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GAME NOTES: Big East play gets underway at Freedom Hall today, as the Louisville Cardinals host the Cincinnati Bearcats to kick off the New Year. The Cardinals enter the contest with a full head of steam, as they have won a season-high four straight games. The team was last in action on Saturday, when it posted a 67-36 triumph over Iona in its fourth contest of a current five- game homestand. The 36 points was the fewest allowed by Louisville during the Rick Pitino era. Now at 9-3 overall, the Cardinals turn their focus to Big East play, where they finished in a tie for second at 12-4 last season. As for Cincinnati, it finally found its way back into the win column on Saturday, capturing a 56-50 victory over Miami-Ohio. The win put a stop to a season-long five-game slide and pushed the team to 5-7 overall. The Bearcats, who are 0-4 on the road, now head into Big East action, where they placed last with a 2-14 record a season ago. As for the all-time series, Louisville owns a 51-38 advantage over Cincinnati and it has won four of the past five meetings.

The Bearcats haven't been too effective at the offensive end of the court this season, as they are scoring a mediocre 65.6 ppg while shooting a modest 41.1 percent from the field. Deonta Vaughan is the squad's go-to-guy and he not only leads Cincinnati in scoring (15.5 ppg), but assists (4.5 apg) as well. He is also a threat from long range, hitting on 42.3 percent of his attempts. Adam Hrycaniuk is the only other player on the roster averaging in double figures at the moment with 10.5 ppg, and he is also collecting 5.9 rpg. In the team's last outing, Vaughn tallied 17 points and grabbed five caroms in leading the Bearcats past Miami-OH. Cincinnati shot just 38.6 percent from the field, but it held an 18-4 advantage in free-throw points and that made the difference.

The Cardinals have really clamped down on defense this season and they are holding their foes to a mere 58.9 ppg and a dismal 36.9 percent shooting from the floor. Offensively, Louisville is turning in a solid 71.8 ppg behind a trio of double figure scorers. Derrick Caracter tops the roster in scoring at 12.9 ppg and he is also grabbing a solid 7.9 rpg. Terrence Williams is one of the most versatile players in the Big East and he puts forth 12.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg and a team-high 4.3 apg. Earl Clark is another Louisville player that can score as well as rebound and he is averaging a double-double with 12.5 ppg and a team-high 10.7 rpg. In the club's most recent contest, Williams poured in a season-high 22 points and he snared five boards in leading Louisville to an easy win over Iona. Caracter registered a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, and Clark ripped down 10 caroms in the victory. The Cardinals once again, put forth a tremendous defensive effort, holding Iona to a pathetic 19.0 percent shooting effort from the field.

The Cardinals are playing with a great deal of confidence right now and with another strong performance on defense, they should have no trouble emerging with a victory today.