# 2013–14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2013–14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 100th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the American Athletic Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino in his 13th season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center.
They finished 31–6, 15–3 in AAC play to win the regular season conference championship, sharing the title with Cincinnati. They were also champions of the AAC tournament to earn the conferences automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In their 40th NCAA tournament appearance, the defending national champions defeated Manhattan and Saint Louis to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to rival Kentucky.
This was their only season in the American Athletic Conference as they moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2014.

## Pre-season

The Cardinals were the #3 team in the USA Today Coaches preseason poll and picked to win American conference by the media and the coaches. The Cardinals returned 7 of 9 players from a team that won the 2013 NCAA Championship and both Big East regular season and tournament championships. The team was led by its captains, Consensus First Team All-American Russ Smith, 2013 Final Four MOP Luke Hancock and Montrezl Harrell.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Peyton Siva | 3 | PG | 6'0'" | 180 | Senior | Seattle, Washington | Graduated – Entered the 2013 NBA draft |
| Mike Marra | 33 | SG | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Esmond, Rhode Island | Graduated |
| Gorgui Dieng | 10 | C | 6'11" | 235 | Junior | Kebemer, Senegal | Graduated – Entered the 2013 NBA draft |
| Zach Price | 25 | C | 6'10" | 235 | Sophomore | Louisville, Kentucky | Transferred to Missouri |
| Michael Baffour | 32 | PG | 6'2'" | 180 | Senior | Lexington, Kentucky | Transferred to Benedict College |

### Class of 2013 signees

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Terry Rozier PG | Shaker Heights, OH | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Nov 9, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Chris Jones PG | Niceville, FL | INorthwest Florida State College | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Sep 17, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Anton Gill SG | Raleigh, NC | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Dec 21, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Akoy Agau PF | Raleigh, NC | Omaha Central | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Sep 19, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 8 Rivals: 7 ESPN: 8 ||||||
| 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. "2013 Louisville Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

On January 10, 2014, Rick Pitino and Kevin Ware jointly announced that Ware would sit out the remainder of the season and take a medical redshirt. In Louisville's December 17 win over Missouri State, Ware was kicked in the same right leg he had severely fractured during the Cardinals' 2013 NCAA tournament win over Duke. Under NCAA rules, a player qualifies for a medical redshirt if he appears in fewer than 30 percent of his team's games, with no appearances in the second half of the season. Ware played in nine out of a total of 31 scheduled games; the Missouri State game was Louisville's 11th of the season. Shortly after the Cardinals' exit from the NCAA tournament, Ware announced that he would transfer from Louisville. On April 12, Ware confirmed to ESPN.com that his destination would be Georgia State, near his family's current Atlanta-area home.

## Regular season
### Out of conference

Louisville opened with two exhibition victories and 2 wins at home. They played in the Hall of Fame Classic, advancing to the finals where they fell to #24 North Carolina 93–84. They finished out their non-conference slate with 5 victories, including a 79–63 win over Western Kentucky in the Billy Minardi Classic, and a loss at Rupp Arena to archrival #18 Kentucky. They entered American Athletic Conference play with an 11–2 record.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Chane Behanan | 21 | PF | 6'6" | 245 | Junior | Cincinnati | Dismissed for violation of university policy |

### American Athletic

The Cardinals opened American Athletic play with road victories over UCF and Rutgers before returning home and losing to #24 Memphis. They then went 11–1 in their next 12 games, splitting a home and home with Cincinnati. They lost their second game with Memphis before closing out the season with back to back victories over #18 SMU and #19 UConn on senior day. They finished the regular season with a 26–5 (15–3) record and finished in a tie with Cincinnati as American Athletic Regular Season Champions.
Russ Smith was named to the Sporting News, Sport Illustrated and NBC Sports All-American First Teams. Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team, and Terry Rozier was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team.

## Post-season
### American Athletic Tournament

By virtue of losing a coin flip the Cardinals were the #2 seed in the tournament and faced Rutgers in the quarterfinal round. They set an AAC record for margin of victory with a 61-point defeat of the Scarlet Knights, 92–31. They defeated Houston in the semi-finals 94–65. Russ Smith set an AAC scoring record and Louisville tournament scoring record with 42 points against the Cougars. The Cardinals won the AAC tournament championship game against #21 UConn by the score of 71–61. This was the Cardinals first AAC tournament championship, in their only year in the conference. Russ Smith won the AAC tournament Most Outstanding player award. Smith, Montrezl Harrell and Luke Hancock were named to the AAC All-tournament First Team.
The Cardinals have won three consecutive conference tournament championships (two in the Big East and one in the AAC).

### NCAA tournament

The Cardinals earned a #4 seed in the Midwest region and defeated Manhattan in the second round by a score of 71–64. They defeated #5 seed St. Louis in the third round, but their reign as defending champs ended when the Cardinals were dethroned by #8 Kentucky 74–69 in the Sweet 16, finishing 31–6.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Oct 29* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 115–67 | – | 20 – Harrell | 9 – Rozier | 4 – Jones, Rozier | KFC Yum! Center (20,288) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 6* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Pikeville | W 90–61 | – | 19 – Jones | 9 – Mathiang | 7 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (19,227) Louisville, KY |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 9* 1:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Charleston | W 70–48 | 1–0 | 21 – Smith | 10 – Mathiang | 5 – Jones, Smith | KFC Yum! Center (20,938) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 12* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Hofstra Hall of Fame Classic | W 97–69 | 2–0 | 30 – Smith | 5 – Harrell, Rozier | 7 – Jones | KFC Yum! Center (20,112) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 15* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Cornell | W 99–54 | 3–0 | 20 – Blackshear | 15 – Harrell | 5 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (19,834) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 19* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 3 | Hartford Hall of Fame Classic | W 87–48 | 4–0 | 20 – Harrell | 9 – Harrell | 4 – Hancock, Jones | KFC Yum! Center (20,226) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 23* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 3 | vs. Fairfield Hall of Fame Classic | W 71–57 | 5–0 | 15 – Jones | 12 – Harrell | 3 – Rozier | Mohegan Sun Arena (8,113) Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 24* 1:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | vs. No. 24 North Carolina Hall of Fame Classic | L 84–93 | 5–1 | 36 – Smith | 10 – Behanan | 2 – Hancock, Smith | Mohegan Sun Arena (N/A) Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 29* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 9 | Southern Miss | W 69–38 | 6–1 | 18 – Jones | 9 – Harrell | 6 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (21,416) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 4* 7:00 pm, WHAS | No. 7 | UMKC | W 90–62 | 7–1 | 14 – Harrell | 11 – Behanan | 11 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (20,269) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 7* 1:00 pm, WHAS | No. 7 | Louisiana–Lafayette | W 113–74 | 8–1 | 20 – Harrell | 8 – Harrell | 6 – Rozier | KFC Yum! Center (20,141) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 14* 12 noon, ESPN2 | No. 6 | WKU Billy Minardi Classic | W 79–63 | 9–1 | 14 – Smith | 10 – Rozier | 10 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (22,027) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 17* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 6 | Missouri State | W 90–60 | 10–1 | 17 – Harrell | 9 – Mathiang | 8 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (21,335) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 21* 5:00 pm, FS1 | No. 6 | at Florida International | W 85–56 | 11–1 | 18 – Smith | 7 – Mathiang | 6 – Jones | U.S. Century Bank Arena (3,361) Miami, FL |
| Dec 28* 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 6 | at No. 18 Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass | L 66–73 | 11–2 | 19 – Smith | 7 – Behanan | 4 – Smith | Rupp Arena (24,396) Lexington, KY |
| Dec 31 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | at UCF | W 90–65 | 12–2 (1–0) | 24 – Smith | 8 – Harrell | 9 – Smith | CFE Arena (7,094) Orlando, FL |
| Jan 4 6:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 14 | at Rutgers | W 83–76 | 13–2 (2–0) | 22 – Smith | 7 – Harrell | 2 – Blackshear, Jones | Rutgers Athletic Center (7,263) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 9 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | No. 24 Memphis | L 67–73 | 13–3 (2–1) | 20 – Hancock | 11 – Harrell | 5 – Hancock | KFC Yum! Center (21,988) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 12 2:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 12 | SMU | W 71–63 | 14–3 (3–1) | 23 – Hancock, Smith | 13 – Harrell | 7 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (21,237) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 16 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 18 | Houston | W 91–52 | 15–3 (4–1) | 23 – Blackshear | 7 – Van Treese | 8 – Rozier | KFC Yum! Center (21,132) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 18 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | at UConn ESPN College GameDay | W 76–64 | 16–3 (5–1) | 23 – Smith | 13 – Harrell | 3 – Hancock; | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| Jan 22 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | at South Florida | W 86–74 | 17–3 (6–1) | 16 – Blackshear | 10 – Harrell | 6 – Smith | USF Sun Dome (6,417) Tampa, FL |
| Jan 30 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | No. 13 Cincinnati | L 66–69 | 17–4 (6–2) | 18 – Harrell | 8 – Van Treese | 6 – Hancock | KFC Yum! Center (22,644) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 1 9:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | UCF | W 87–70 | 18–4 (7–2) | 27 – Smith | 7 – Harrell | 5 – Hancock | KFC Yum! Center (22,201) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 5 9:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 14 | at Houston | W 77–62 | 19–4 (8–2) | 17 – Smith | 7 – Hancock | 6 – Smith | Hofheinz Pavilion (7,247) Houston, TX |
| Feb 13 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 13 | at Temple | W 82–58 | 20–4 (9–2) | 22 – Harrell | 10 – Harrell | 5 – Jones | Liacouras Center (6,566) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 16 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | Rutgers | W 102–54 | 21–4 (10–2) | 25 – Hancock | 9 – Harrell | 5 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (21,821) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 18 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 11 | South Florida | W 80–54 | 22–4 (11–2) | 19 – Smith | 8 – Van Treese | 3 – Hancock, Jones | KFC Yum! Center (21,655) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 22 12 noon, CBS | No. 11 | at No. 7 Cincinnati | W 58–57 | 23–4 (12–2) | 21 – Harrell | 10 – Harrell | 5 – Smith | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 27 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | Temple | W 88–66 | 24–4 (12–2) | 24 – Smith | 6 – Blackshear, Harrell, Van Treese | 8 – Jones | KFC Yum! Center (21,312) Louisville, KY |
| Mar 1 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 7 | at No. 21 Memphis | L 66–72 | 24–5 (12–3) | 25 – Harrell | 12 – Harrell | 5 – Smith | FedEx Forum (18,375) Memphis, TN |
| Mar 5 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 11 | at No. 18 SMU | W 84–71 | 25–5 (13–3) | 26 – Smith | 8 – Harrell | 5 – Smith | Moody Coliseum (7,305) Dallas, TX |
| Mar 8 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 11 | No. 19 UConn Senior Day | W 81–48 | 26–5 (15–3) | 20 – Harrell | 13 – Van Treese | 13 – Smith | KFC Yum! Center (22,782) Louisville, KY |
| American Athletic Conference tournament |||||||||
| Mar 13 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 5 | vs. Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 92–31 | 27–5 | 18 – Jones | 10 – Van Treese | 5 – Smith | FedEx Forum (13,011) Memphis, TN |
| Mar 14 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5 | vs. Houston Semifinals | W 94–65 | 28–5 | 42 – Smith | 10 – Van Treese | 8 – Jones | FedEx Forum (11,888) Memphis, TN |
| Mar 15 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5 | vs. No. 21 UConn Championship | W 71–61 | 29–5 | 22 – Harrell | 11 – Harrell | 3 – Smith, Van Treese | FedEx Forum (13,554) Memphis, TN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 20* 9:45 pm, TNT | No. 5 (4 MW) | vs. (13 MW) Manhattan Second round | W 71–64 | 30–5 | 18 – Smith | 13 – Harrell | 4 – Hancock | Amway Center (14,866) Orlando, FL |
| Mar 22* 2:45 pm, CBS | No. 5 (4 MW) | vs. No. 25 (5 MW) Saint Louis Third round | W 66–51 | 31–5 | 21 – Hancock | 11 – Harrell | 11 – Smith | Amway Center (18,512) Orlando, FL |
| Mar 28* 9:45 pm, CBS | No. 5 (4 MW) | vs. (8 MW) Kentucky Sweet Sixteen | L 69–74 | 31–6 | 23 – Smith | 8 – Harrell | 3 – Smith | Lucas Oil Stadium (41,072) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. (#) during NCAA tournament is seed within region MW=Midwest. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Wk 20 | Final |
| AP | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 11т | 7 | 11 | 5 | 5 | N/A |
| Coaches | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 9 | 7т | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 9 |

## Awards
### AP First Team All-American

    Russ Smith

### USBWA First Team All-America

    Russ Smith

### Sporting News First Team All-America

    Russ Smith

### NABC Second Team All-America

    Russ Smith

### John R. Wooden Award All-American

    Russ Smith

### NBC Sports First Team All-America

    Russ Smith

### Sports Illustrated First Team All-America

    Russ Smith

### Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (top Division I senior 6'0"/1.83 m or shorter)

    Russ Smith

### USBWA District IV Player of the Year

    Russ Smith

### American Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team

    Russ Smith
    Montrezl Harrell

### American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team

    Terry Rozier

### USBWA District IV All-District Team

    Russ Smith
    Montrezl Harrell

## Notable achievements

* Luke Hancock scored the 1000th point of his college career (at George Mason and Louisville) in a 113–74 victory over LA-Lafayette on December 7, 2013.
* The team set the KFC YUM! Center single game scoring record with a 113–74 victory over LA-Lafayette on December 7, 2013.
* Montrezl Harrell broke the single season record for dunks that was previously held by Pervis Ellison.
* Russ Smith set the school record for most points in a half previously held by Larry O'Bannon, Charlie Tyra and Butch Beard (26) with 27 in the first half against Houston on March 14, 2014.
* Russ Smith set the school record for most points in a conference tournament game with 42 against Houston on March 14, 2014. The previous record was 31 by Milt Wagner.
* Russ Smith set the AAC record for most points in a game with 42 against Houston on March 14, 2014.
* Russ Smith broke the school record for most steals in a career with 257, previously held by Peyton Siva (254).
* Russ Smith broke the school record for most career points in the NCAA tournament, breaking a record previously held by Milt Wagner.