Louisville Ends Three-Game Losing Streak as Dieng Has Double-Double

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, January 28, 2013

Being ranked number one in the polls does have its downside. Just ask the Louiville Cardinals, who achieved the position two weeks ago before promptly losing three straight games.

Serving as a wake-up call for coach Rick Pitino's troops, the Cardinals finally got back to their usua, winning ways with a 64-61 home win over the Pitt Panthers Monday night.

As games for the Cardinals and Panthers have been of late, it was nip-and-tuck all the way, Louisville desperately holding on for the win.

Junior guard, Russ Smith, was the game's leading scorer with 21 points, but forward Gorgui Dieng was strong on both ends of the floor, scoring 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting while snatching 12 rebounds - his fifth double-double of the season. Dieng had a solid all-around game with four assists and five blocked shots.

Despite the consecutive losses to Syracuse, Villanova and Georgetown, the Cardinals still managed to hold onto the #12 spot in the most recent poll. despite being 5-3 in the Big East, two games behind co-leaders, #6 Syracuse and #25 Marquette, both at 6-1.

Louisville Sweeps Season Series with UConn, 71-58

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 18, 2011

Winning on the road in college basketball is hard. Getting it done in the Big East borders on ridiculous. Just ask Louisville. Or Connecticut.

Just two days after being thoroughly throttled in Cincinnati, the Louisville Cardinals returned to a more familiar floor at the KFC Yum! Center and beat up on the visiting Huskies, 71-58, sweeping the season series.

Freshman center Gorgui Dieng put up 13 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double while point guard Peyton Siva harassed UConn's Kemba Walker into a rare 3-for-10 shooting performance. Siva led Louisville with 15 points.

The Cardinals got off early and held an 8-point lead at the break, but the Huskies rallied early in the second half to take their only lead of the game, which turned out to be brief. Louisville went on a 14-5 run to reclaim the lead and held off Connecticut down the stretch.

Louisville (20-7, 9-5) shot just 41%, but the Huskies hit a only a 37% clip. 16 UConn turnovers resulted in a large shooting discrepancy. Louisville hoisted up 65 shots to Connecticut's 46.

All five of Louisville's conference losses have come away from home. They've won seven straight in their own building. Connecticut (20-6, 8-6) has lost four of six on the road and this loss comes off a home win over Georgetown. The Huskies and Cardinals are ranked 13 and 16, respectively, though those numbers are likely to change come Monday.

NOTABLE: There are 17 Top 25 teams in action on Saturday, all facing unranked opponents, but the most-widely-anticipated contest will be at Madison Square Garden when St. John's hosts #4 Pittsburgh at noon ET. The Red Storm is 8-5 in the Big East and has won four straight conference games. Pitt leads the Big East with a 12-1 record.