Louisville-Pittsburgh Preview: Rested Cards Look To Get Back On Track

NO. 10 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (15-3, 3-2) AT PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (13-6, 3-3)

Game Time: 4 p.m.

Location: Petersen Events Center: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Television: CBS

Announcers: Kevin Harlan (play-by-play and Bill Raftery (analyst)

Officials: James Luckie, John Gaffney and Joe Lindsay

Favorite: Louisville by 7.5

All-Time Series: Louisville leads 8-5

Last Meeting: Louisville won 64-61on Jan. 28, 2013 at the Yum Center

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Pitt:

Pitt (13-6, 3-3) has won two of its last three games, but fell 79-65 at Duke on Jan.19 as Jamel Artis led the Panthers with a career-high 21 points and six rebounds, his second straight game with 20 or more points.

Sophomore forward Michael Young leads Pitt in scoring (13.5 ppg, 15 double figure scoring games this season) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). Junior guard James Robinson (9.7 ppg) is second in the ACC in free throw percentage (.843) and is
third in assists (4.7). Ranked sixth nationally in assist-to-turnovers ratio (1.54), Pitt is 71st in the ratings percentage index (RPI) and 89th in the Sagarin Ratings through Jan. 17. Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon earned his 300th victory earlier this month with a win over Florida State.

In Louisville, Pitt plays its second consecutive nationally ranked opponent and third ranked opponent of the season. Louisville represents the 16th top-10 ranked team to face  Pitt at the Petersen Events Center since the arena opened in 2002-03. Pitt is a stellar 13-2 all-time vs. top-10 ranked teams at the Pete. In addition, Jamie Dixon owns a 22-17 career overall record vs. top-10 ranked opponents and is 12-2 vs. top-10 teams at the Petersen Events Center. Pitt is 9-1 this season at the PEC.

Notable

--Louisville has a 46-26 record in conference games on the road over the last nine seasons (.648), claiming the best road record in both the Big East and AAC during its time in those two leagues.

--This will be Louisville's first game in eight days, the longest layoff for U of L in the 2014-15 season.

--Pitt is 13-2 all-time against top 10 teams at the Petersen Events Center.

--Over the last 11 games, Terry Rozier has averaged 20.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals, scoring over 20 points in four games. He leads the ACC in steals.

--Pitt fans will be holding a "Gold Out" for today's game.

--Louisville's 111 victories over the last four years are the most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville is the only school in the nation with three straight 30 win seasons, including a school-record 35 victories amassed by Louisville's 2012-13 NCAA Championship team (30 in 2011- 12, 31 in 2013-14).

--Louisville is 3-1 at the Petersen Events Center and is the only program in the country with three wins inside the building.

--U of L is 157-9 over the last 14 seasons under Coach Rick Pitino when scoring 80 or more points (20-1 last season, 11-1 in 2012-13).

--Pitt has won 89 of its last 114 league home games. At home, Pitt has won 77 of its last 94 games, 49 of its last 66 games against conference regular season opponents, 108 of its last 126 overall games and recently completed home win streaks of 20 games (Jan. 28, 2010-Jan. 24, 2011) and 15 games (Feb. 29, 2012-Dec. 31, 2012).

--Montrezl Harrell's first two points today will make him the 66th member of Louisville's 1,000-point club. Only North Carolina has more 1,000-point scorers.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 64, Pittsburgh 59