the CCRHP yesterday.  I'm not sure how we managed to spend an hour or so talking about a single basketball game, but we mostly did.  OK, there were some tangents and early off-topic chatter, so probably more like 40 minutes, but still, it was a good discussion and fun time.

Check it out at:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Louisville-WBB-Keeps-Winning-e2edae5

-- 

JMcA

SB wins vs NKU -- WBB faces Wake Forest in ACC tourney -- LAX time change -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Gooood morning readers and hello gameday! 

Happy March Madness! I've been watching non-stop basketball since Wednesday morning and i aint mad about it 

Can report that Jared has made it safely to Greensboro!! He popped over to the UofL fan zone and got his belly full before catching the night cap of BC vs Miami.  I'm sure he will be at the arena a couple hours by the time this post goes live.  Bring us a couple Cardinal victories, Jared!!  Thanks for representing Cardinal Couple down there!

The weather in Louisville altered the schedule for a couple squads.  Softball was moved to Thursday afternoon but Louisville LAX pushed its match back a couple hours and over to the football stadium for lights since in will be after sunset, a 7:30 p.m. 


SOFTBALL recap

Cardinals wins against NKU 

The Cards secured the 7-0 win over the Norse on Thursday afternoon moving them to 12-4 on the season.  Louisville started slow on offense, stranding 2 runners on base in the 1st and 4th and 3 runners in the 3rd.  UofL was finally able to plate some runs in the bottom of the 5th when they scored 2 runs on 3 hits and an error by NKU.  

Taylor Roby got the win and improves to a 5-1 record in the circle, giving up 4 hits and striking out 9 in 6 innings of work while also going 2-2 at the plate for 2 RBIs. Korbe Otis also contributed with two hits, a run and an RBI.  The Cards had 10 hits and no errors in the contest. 

The win over Northern Kentucky marks Louisville's second straight shutout and seventh this season.

UofL has outscored opponents 90-33.

UP NEXT

Louisville (12-4) will return to action on Saturday against Toledo at 10 a.m. and #22 Northwestern at 5:30 p.m.

LAX preview

The lacrosse game versus Cincinnati has been moved to 7:30 p.m. at L&N Stadium because of weather impacting the Louisville area.

Originally slated for 4 p.m., the Cardinals are looking for their second consecutive win after securing a 15-12 victory over Vanderbilt on Monday.

Cincinnati midfielder Grace Jenny played her first three years at Louisville before transferring back to her home state this season. The Bearcats are led by freshman Camryn Callaghan, who entered the game top three in the nation in goal scoring. The attacker recorded a hat trick on seven shots

Cincinnati sports a 4-2 record and is coming off of heartbreaking loss in overtime to Ohio State 12-13 on Tuesday.

The Cardinals are undefeated (15-0) against their regional rival and 7-0 at home. UofL defeated Cincinnati at Cincinnati 16-9 on March 9, 2022.

WBB preview

Louisville will begin their quest for the ACC title this morning with an opportunity for some payback against Wake Forest after the Deacons gave Louisville a regular season loss.   

This will be the Demon Deacons third game in three days as they defeated Virginia in the first round on Wednesday. Over the past three seasons, Jewel Spear has averaged 18.8 points per game in the ACC tournament in six games.

LAST MEETING

The last time the Cards #BB and Deacs faced off was 36 days ago on Jan. 26 and the Cards fell 68-57.  Louisville took a 34-25 lead into the half but then fell behind in the third quarter and cut the lead down to two twice in the fourth but were unable to overcome the deficit.   

Morgan Jones led the Cards with 15 points to go with 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Hailey Van Lith lead the team with 5 assists to go with 8 points and two steals. Olivia Cochran scored in double figures with 11 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.

 

(Two All-Time Favorites --Jess and Diop !) 

Louisville lost the third quarter 26-11 to the Deacons. The Cards committed 5 turnovers in consecutive possessions over a five minute period while the Deacs went on an 18-0 run including a 4 point play by ACC star, Jewel Spear. Spear and Elise Williams scored the last 24 points for WF to give the Demon Deacons a 41-40 lead.

ACC Tournament

Thursday's games

Wake Forest upsets FSU  65-54

The Deacons knocked off the Noles after being down by as many as 20 early in the second half.  Jewel Spear 0-8 in the first half finished with 19 points 7 rebounds on 6-11 shooting from the field, good for 54.5%.   After scoring only 2 points in the second quarter, the Deacs outscored FSU 49-20 in the second half.

NC State stomps Syracuse 83-58
Camille Hobby and Jakia Brown-Turner led five players in double figures with 16 points each. River Baldwin went 7-for-7 from the floor and added 14 for the Wolfpack, which shot 61 percent for the game and outrebounded the Orange 41-23.

North Carolina handles Clemson 68-58
Behind Amari Robinson’s 27 points matching a career-high, the Tigers hung around and were within seven (62-55) with just under three minutes left before UNC scored six unanswered points to put the game away.  

Boston College falls to Miami 84-69

Miami’s second victory of the season over the Eagles, and the outcome somewhat resembled the regular-season meeting between the teams. That Jan. 26 game in Coral Gables was also a tight one until the Hurricanes pulled away at the end for an 86-65 victory.

Friday's Schedule 

Louisville vs Wake Forest  11 a.m. ACCN

Notre Dame vs NC State   2 p.m. ACCN

Duke vs North Carolina   6 p.m. ACCN 

Virginia Tech vs Miami     8 p.m. ACCN

(Thursday Game Photos from Jared Anderson -- ON SITE IN GREENSBORO)

CARDINAL COUPLE PICK EM CONTEST

Hiya, Paulie here, just jumping in with my count on the numbers/results for the contest after Thursday action: No one has won all seven matches. Case and Daryl have six wins. There are eight contestants with five wins, 10 CONTESTANTS WITH FOUR WINS, three with three wins, two with two wins and two with one win. 

Jared probably has a whole different set of figures. Fine, post 'em Big Boy and we'll compare. 



As Always

Go Cards!! 

~Daryl 

WBB on the road vs Wake Forest -- Schedule Change -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers, its me Daryl. Covering the preview of Cards WBB tonight for Jared. He had a family emergency come up so it'll be me with the recap as well.

First I want to acknowledge that today is the 3 year anniversary of the tragic accident that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter GiGi and seven others. I mention it for a couple reasons... one of them being that I was with Mr. Jared Anderson the morning of the crash before we went over to the Yum! Center for a WBB game. Ill never forget that day. Rest in Peace to those who lost their life that day.




WBB

The Cardinals and Demon Deacons will square off at 6 p.m. ET and can be viewed on the ACC Network.

Louisville is 6-3 in road games and they won their last ACC road matchup, an 83-75 win over Florida State on Jan. 15. The Cardinals have not dropped back-to-back ACC games since the 2019-20 season. Going back, in their last 14 games coming off a loss, the Cardinals are 13-1. So far this season, Louisville is 5-1 after a loss.

Wake Forest enters Thursday's game with an 11-9 record and are 2-7 in ACC games this season. The Deacs haven't played at home since January 8th when they beat Georgia Tech 51-50. They went 0-3 on their 3 game road trip in decisive losses to #7 Notre Dame, Miami and #12 Virginia Tech. WF is 1-5 in their last six matchups and 8-1 at home. They are outscoring opponents by 15.3 points per game and have limited opponents to an average of 58.2 points allowed per game, ranking 54th nationally and fourth in the ACC.

FEAR THE SPEAR

Wake Forest ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring defense as it limits opponents to 58.3 points per game. Demon Deacons guard Jewel Spear ranks seventh in the league with 15.2 points per game. At home, Spear is averaging 19.0 points per game while shooting 51.8 percent (44-of -85) from the field and 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from behind the arc.

Virginia Tech recently passed Louisville in the ACC standings following the Cards loss to NC State on Sunday. UofL is sniffing the middle of the pack in the conference while Wake Forest is in the bottom three.

This will be the 10th meeting between the two schools and the Cardinals are 9-0 all-time against the Demon Deacons. All of the previous nine matchups have occurred since the Cardinals joined the ACC. Wake Forest is one of two ACC teams the Cardinals are undefeated against in their history (Georgia Tech). Louisville is 4-0 all-time in games played in Winston-Salem.

Walz discussed the upcoming match in the Weds. presser. LINK BELOW: 

WALZ PRESSER 1/25/23 PRE-WAKE FOREST




**SCHEDULE CHANGE**

The WBB matchup that is scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday against Clemson's has had a time adjustment. The Cardinals and Tigers are now set to play at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 12.

The game was originally slated for a 6 p.m. ET start. The game will now be streamed on ACC Network Extra

(No more Jen Hoover to beat up on at WAKE. She's now an assistant at UK)

.

I guess even the ACC eventually figured out 6 p.m. Sunday games stink. Or that Super Bowl was that Sunday. 

 

Have a great Thursday everyone and keep Jared and his family in your thoughts and prayers! 

As always,

Go Cards!

~Daryl 

Sunday Cardinal Couple - WBB Gameday and More

WBB Gameday vs Wake Forest

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons come to the KFC Yum! Center to play today at 2pm.  The Deacs come in on a three game win streak, and a mixed strength of schedule.

Of those last three, the best win probably was over Georgia Tech (12-3, 3-1), with Duke and Clemson both sitting at 1-3 in conference.  The loss in conference was a close one against Miami.  In the non-conference part of the schedule, wins over Dayton and Florida are certainly respectable, but a loss to East Tennessee State is a little concerning.

Wake Forest has already developed a feel for tight conference games in this young conference season with all four of those decisions being by five points or less.  Give the Deacs credit for grit and not giving up.

The high scorers for the Deacons are Ivana Raca (6'2" F) at 16.3 per game, Alex Sharp (6'1" G) with
12.7, Gina Conti (5'10" G) with 11.3, and Christina Morra (6'2" F) checking in with 8.2.  Wake has no one listed on their roster as a center.  They do have 6'4" Maya Banks listed as a Forward, but she doesn't see a huge amount of playing time.  The rebounding threat, and Wake statistically outrebounds their opponents, comes from Raca and Sharp.  Una Udoh (6'1" F) is the biggest blocking threat, but with only 12 on the season, that doesn't look to be a major consideration.  Raca, Sharp, and Conti can all hit threes with reasonable efficiency, but Sharp is the best sharpshooter on the squad, draining over 40% of her shots from distance.

How would I game plan for this game?  Well, I haven't been able to catch any of their games yet, but I would be looking to get touches by either or both of Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook down in the paint on every trip down the court.  Wake doesn't seem to have size that can deal with them.  I wouldn't expect the four guard lineup from Louisville today, unless we see Wake start to punish the Cards from three range.

The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra with tip-off at 2pm.  Take your pick of game promotions as they seem to be a bit overloaded today.  Disney Day, Spirit Day, Faculty Appreciation Day, and the $10 Family Meal Deal are all on the calendar for today. We always recommend that you check out Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson and their descriptive account of the Cards WBB squad on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD.

Head downtown this afternoon to see the best sports squad
on the Belknap Campus do work against a challenging ACC foe. The WBB squad won't be back in the YUM! for 11 days after this afternoon's contest, so catch them today!

Track and Field

Track and Field took to the indoor track at Purdue in the inaugural Gene Edmonds Memorial Invitational and saw quite a few successes with eight wins on the second and final day.

Gabriela Leon took wins in both Pole Vault and Long Jump with the Cards also picking up 3rd and 4th place in both of those events.

Rashida Harris took first in Shot Put on the women's side, with Christian Buckley getting the win on the guy's side.

Kayla Alexander took the victory in the 60 Meter Hurdles, and Sharnae Alston broke the tape in the 60 Meter Dash.

Guys wins to round out the eight victories went to Trey Allen in the High Jump, Sterling Warner in the 60 Meter Dash, and Cameron Stephens in the 3000m.

(Photos today from Jared, Paulie, godeacs.com and gocards.com) 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We continue to work on the new format for the CCRH.  Digital Audio recording and streaming is really hard and fiddly to get right.  We were at the NorthEast Regional Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library yesterday, and while the equipment was a little limited, and the space was...cozy...for three of us, we were able to stream a show.  The audio starts out...not great, though it does improve some later in the show.  In general, we liked the space and I'll be working with the staff at LFPL to bring other improvements to our show and their overall setup.

I've done a bit editing work on the following audio-only link, that should be a bit easier to listen to:
https://ccrh.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/podcast-audio/2020-01-11%2011-00-16.mp3

If you want to see the slideshow of Jared's photos from the Duke game, the video with them in it is below.  The slideshow starts at just over 18 minutes into the video.

-- 

JMcA