Saturday evening in CBB will see the Louisville Cardinals head to New Jersey to take on the Seton Hall Pirates. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 pm tipoff and will be televised live on the Big East Network. Currently Seton Hall is favored by 1.5 points with the total being set at 128.5 for this game. The Louisville Cardinals will try to continue their winning ways as they head to the Prudential Center for a Big East Conference battle with the Seton Hall Pirates.
Free Analysis: Louisville comes in at 16-5 after its 84-74 victory over Villanova on Wednesday. The Cardinals moved the ball very well in their win over the Wildcats as they tallied 19 assists and had just nine turnovers. Defense has fueled the Cardinals' success this season - they rank second in the Big East in steals (9.8) and opponent field-goal percentage (37.6). Sophomore center Gorgui Dieng has been a force in the paint, leading the conference in blocked shots (3.3) while adding 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds. Despite allowing teams just 37.3% shooting, the Cards have allowed teams to shoot 33.6 percent from 3-point range, which plays to Seton Hall's biggest offensive strength. Kyle Kuric has provided senior leadership for the Cardinals this season. Kuric is leading the team in scoring with 13.5 ppg and averages two made three- pointers per game. The senior swingman came back from an injury last Saturday to knock down eight three-pointers total in two contests. Louisville has gotten help from Russ Silva, who is contributing 12.3 ppg. Gorgui Dieng is close to a double-double average with 10.3 points and a team-best 9.5 rebounds per game. Peyton Siva gets everyone involved as he is handing out 5.8 assists per game. On offense the Cards have been a bit inconsistent this year, but they have still averaged 71.5 ppg on 43.5% shooting. Seton Hall comes in with at 15-5 overall after an 55-42 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday. Head coach Kevin Willard's team will be looking to snap its three-game losing skid in this one. The Pirates set season-lows in points (42) and field goal percentage (26.3) in their loss to the Fighting Irish. Seton Hall is averaging 70.9 ppg on the offensive end, while allowing opponents to score 63.2 ppg. The Pirates are second in the Big East in three- point percentage as they have knocked down 144-of-394 from deep. Herb Pope is Seton Hall's leading scorer with an average of 16.1 ppg and is ranked second in the Big East in rebounding with 10.3 rpg. Jordan Theodore is second on the team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and the tied for the league's lead in assists with 7.2 apg. Theodore has been struggling as of late, as he has gone 9-of-41 from the floor in his last three games. Fuquan Edwin is also a solid contributor with averages of 14.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and leads the nation in steals at 3.1 spg. Seton Hall is second in the Big East in 3-point percentage defense (29.4), while Louisville is 14th among league teams in shooting the deep ball (31.8 percent). This will be the 15th meeting in the all-time series. The home team has won each of the five meetings since Louisville joined the Big East in 2005-06, with the Cardinals coasting to a 73-54 victory last season after the Pirates eked out an 80-77 win in 2010. Louisville holds a 9-5 edge in the rivalry. Both team's are currently tied for 9th place in the Big East standings with 4-4 league records.
Free Pick: I like the Over in this one. Louisville is usually a very good defensive squad, but recently that has not been true. The Cardinals come in allowing 71.8 ppg in their last 5 games overall and they have allowed 67.7 ppg on the road this year. Now they get to face a Seton Hall team that has put up 72.4 ppg at home. The Hall did score just 42 points vs Notre Dame in their last game, but I don't expect 15 of 57 shooting from them here. The should bounce back with a solid offensive showing in this one. The Cardinals have had some inconsistencies on offense this year, but now that they are back to pushing the tempo a bit more they have averaged 74 ppg in their last 4 games and i do expect them to continue to push tempo here. Seton Hall has played good defense at home (60.4 ppg), but overall this unit has broken down some as they have allowed 67 ppg in their last 4 games and I don't see a reason why Louisville cant grab at least that much. I already stated that I expect Louisville to push the ball and that seems to be fine for a Seton Hall team that is 61st in the nation in shots per game (58 spg), while in the Big East that number jumps a bit to 60.3 spg. I really expect a fast paced game that should put around 140 points on the board.
Free Picks: Louisville at Seton Hall - Best Bet from Marco
http://PregameVideos.com - Public perception creates value and Seton Hall 10-1 at home plus other factors college basketball bettors need to know about Louisville at Seton Hall (Saturday, January 28, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including best bet from Marco D'Angelo and analysis from Vegas Runner.