DePaul-Louisville Basketball: Cardinals Out To Make Demons Blue

DePaul Blue Demons (8-17, 0-12) at Louisville Cardinals (18-5, 9-2)

Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009 – 4:00 PM EST

The No. 5 Louisville Cardinals welcome Big East doormat the DePaul Blue Demons to Freedom Hall on Sunday afternoon for the only regular season match-up between the two schools.

After starting the Big East portion of their schedule with nine straight wins, the Cardinals have lost two of their last three. And both losses have been in convincing fashion. The first was a 17-point thumping at home to Connecticut and the most recent loss was a 33-point beating at the hands of Notre Dame.

Louisville’s front line of Earl Clark (13 ppg, 8.6 rpg), Terrence Williams (12.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg), and freshman sensation Samardo Samuels (12.2 ppg, 5 rpg) is one of the most athletic and versatile in all of college basketball.

While Clark and Williams don’t shoot it from three exceptionally well, they do combine for 7.6 apg.

The back court of Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith each average a little over 7 ppg. Smith is also one of the best three-point shooters on the team converting at a rate of 39.5 percent. Preston Knowles and Will Scott also excel from long-range.

Louisville, as it does to every opponent will look to force turnovers through full-court pressure and turn those turnovers into points.

DePaul is having a season to forget, to say the least.

The Blue Demons are currently riding a 12-game losing streak, all in conference play. And they’re average margin of defeat is 15 points.

Offensively, DePaul is a three-man show. Dar Tucker (18.45 ppg), Mac Koshwal (13.5 ppg), and Will Walker (12.8 ppg) are the only legitimate scoring threats for the Blue Demons. No other player averages more than 3.7 ppg.

Koshwal (10 rpg) is a monster on the glass while Tucker grabs 5.1 boards per contest.

Matija Poscic leads DePaul in three-point shooting, but only at a clip of 33.3 percent.

And DePaul doesn’t share the ball exceptionally well as Michael Bizoukas is the team leader in assist but only at a rate of 2.1 per game.

Current line: Louisville -21.5

Louisville is 12-10 overall against the spread with a mark of 4-6 as the favorite.

DePaul is an awful 4-15 overall against the spread with a record of 3-12 as an underdog.

Louisville is sure to be in a foul mood after the thrashing they received at the hands of the Irish. And unfortunately for DePaul, the Blue Demons stand to be on the receiving end of the Cardinals’ wrath.

Steve’s pick: Louisville -21.5