Louisville basketball: 5 keys to taking down the Hoosiers
By Andy Harrell
Louisville basketball heads to Bloomington this weekend to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. We have five keys for the Cards to pull out the victory.
Chris Mack’s Louisville basketball program will take the two hour drive Northwest to try and knock off Coach Archie Miller’s hot Indiana squad Saturday.
This iteration of IU basketball is paced by a familiar face to those in and around the Louisville area. Freshman guard Romeo Langford is the Hoosier’s leading scorer on the young season, averaging nearly 18 points per game to go along with his 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
The recruitment of Langford, a 2018 McDonald’s All-American and Louisville Metro area native, has become an infamous byproduct of the recent controversy at Louisville.
After what was perceived as almost a sure-fire commitment for Louisville and Coach Rick Pitino, Langford spurned the Cardinals amidst their recent controversy and pledged to become a member of the upward trending talent heading to Indiana University.
Langford is far from the sole story on the court for the Hoosiers. Senior big man Juwan Morgan is perhaps Indiana’s best all around player. Along with his calm handed upperclassman leadership, Morgan is averaging 15.6 points per game and just as impressively 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 assist.
In a press conference Friday, Louisville’s Chris Mack scoffed at the idea that Morgan was any less than worthy of being a first round pick in next year’s draft. Mack openly compared his play and attributes to that of Golden State Warriors All-Star Forward, Draymond Green.
Coaches Chris Mack and Archie Miller are certainly familiar with one another. Archie Miller is the younger brother of Chris Mack’s mentor and former Xavier Head Coach, Sean Miller. In addition to that, for 2 years Sean Miller’s Dayton teams competed against Xavier as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference before Xavier moved on to the Big East.
Chris Mack is 4-2 all time against Archie Miller, having played 5 times as conference foes and once in an early season tournament.
With identical records, a plethora of talent on both benches, the always frantic environment of Assembly Hall and the Hoosiers aiming at avoiding a skunk in this series, the stage is set for a classic in the making.
Hoping the Cards can pull out what would be an early season, resume boosting win, here are our 5 keys to the game: