Wednesday night in CBB will see the Georgetown Hoyas travel to the KFC Yum! Center to take on the Louisville Cardinals The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN 2. Currently Louisville is favored by 5 points with the total being set at 126.5 for this game. A battle of ranked foes kicks off Big East Conference action this evening, as No. 12 Georgetown pays a visit to undefeated and fourth-ranked Louisville.
Free Analysis: Georgetown is an impressive 10-1 on the year, its only loss coming against nationally-ranked Kansas in Hawaii more than a month ago. Since then, the Hoyas have reeled off eight straight victories, the most recent of which being a 70-59 decision at home against Memphis. That was the 2nd time this year that Georgetown topped Memphis. Really the only other win of note for this team came against Alabama. Last year Chris wright and Austin Freeman were two of the best in the Big East, but they have departed the Hoyas and picking up the slack has been Senior guard Jason Clark (15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds) and junior forward Hollis Thompson (14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds; 47.8 percent 3-point shooting), while, senior center Henry Sims (12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists) has developed into a Greg Monroe-like presence in the Hoyas' offensive scheme. Georgetown is shooting 48 percent (25th in the nation) and averaging 76.9 points (45th). The offense has been good for this team, but the defense has been superb as they have allowed just 57.6 ppg on 38.8% shooting, plus they are +6.9 in rebounds and .3.6 in turnovers. One of six unbeaten teams remaining, Louisville has won 20 straight games at the KFC Yum! Center – its longest home winning streak in 44 years. Four players are scoring in double figures for the Cardinals, who despite their record haven’t been playing very well lately. Kuric continues to pace the Cards through the first 12 games, netting 13.3 ppg on the strength of his 50.4 percent field goal efficiency. Dieng is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 10.2 caroms per contest, while Russ Smith contributes 10.5 ppg and Chris Smith pitches in with 10.4 ppg. As a team, Louisville is averaging 73.2 ppg and coming up with more than 41 rebounds per tilt, but just like the hoyas, this team earns their money at the defensive end, where foes are scoring just 56.9 ppg in hitting a mere 36.3 percent of their total shots. Louisville has won three straight conference openers, while Georgetown is 6-1 in Big East openers under John Thompson III. The Cardinals' 62-59 loss in Washington last season dropped them to 4-7 against Georgetown.
Free Pick: This should be a wildly entertaining game between two teams that can play shut-down defense, yet still have enough in the tank to generate a considerable amount of offense. The Hoya's run a Princeton-style offense yet because they shoot so well they have averaged 76.9 ppg on the year. They do not push the tempo, but they will run if need be and they may need to push it tonight to try and keep Louisville from settling in to their tough half court defense. The Cardinals, on the other hand will look to run a bit and they are 84th in the nation in shots taken, while putting up 73.2 ppg. Both of these teams have played excellent defense this year, but thanks to the offenses of both teams we have seen Georgetown games average 134.5 ppg, while Louisville games have put up130.1 ppg. There is just too much offense in this one for me to think it will not put at least 130 points on the board. Go with the Over here.