Johnny reads

Because there's a game tonight. 

--Spread check: Louisville by 6.

--The Johnnies have lost five straight, but there's going to be a lot going on to motivate the home team inside The Garden this evening. 

But Pitino will not be the most famous college basketball coach in the building tonight. Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca will be joined by former stars Chris Mullin and Bill Wennington as St. John's honors the 25th anniversary of the 1985 Final Four team. They will see a Red Storm team showing off new Nike uniforms, complete with a chevron honoring Carnesecca's most famous sweater. But St. John's coach Norm Roberts said he just wants to see a win. "Is it nice to wear the Nike jerseys? Yes," Roberts said. "Is it nice to have the '85 team honored? Yes. All those great players. It's a great situation. But that's not what's going to win the game for us. We have to execute for 40 minutes."

--Here's the AnVillen highlight recap of the first St. John's game:

--Red Storm blog The East Coast Bias has a game preview up, as well as an interview with a handsome young Louisville blogger.

--Louisville should win this game 73.6% of the time according to Accuscore.com. 

So, yeah. 

--Part of the reason Pitino is re-inserting Jared Swopshire into the starting lineup is to try and stop Anthony Mason Jr., who made his season-debut against the Cards and has since cracked the St. John's starting five. 

--Johnny Jungle outlines the keys to the game before predicting a tight Cardinal victory. 

Keys to the Game

Handle the Press. Louisville, as always, will come with presses and traps. The Red Storm have to handle the press. In the previous game at Louisville, the Red Storm did decently against the press except for some short spurts… which helped create the Cardinals’ runs. In a game with ebbs and flows, the team needs to ebb less, since they don’t have the firepower to come back from a debilitating 10-2 or similar Louisville run.

Aggressive Play Gets To the Line. The Cardinals have given up their share of fouls. And the Red Storm can drive to the hoop better than they have been, especially with the holes that are usually there in the press. If the team can get to the line more, they will have a better chance of winning.

Defend the Paint. Whether it’s on post-ups by Samuels or if it’s getting back on defense like a team that cares, St. John’s cannot make any 2-point shot easy. Make the Cardinals earn it with their jump shooting. Easier said than done, of course; beating post players to their preferred spots, taking good shots within the offense to prevent run-outs, and racing back on D are all necessary to keep the Cardinals from easy looks.

Body Up Samuels + Swopshire. Both are excellent rebounders, especially on the offensive side. St. John’s has to locate them and keep a body on them when the shots go up on either end.

Get The Weapons Going. Hardy and Kennedy struggled mightily against West Virginia. And Justin Burrell got 3 shots in the second half of that game. These three – and Paris Horne – are the offensive weapons. If the team has a chance to win at home, they have to get to scoring and scoring efficiently.

 

Prediction: I predict a relatively close loss, Louisville 74, St. John’s 69.

--The New York Daily News takes a closer look at the '85 team that will be honored at halftime this evening.