U of L - UMass GAMENIGHT

A couple of observations from courtside:

• Billy Minardi Classic: A great idea to remember not only RP's brother-in-law and best friend, but to remember all the folks, and their families, who were affected directly by the events of 9-11.
• RP on the court during the pregame to talk about the Classic and personally thank the sponsors.
• Good applause during the starting lineups for Travis Ford, who for the record, IS SHORT. Wow, it's amazing how much of an imprint he put on the Kentucky program at his height. It really is.
• TIPOFF: On my radio show today, I did take Louisville (-6.5). In the early going, I'm not too confident.
• Earl Clark with early minutes. I really like when he is on the court. The guy just adds some serious athleticism to the lineup.
• Technical on Tiki Mayben, starting wingman for UMass. I think it's because he and Edgar Sosa are jabbing and the ref caught Mayben taunting. I'll try to ask official Curtis Shaw during a timeout.
• McGee enters at the 15:18 mark of the first half, no surprise to me, as RP has been known to play kids, at least in recent years, that may or may not be fully healed from their injuries.
• McGee out at 13:25. Sosa back in.
• This team is deadly from three... at least in the early going. What I am surprised with is by the number of OPEN LOOKS the Minutemen have gotten from beyond the arc thus far.
• Where has Caracter been?
• UMass leads by 10, 19-9, timeout Louisville at just under 12 minutes.
• During the timeout, I asked Curtis Shaw about the technical on UMass' Mayben. His response: "Cussing at a player... taunting."
• Caracter enters at the 11-minute mark.
• DC with an immediate impact with an and-1.
• ANOTHER THREE, and an open one, for UMass. 27-11.
• Caracter is the best player on the court... period. He needs to be able to finish, though.
• UMass is 7-9 from three, and UMass continues to balloon their lead, 34-17.
• I will say this, I thought U of L was one of the better run-and-gun teams in the country coming into tonight. The problem was that teams had been slowing them down into a half-court offense, which was tougher for them to run. After 15 minutes of play, I can already tell you, UMass is the most efficent run-and-gun team I've seen this year.
• Earl Clark has eight points now folks, including 4-of-4 from the line. Looks like he's starting to get some love from Pitino.
• The best thing for the Cards so far has been their free throw shooting. With 3:58 left in the first half, U of L is 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.
• Some serious noise from the crowd here at Freedom Hall as David Padgett's offensive rebound and putback cuts the lead to 12 at 37-25. Definitely the most electric the crowd has been here all season... which is what will happen to a crowd when you get a decent opponent in the Hall.
• UMass starting to get very sloppy with the ball... turning it over three straight times here with 2:15 remaining in the first half. They've gotten away from their offense that produced some open looks from three early.
• UMass without a field goal in the final 6:23 of the first half, but U of L unable to cut into the lead...
• HALFTIME: UMass 41, Louisville 26 - Scattered boos as the teams go to the locker room.

Second half thoughts...

• Scoreless three minutes in... still 41-26.
• U of L looks like a TOTALLY different team defensively in the second half, and they are beginning to reap the benefits. Now three point attempts by UMass are becoming contested shots, and they are able to rotate a little more efficiently OUT of a double team.
• A enthusiastic cheer as T-Will hits the first U of L free throw in their last six attempts.
• UMass finally scores a field goal at the 15:05 mark in the second half, which ends their field goal drought at a whopping 10:18.
• Caracter is 0-5 from the FT line. He continues to draw fouls, but needs to hit a free throw.
• U of L's zone defense is becoming effective as UMass has gone cold from three!
• T-Will decides he wants to take over, getting the last four points for the Cards to cut the lead to 10 at 45-35. The last time U of L had it as close as 10 was at 21-11 early in the first half.
• U of L starting to get it together offensively. CROWD IS ALIVE! This is what Freedom Hall should ALWAYS sound like. I love it! 47-41 UMass.
• Two differences in the second half for U of L... (1) U of L (especially T-Will) deciding to go to the hole and Louisville's defense is much more energetic. UMass still leads by 8, 49-41. T-Will at the line with 9:50 to go in the game.
• Sidenote: I continue to watch David Padgett play in person. It's got to be easier on the eyes to watch him play on TV. It's tough to watch him courtside. He looks like every step gives him pain.
• Right as I say that... Padgett connects on the spin move in the lane to cut the lead to 51-48.
• 51-48 UMass: Second half scoring... U of L 22, UMass 10.
• I COULD'VE SWORN, after Palacios shot to tie it at 53-53, Pitino looked down to Ford just to say "I still your teacher boy."
• UMass leads at the under-four timeout 55-53. Sidenote: U of L's only lead in the game to this point has been 9-8.
• Ford's team responds with four more points to go on a mini 6-0 run and lead 59-53. Timeout Louisville with 3:13 to go.
• Another UMass bucket and another Pitino timeout with 2:27.
• UMass gets a rebound off of a T-Will miss and Freeman gets fouled with 1:10 left. 64-58, and the crowd begins to head for the exits.
• My vote for Most Valuable Player of the Billy Minardi Classic went to T-Will because when my vote was being collected, it was a two-point game, and T-Will had taken over. He finished with 21 points, 17 of them in the second half.
• Inspired second half effort, but poor defense in the first half, and poor defense again late is what cost them. And their free throw shooting, after starting 10-of-12, didn't help either. They went 11-23 from that point on.
• Credit UMass. They were undoubtedly the better team tonight.
• FINAL SCORE - UMass 72, U of L 68
• Full analysis and your phone calls and e-mails tomorrow on The Big EZ Show on ESPN Louisville (1570-1600 AM) from 11-1.