# 2010–11 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2010–11 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 97th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Big East Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino, who was in his 10th season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center, their first season at the new arena after 54 years at Freedom Hall.
The team finished the season 25–10, 12–6 in Big East play (3rd-T) and lost in the championship game of the 2011 Big East men's basketball tournament to Connecticut. They received an at-large bid and a #4 seed in the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they were upset in the second round by #13 seeded Morehead State.

## Preseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Chris Smith | 11 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Senior | Manchester, New Hampshire | Graduated |
| Reginald Delk | 12 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Senior | Jackson, Tennessee | Graduated |
| Samardo Samuels | 15 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Sophomore | Trelawny, Jamaica | Entered the 2010 NBA draft |
| Jerry Smith | 34 | G | 6'1" | 200 | Senior | Wauwatosa, Wisconsin | Graduated |
| Edgar Sosa | 10 | G | 6'1" | 200 | Senior | Bronx, New York | Graduated |

### Class of 2010 signees

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Gorgui Dieng PF | Kebemer, Senegal | Huntington Prep (WV) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Apr 29, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Elisha Justice PG | Pikeville, KY | Shelby Valley High School (KY) | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 167 lb (76 kg) | Apr 2, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Russ Smith PG | Briarwood, NY | South Kent School (CT) | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Nov 15, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: POST ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Louisville Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "2011 Louisville Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 31, 2010* 2:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | Northern Kentucky | W 83–66 | – | 18 – Buckles | 11 – Buckles/Dieng | 5 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (18,869) Louisville, KY |
| November 11, 2010* 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 96–54 | – | 22 – Marra | 8 – Buckles/Van Treese | 6 – Justice | KFC Yum! Center (19,227) Louisville, KY |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 16, 2010* 8:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 16 Butler | W 88–73 | 1–0 | 17 – Buckles | 11 – Buckles | 5 – Marra | KFC Yum! Center (22,723) Louisville, KY |
| November 20, 2010* 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | Jackson State Global Sports Shootout | W 62–45 | 2–0 | 14 – Jennings | 8 – Buckles | 6 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (22,289) Louisville, KY |
| November 22, 2010* 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | Chattanooga Global Sports Shootout | W 106–65 | 3–0 | 14 – Knowles | 6 – Jennings/Van Treese | 6 – Justice | KFC Yum! Center (21,191) Louisville, KY |
| November 27, 2010* 1:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | Marshall Global Sports Shootout | W 80–66 | 4–0 | 12 – Buckles/Marra/Siva | 7 – Buckles | 5 – Marra | KFC Yum! Center (21,262) Louisville, KY |
| December 1, 2010* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3.com | | FIU Global Sports Shootout | W 92–55 | 5–0 | 18 – Knowles | 8 – Buckles | 3 – Four Players Tied With | KFC Yum! Center (20,866) Louisville, KY |
| December 4, 2010* 1:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | South Alabama | W 97–70 | 6–0 | 23 – Marra | 14 – Buckles | 4 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,048) Louisville, KY |
| December 8, 2010* 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 24 | San Francisco | W 61–35 | 7–0 | 14 – Jennings/Siva | 10 – Buckles | 5 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,049) Louisville, KY |
| December 11, 2010* 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 24 | No. 20 UNLV Billy Minardi Classic | W 77–69 | 8–0 | 20 – Knowles | 7 – Jennings | 7 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (22,489) Louisville, KY |
| December 14, 2010* 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 20 | Drexel | L 46–52 | 8–1 | 13 – Knowles/Siva | 6 – Buckles | 2 – Kuric/Siva | KFC Yum! Center (20,912) Louisville, KY |
| December 18, 2010* 3:30 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 20 | Gardner–Webb | W 78–49 | 9–1 | 24 – Knowles | 11 – Dieng | 7 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (20,434) Louisville, KY |
| December 22, 2010* 8:00 p.m., Fox College Sports | | at Western Kentucky | W 114–82 | 10–1 | 29 – Siva | 6 – Buckles/C. Smith | 8 – Siva | E.A. Diddle Arena (7,326) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 27, 2010* 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 22 | Morgan State | W 104–74 | 11–1 | 31 – Knowles | 6 – Buckles/Dieng | 7 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,688) Louisville, KY |
| December 31, 2010* 12:00 p.m., CBS | No. 22 | No. 11 Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass | L 63–78 | 11–2 | 22 – Knowles | 6 – C. Smith | 4 – C. Smith | KFC Yum! Center (22,803) Louisville, KY |
| Big East Regular Season |||||||||
| January 5, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Seton Hall | W 73–54 | 12–2 | 14 – Marra/Siva | 10 – Van Treese | 5 – Knowles | KFC Yum! Center (21,912) Louisville, KY |
| January 9, 2011 12:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | | at South Florida | W 86–77 | 13–2 | 12 – Jennings/Knowles/Van Treese | 14 – Van Treese | 6 – Siva | USF Sun Dome (4,375) Tampa, FL |
| January 12, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 18 | at No. 7 Villanova | L 74–88 | 13–3 | 24 – Knowles | 6 – Knowles | 8 – Siva | Wells Fargo Center (13,199) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 15, 2011 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 | No. 18 | Marquette | W 71–70 | 14–3 | 17 – Knowles | 8 – Jennings | 4 – C. Smith/Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,485) Louisville, KY |
| January 19, 2011 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 19 | St. John's | W 88–63 | 15–3 | 25 – Knowles | 6 – C. Smith | 10 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,638) Louisville, KY |
| January 22, 2011 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 19 | at Providence | L 67–72 | 15–4 | 19 – C. Smith | 7 – C. Smith | 5 – Marra | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,051) Providence, RI |
| January 26, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 23 | West Virginia | W 55–54 | 16–4 | 15 – C. Smith | 9 – Jennings | 6 – Knowles | KFC Yum! Center (21,957) Louisville, KY |
| January 29, 2011 12:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 23 | at No. 5 Connecticut | W 79–78 $^{2OT}$ | 17–4 | 19 – Siva | 10 – Jennings | 8 – Siva | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| January 31, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 15 | at No. 13 Georgetown Big Monday | L 59–62 | 17–5 | 18 – Jennings | 7 – Jennings | 4 – C. Smith | Verizon Center (12,164) Washington, DC |
| February 5, 2011 8:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 15 | DePaul | W 61–57 | 18–5 | 19 – Kuric | 8 – Jennings/Marra | 10 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (21,704) Louisville, KY |
| February 9, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 16 | at No. 8 Notre Dame | L 79–89 $^{OT}$ | 18–6 | 28 – Kuric | 7 – Jennings | 7 – Siva | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,659) South Bend, IN |
| February 12, 2011 12:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 16 | No. 12 Syracuse | W 73–69 | 19–6 | 23 – Kuric | 7 – Buckles/Jennings | 6 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (22,755) Louisville, KY |
| February 16, 2011 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 16 | at Cincinnati | L 54–63 | 19–7 | 14 – Jennings | 8 – Kuric | 4 – Knowles | Fifth Third Arena (11,511) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 18, 2011 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 16 | No. 13 Connecticut | W 71–58 | 20–7 | 15 – Siva | 12 – Dieng | 7 – Knowles | KFC Yum! Center (22,776) Louisville, KY |
| February 22, 2011 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 16 | at Rutgers | W 55–37 | 21–7 | 14 – Knowles | 7 – Knowles/Kuric | 2 – Four tied with | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,688) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 27, 2011 2:00 p.m., CBS | No. 16 | No. 4 Pittsburgh | W 62–59 $^{OT}$ | 22–7 | 14 – Siva | 7 – Kuric | 7 – Knowles | KFC Yum! Center (22,758) Louisville, KY |
| March 2, 2011 7:00 p.m., BEN/WHAS | No. 11 | Providence Senior Night | W 87–60 | 23–7 | 25 – Kuric | 10 – Knowles | 7 – Siva | KFC Yum! Center (22,724) Louisville, KY |
| March 5, 2011 12:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 11 | at West Virginia | L 70–72 | 23–8 | 21 – Kuric | 4 – Jennings/Siva | 6 – Siva | WVU Coliseum (15,032) Morgantown, WV |
| 2011 Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 10, 2011 9:00PM, ESPN/ESPN 3D | No. 14 | vs. Marquette Quarterfinals | W 81–56 | 24–8 | 22 – Marra | 11 – C. Smith | 8 – Siva | Madison Square Garden (18,258) New York City, NY |
| March 11, 2011 9:00PM, ESPN/ESPN 3D | No. 14 | vs. No. 4 Notre Dame Semifinals | W 83–77 $^{OT}$ | 25–8 | 20 – Knowles | 8 – Dieng | 7 – Siva | Madison Square Garden (18,984) New York City, NY |
| March 12, 2011 9:00PM, ESPN/ESPN 3D | No. 14 | vs. No. 21 Connecticut Championship Game | L 66–69 | 25–9 | 18 – Knowles | 7 – Siva | 7 – Siva | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York City, NY |
| 2011 NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 17, 2011* 1:40PM, TBS | No. 14 (SE 4) | vs. (SE 13) Morehead State Second Round | L 61–62 | 25–10 | 17 – Smith | 5 – Smith/Kuric | 5 – Knowles | Pepsi Center (18,499) Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. |||||||||