Game 29: Louisville
Feb. 28, 2009 1:55 p.m.
Louisville, Ky. -- The post-Dominic James era begins in earnest on Sunday at Freedom Hall.
There are better teams to try and work a new point guard in against than the running, trapping and pressing Louisville Cardinals, of course, but that's what coach Buzz Williams is charged with heading into the final week of the regular season.
The guess here is that Williams will go with Maurice Acker in James' starting spot (he started once last year in place of an ill James) and look to get anywhere from 25-30 minutes out of him at the point.
If Acker can provide anything close to the six-point, four-assist, three-rebound, one-steal game he put up against Connecticut in relief of James, Williams and the Golden Eagles would take it and run.
Wesley Matthews, who's run some point in his earlier days at MU, probably will also get some opportunities to do so with James out as well.
It will also be interesting to see if David Cubillan gets anything resembling more consistent playing time. He'd certainly help his cause by knocking down a shot or two -- something he hasn't done since Dec. 28, believe it or not -- and by being a pest defensively.
Louisville (22-5, 13-2) enters ranked sixth and just a half-game behind Connecticut atop the Big East standings.
The Cardinals will throw their usual cast of characters at MU: Earl Clark and Terrence Williams up front along with Jerry Smith, Andre McGee, Preston Knowles and Edgar Sosa in the backcourt.
The new face will be McDonald's All-American big man Samardo Samuels in the middle, where he's putting up 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The big Jamaican's probably not lived up to the billing he had as a prep-school superstar, but he's still plenty big and skilled enough to cause the Golden Eagles all kinds of problems.
Clark is still a huge matchup issue as well, but has played inconsistently all season. He leads Louisville in scoring at 13.3 ppg, but is shooting just 41.7%. He does pull down 8.7 rebounds, and also blocks 1.6 shots per game.
Williams, meanwhile, is about as big a nightmare matchup as there could be for MU, which struggles against athletically talented wings -- which is exactly what the 6-6 senior is.
He's as well-rounded as they come: he averages 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game, has upped his shooting to 43.4% and has also knocked down 34 three-pointers.
Williams excels in the point-forward role, and is also a valuable cog in coach Rick Pitino's press.
The Cardinals also have 6-10 shot blocker Terrence Jennings coming off the bench.
Louisville has won four straight. Sunday's game is being billed as a 'white out', so we can only hope Pitino busts out that sweet Scarface number he wore last season.
Regardless, expect Freedom Hall to be rockin', as always.
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