GAME NOTES: The fourth-ranked Louisville Cardinals welcome the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to the KFC Yum! Center for a non-conference matchup this evening.
Rick Pitino's Cardinals are one of just a handful of unbeaten teams left in the country and have enjoyed home cooking for the most part, as this contest represents the team's ninth straight at home. Louisville will close out its lengthy homestand next Wednesday against Georgetown, before taking on rival Kentucky in Lexington to close out the calendar year. Louisville moved to 11-0 on the season with a 69-62 win over College of Charleston on Tuesday. It marks the team's best start since the 1974-75 season.
The Hilltoppers will be closing out their non-conference schedule tonight. The non-league slate has not been kind to Ken McDonald's squad, which comes in with a mere 4-8 record. WKU has lost its last two outings, falling to IUPUI (84-76) and most recently, Furman (76-63).
The Hilltoppers lead the all-time series by a count of 39-35, but Louisville has closed the gap considerably with wins in 19 of the last 22 meetings, including a 114-82 win last year in Bowling Green.
The Hilltoppers struggled shooting the basketball at Furman last weekend and were unable to keep pace with the Paladins, who shot 51.2 percent from the floor and closed out the game with a 22-of-26 showing from the free-throw line in the second half. Derrick Gordon led the way for WKU with 12 points and nine rebounds. Kahlil McDonald and Jamal Crook chipped in with 11 points apiece in the setback. WIth a -7.0 scoring margin, it is easy to see why the Hilltoppers are four games under .500 on the year. The team has really had a tough time generating offense, shooting well under 40 percent from the floor (.378) and putting up a mere 60.0 ppg. Gordon is the only player currently averaging double figures for WKU with 10.7 ppg. T.J. Price and George Fant provide limited scoring depth at 9.7 and 8.5 ppg, respectively.
The Cardinals are getting it done with stellar defensive play this season. Opponents are earning a mere 56.6 ppg this season and doing it on just .356 shooting. In addition, Louisville owns a +6.7 rebounding margin. Kyle Kuric leads the team in scoring at 13.1 ppg. He is joined in double figures by Gorgui Dieng and Chris Smith at 10.6 ppg each. Peyton Siva is charged with running the show and has shown the ability to both find his own shot (9.6 ppg) and find others (6.7 apg). It certainly didn't come easy against the Cougars last time out, but Louisville turned up the heat defensively in the second half, coming from behind to earn the seven-point win and remain unbeaten. Kuric led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds. Dieng added 14 points to the cause. Chane Behanan and Russ Smith tacked on 12 points apiece, while Smith chipped in with 11.
The Hilltoppers are having all kinds of problems scoring this season and the Cardinals can put the clamps on any opponent. Expect Louisville to get out to a fast start and never look back.
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