# 2008–09 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 95th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Big East Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino, who was in his eighth season. The team played its home games at Freedom Hall.
The Cardinals finished the season 31–6, 16–2 and were regular season Big East Champions (their 1st). They defeated Syracuse 76–66 to win the 2009 Big East men's basketball tournament (their 1st). They received an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning the overall #1 seed and were placed in the Midwest Region. They were upset by #2 seed Michigan State in the Midwest Regional final, 64–52.

## Preseason

After an elite eight appearance in the 2008 tournament, Louisville entered the 2008–09 season ranked third in both the AP and Coaches polls in part due to a strong recruiting class. The incoming freshman class is ranked fifth overall by Scouts.com, led by number one ranked center Samardo Samuels. Louisville has been picked by many analysts to be a potential Final Four contender, including Sports Illustrated and Dick Vitale.

## Regular season

Despite the #3 preseason ranking, Louisville struggled in the non-conference losing to three unranked opponents. After beating Kentucky on an Edgar Sosa buzzer-beating three pointer, Louisville entered Big East play ranked #21. After beating South Florida easily, Louisville beat three straight ranked teams in close games: #17 Villanova, #12 Notre Dame in overtime, and previously unbeaten #1 Pittsburgh. Louisville would continue strong play, going undefeated in January and winning its first eight conference games before losing to #1 Connecticut on February 2. After beating St. John's, Louisville lost by their most lopsided margin since joining the Big East, a 33-point drubbing by Notre Dame. After that game, Louisville won its final seven regular season games to win the school's first ever regular season Big East championship.

## Big East tournament

By virtue of their outright regular-season title, Louisville received a double-bye in the Big East tournament and played their first game in the tournament quarterfinals. In the tournament, Louisville beat Providence 73–55 in the quarterfinals and #10 Villanova 69–55 in the semifinals to advance to the school's first ever Big East tournament championship game in four seasons in the conference. In the finals, Louisville won its first Big East tournament Championship, defeating #18 Syracuse 76–66. Due to losses in the early conference tournament rounds by several teams above them, the Cardinals finished #1 in the final regular season AP and coaches' polls—the first time in school history they have been ranked #1 in either poll.

## NCAA tournament

Louisville was awarded the top seed in the NCAA tournament Midwest Region, as well as the overall #1 seed in the tournament. This is Louisville's second ever 1-seed. The Cardinals beat Morehead St. and Siena in the first two tournament rounds, advancing to face Arizona in the Sweet 16 on March 27. After beating Arizona by 39 points, Louisville faced Michigan St. in the Elite Eight and lost 64–52.

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Chris Brickley | 11 | Guard | 6–4 | 175 | Junior | Manchester, NH |
| Earl Clark | 5 | Forward | 6–9 | 220 | Junior | Plainfield, NJ |
| Reginald Delk | 12 | Guard | 6–4 | 175 | Junior | Jackson, TN |
| George Goode | 22 | Guard | 6–8 | 205 | Freshman | Raytown, MO |
| Terrence Jennings | 23 | Forward | 6–10 | 225 | Freshman | Sacramento, CA |
| Preston Knowles | 2 | Guard | 6–1 | 170 | Sophomore | Winchester, KY |
| Kyle Kuric | 14 | Guard | 6–4 | 175 | Freshman | Evansville, IN |
| Andre McGee | 33 | Guard | 5–10 | 180 | Senior | Moreno Valley, CA |
| Samardo Samuels | 24 | Forward | 6–9 | 240 | Freshman | Trelawny, Jamaica |
| Will Scott | 20 | Guard | 6–3 | 185 | Senior | New York, NY |
| Jerry Smith | 34 | Guard | 6–1 | 200 | Junior | Wauwatosa, WI |
| Edgar Sosa | 10 | Guard | 6–1 | 200 | Junior | New York, NY |
| Lee Steiden | 25 | Forward | 6–4 | 185 | Sophomore | Louisville, KY |
| Jared Swopshire | 21 | Forward | 6–7 | 215 | Freshman | St. Louis, MO |
| Terrence Williams | 1 | Forward | 6–6 | 215 | Senior | Seattle, WA |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition games ||||||
| November 1* 5:30 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Georgetown (KY) exhibition | W 74–67 | 0–0 | Freedom Hall (17,521) Louisville, KY |
| November 8* 8:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | at Northern Kentucky exhibition | W 84–69 | 0–0 | The Bank of Kentucky Center (8,408) Highland Heights, KY |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| November 22* 5:30 pm, ESPN360/WHAS | No. 3 | Morehead State Billy Minardi Classic | W 102–32 | 1–0 | Freedom Hall (19,493) Louisville, KY |
| November 23* 4:00 pm, ESPN360 | No. 3 | South Alabama Billy Minardi Classic | W 81–54 | 2–0 | Freedom Hall (19,241) Louisville, KY |
| November 30* 3:00 pm, FCS/WHAS | No. 3 | vs. Western Kentucky | L 54–68 | 2–1 | Sommet Center (8,193) Nashville, TN |
| December 6* 2:00 pm, WHAS | No. 11 | Indiana State Marques Maybin Classic | W 83–43 | 3–1 | Freedom Hall (18,924) Louisville, KY |
| December 7* 4:00 pm, ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 11 | Ohio Marques Maybin Classic | W 91–56 | 4–1 | Freedom Hall (19,083) Louisville, KY |
| December 8* 7:00 pm, ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 9 | Lamar Marques Maybin Classic | W 78–56 | 5–1 | Freedom Hall (19,058) Louisville, KY |
| December 13* 1:00 pm, ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 9 | Austin Peay | W 94–75 | 6–1 | Freedom Hall (19,288) Louisville, KY |
| December 18* 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | vs. Mississippi SEC/Big East Invitational | W 77–68 | 7–1 | US Bank Arena (5,922) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 20* 2:00 pm, FSN | No. 9 | vs. Minnesota 2008 Stadium Shootout | L 64–70 | 7–2 | University of Phoenix Stadium (10,431) Glendale, AZ |
| December 27* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | UAB | W 82–62 | 8–2 | Freedom Hall (19,627) Louisville, KY |
| December 31* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | UNLV | L 55–56 | 8–3 | Freedom Hall (19,314) Louisville, KY |
| January 4* 4:30 pm, CBS | No. 18 | Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass | W 74–71 | 9–3 | Freedom Hall (20,078) Louisville, KY |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| January 7 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | at South Florida | W 71–57 | 10–3 (1–0) | USF Sun Dome (4,827) Tampa, FL |
| January 10 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 23 | at No. 17 Villanova | W 61–60 | 11–3 (2–0) | Wachovia Center (17,117) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 12 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 20 | No. 12 Notre Dame | W 87–73 $^{OT}$ | 12–3 (3–0) | Freedom Hall (19,865) Louisville, KY |
| January 17 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 20 | No. 1 Pittsburgh | W 69–63 | 13–3 (4–0) | Freedom Hall (20,082) Louisville, KY |
| January 21 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 9 | at Rutgers | W 78–59 | 14–3 (5–0) | Rutgers Athletic Center (5,178) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 25 12:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 9 | at No. 8 Syracuse | W 67–57 | 15–3 (6–0) | Carrier Dome (25,721) Syracuse, NY |
| January 28 7:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 7 | South Florida | W 80–54 | 16–3 (7–0) | Freedom Hall (17,184) Louisville, KY |
| January 31 12:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 7 | West Virginia | W 69–63 | 17–3 (8–0) | Freedom Hall (19,416) Louisville, KY |
| February 2 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | No. 1 Connecticut | L 51–68 | 17–4 (8–1) | Freedom Hall (20,069) Louisville, KY |
| February 8 1:30 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 5 | at St. John's | W 60–47 | 18–4 (9–1) | Madison Square Garden (6,128) New York, NY |
| February 12 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at Notre Dame | L 57–90 | 18–5 (9–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| February 15 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 5 | DePaul | W 99–54 | 19–5 (10–2) | Freedom Hall (19,332) Louisville, KY |
| February 18 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | Providence | W 94–76 | 20–5 (11–2) | Freedom Hall (19,484) Louisville, KY |
| February 21 2:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 7 | at Cincinnati | W 72–63 | 21–5 (12–2) | Fifth Third Arena (12,350) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 23 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at Georgetown | W 76–58 | 22–5 (13–2) | Verizon Center (12,653) Washington, DC |
| March 1 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 6 | No. 8 Marquette | W 62–58 | 23–5 (14–2) | Freedom Hall (20,079) Louisville, KY |
| March 4 7:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN Full Court/WHAS | No. 6 | Seton Hall | W 95–78 | 24–5 (15–2) | Freedom Hall (19,535) Louisville, KY |
| March 7 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at West Virginia ESPN College GameDay | W 62–59 | 25–5 (16–2) | WVU Coliseum (13,089) Morgantown, WV |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 12 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | vs. Providence Quarterfinals | W 73–55 | 26–5 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 13 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | vs. No. 10 Villanova Semifinals | W 69–55 | 27–5 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 14 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | vs. No. 18 Syracuse Final | W 76–66 | 28–5 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20* 7:10 pm, CBS | No. 1-M | vs. No. 16-M Morehead State First Round | W 74–54 | 29–5 | University of Dayton Arena (12,499) Dayton, OH |
| March 22* 5:20 pm, CBS | No. 1-M | vs. No. 9-M Siena Second Round | W 79–72 | 30–5 | University of Dayton Arena (12,596) Dayton, OH |
| March 27* 7:07 pm, CBS | No. 1-M | vs. No. 12-M Arizona Sweet Sixteen | W 103–64 | 31–5 | Lucas Oil Stadium (33,780) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 29* 2:20 pm, CBS | No. 1-M | vs. No. 2-M Michigan State Elite Eight | L 52–64 | 31–6 | Lucas Oil Stadium (36,084) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time † NCAA Tournament ranks are seeds in the region (E=East, M=Midwest, S=South, W=West). ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 19 | 18 | 24 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 (1) | 1 (45) | Not released |
| Coaches | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 18 т | 21 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 (14) | 5 |