It was a tale of...well, it was a tale of like four different quarters. The Louisville Cardinals looked like a top five team for long stretches and a fringe top 25 squad for others, but ultimately bounced back from their tough five overtime loss to Notre Dame with a convincing 72-58 win over visiting St. John's.

Quick Thoughts:

--Russ Smith responded to some serious bench time after making more than a few questionable decisions with a patented "Russ Time" period early in the second half in which he almost single-handedly put the game out of reach. Our Russy Valentine finished with a game-high 24 points, six rebounds and...wait for it...four assists.

--Peyton Siva played easily his best game in recent memory, ending the first half with a terrific flurry that culminated with length of the court drive and a buzzer-beating lay-up. Siva finished with 12 points, six assists and four boards, and breached the 600 assist mark for his Cardinal career.

--Chris Obepka isn't shoving Montrezl Harrell's face into the ground if the two are around each other about five miles down the road.

--I'm still terrified about Wayne Blackshear's shoulder. It seems like immediately telling the television crew that the injury in question is a "sprain" (whether it's a knee, ankle or shoulder) is standard U of L protocol, but that hasn't always been indicative of what the injury turns out to be. We can't afford to lose this guy.

--U of L has won at least 20 games for the 11th straight season.

More tomorrow.