Louisville 73 St. John’s 58
Posted by frankpos on January 6, 2012
(By HITH correspondent Afootdr during his visit to NY) It has been since my childhood days that I have been to the Madison Square Garden. So when the opportunity to catch the Cards at MSG during a recently planned trip to NYC came about, my son and I jumped at the chance. As we were standing outside the Garden before the game, our excitement grew. We were pumped. This was only heightened by seeing an enthusiastic woman make her way up the steps. This was of course Russ Smith’s grandmother, Celestine.
We were sitting 7 rows back at half court, seats we only dream of at the Yum Center. The arena was less than half full. The Cards looked menacing in their away black uniforms. St. John’s starts 4 freshmen, no match for the likes of Kuric, Siva, Dieng or the Dynamic Smith Duo.
So Louisville again starts slow with St. John’s connecting of 2 early 3 point baskets. But quickly the Cards turn up the defense and hold the Red Storm to but a light rain. The Storm shoots 14% for the 1st half as the Cards race to a 29 – 18 pt lead at half. The cards hit a blistering 53% from the field including 62% from 3 pt land for the second half and bury the Red Storm 73-58.
Kyle Kuric had a good offensive performance but lacked on the boards and assists. Peyton Siva was hampered by foul trouble, playing only 18 minutes and looking out of sorts while in there. Gorgui Dieng just missed another double/double and showed why he is a defensive threat with 7 blocks. Kevin Ware played a lot of minutes dishing out 4 assists but looking awkward on the 4 TO’s. Chris Smith looked good and Jared Swopshire had his best game on the boards with 9.
But the catalyst was Russ Smith coming off the bench to score 17 pts, 7 assists in 23 minutes in front of his hometown crowd and of course one proud grandmother !
