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Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kentucky aren’t the only ones from the Commonwealth hunting some pay-back this week in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2009, No. 2 seed Michigan State upset No. 1 seed Louisville 64-52 in the finals of the Midwest Region in Indianapolis keeping the Cardinals from the Final Four.

Now, three years later, Thursday night at 7:47 ET in Phoenix, the tables are turned. Michigan State is the No. 1 seed and favorites to reach the Final Four.  Louisville is the No. 4 seed when the two teams meet in the West Region final in Phoenix.

Continue reading ‘Can Louisville score enough to beat Michigan State?’

Let’s take a look at the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 matchups, ranked by level of interest:

1. South – (1) Kentucky vs. (4) Indiana: The rematch from the December instant classic in Bloomington. We’ll be re-examining the first meeting right up to tipoff late Friday night. Kentucky was a young team on that December day. Indiana was not sure how good it was going to be at that point. So some things have changed from now to then. Including this: Indiana had the motivation that day. Kentucky has the motivation on the second go-around.

Continue reading ‘Ranking the NCAA’s Sweet 16 matchups’

Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Murray State are all in action today in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64.

Murray State is up first, playing Colorado State at 12:15 p.m. on CBS. Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery and Leslie Visser will have the call.

Louisville-Davidson will be on at 1:40 p.m. from Portland on TBS. Brian Anderson, Dan Bonner and Jill Hildreth will have the call.

Kentucky-Western Kentucky is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. from Louisville on TBS. Lundquist, Raftery and Visser will have that game, as well.

Click the continue line for a chart of today’s games with times and television networks.

Continue reading ‘TV schedule of the NCAA Touranment’s Round of 64′

The last time Kentucky and Louisville won their respective conference tournaments in the same year?

Answer: 2003.

It could happen this year as Louisville knocked off Notre Dame 64-50 tonight to reach the Big East Tournament final on Saturday night against Cincinnati, 9 p.m. on ESPN. Meanwhile, Kentucky beat LSU 60-51 in the SEC quarterfinals today, and the Cats play Florida at 1 p.m. on Saturday on ABC.

Continue reading ‘Could U of L and UK repeat history from 2003?’

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UPDATE: At Media Day, Pitino said that this would be Swopshire’s final year at U of L because the school had no more scholarships.

UPDATE: Courier-Journal says Swopshire is on schedule to graduate in May.

At his press conference today for Louisville’s game Wednesday against visiting South Florida, Cards coach Rick Pitino said not only would Jared Swopshire start, but that the 6-foot-9 forward would go through Senior Day ceremonies.

Thing is, Swopshire is not a senior.

The St. Louis native is a redshirt junior, but Pitino said that Swopshire will transfer because he would not get playing time next season at U of L. Pitino said he “would love for Swopshire play 32 minutes somewhere else than 10 minutes here.”

Pitino had scholarship issues this year, which forced Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith to be listed as walk-ons in order to abide by NCAA scholarship limitations. Pitino said the development of Chane Behanan has caused Swopshire, who sat out last year with a groin injury, to lose playing time.

Swopshire is averaging 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game this season. He has played in 28 games, all off the bench. Swopshire started 20 games as a sophomore before sitting out last season.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino talks to the media after his team’s 60-56 loss last night at Cincinnati. At the 1:40 mark, he lets his feelings be known about the officiating.

For local interest, the best college basketball game on the tube tonight pits Connecticut at Louisville for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Yum Center. ESPN has the honors as part of “Big Monday” and “Rivalry Week.”

Louisville has won four straight, including a 78-66 decision over Rutgers on Saturday. But U of L center Gorgi Dieng sprained his ankle in that victory and is questionable for tonight. The Cards are tied for fifth in the Big East with a 6-4 record. Meanwhile, Connecticut is 15-7 overall and 5-5 in the league. The Huskies will again be without head coach Jim Calhoun, who is being treated for stenosis of the spinal cord.

• Dieng’s status unclear for Connecticut-Louisville game
• Connecticut ready for Louisville’s press
• ESPN3 preview of Connecticut at Louisville

The list of tonight’s games.

Continue reading ‘U of L-UConn highlights tonight’s TV hoops slate’

Rick Pitino and our old friend and colleague Chip Cosby had a slight disagreement after U of L’s win over Rutgers on Saturday.

As you may have heard, at his press conference today, Louisville coach Rick Pitino took issue with a Courier-Journal story that quoted former U of L coach Denny Crum and former U of L player Preston Knowles saying that the coach has a reputation for hard practices.

By the way, it is sort of a rant, but Pitino did not yell at C.L. Brown, the Courier-Journal reporter.

Click the continue line to listen to the audio.

Continue reading ‘Rick Pitino reacts to story about his hard practices’

(AP photo)

It’s an important game for Louisville tonight in Rhode Island, and not just because Rick Pitino will be honored for the 25th anniversary of his 1987 Final Four team at Providence.

The Cards are slumping. They’ve lost three of their last four — lost to Georgetown at home; lost at Kentucky; won at St. John’s; lost at home to Notre Dame — to fall to 13-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big East. Both those Big East losses came at home, including that 67-65 double-overtime loss to the Irish last Saturday.

Continue reading ‘As Pitino is honored, U of L can’t afford another loss’