The Louisville Cardinals will take on the SMU Mustangs this Saturday for a huge ACC matchup in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville has been on a cold streak lately, going 5-5 over its last 10 games and coming off a brutal 31-point loss to Duke on Monday.
Louisville basketball got Mikel Brown Jr. back from injury last weekend and is looking to start ramping up wins until March to improve its resume, and that all starts with beating SMU on Saturday. SMU beat North Carolina earlier this month and took close single-digit losses to Duke, Clemson, and Virginia in the past two weeks. SMU has proved they can play the top teams in the ACC close, and they could give Louisville a scare on Saturday if they don't play at a high level. Especially with Boopie Miller, who has been averaging 19.4 points and nearly 7 assists this season for the Mustangs.
All that said, here are Louisville's three crucial keys to defeating the Mustangs this Saturday.
No. 3: Sananda Fru and Aly Khalifa need to step up down low
Louisville has had trouble, periodically, down low and in the paint this season against top-tier teams. Against Duke, Fru and Khalifa combined for just five rebounds and seven points, which is not a winning formula for bigs against physical teams. They also had five rebounds and four points against Tennessee, while Fru had only two points and four rebounds against Duke in their first meeting.
Fru especially needs to step up against higher-level teams, and he has a chance to prove himself against SMU. Khalifa likes to be more of a stretch big on the floor, where he prefers to hang around the three-point line and make key passes to players cutting towards the basket. Louisville needs both of its big men to step up for the rest of the season, and that all starts against SMU.