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NCAA tournament Cheat Sheet: Getting to know Louisville

Big East Basketball Tournament - Syracuse v Louisville

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 16: (L-R) Gorgui Dieng #10, Wayne Blackshear #20, Russ Smith #2, Peyton Siva #3 and Michael Baffour #32 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate after they won 78-61 in overtime against the Syracuse Orange during the final of the Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here

Conference: Big East

Coach: Rick Pitino

Record: 29-5

Rankings and Ratings:

- Kenpom: 2
- RPI: 3
- AP/USA Today: 4/4

Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had Louisville as a No. 1 seed playing in Lexington in Saturday’s bracket projection. Man, that has gotta hurt in Big Blue Nation.

Names you need to know: Russ Smith (18.3 ppg, 2.0 spg), Peyton Siva (10.0 ppg, 5.8 apg, 2.2 spg), Gorgui Dieng (10.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.6 bpg), Chane Behanan (10.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg)

Stats you need to know: 80.9 is the Cards’ adjusted defensive number. Per Kenpom, that makes them the nation’s top defensive team.

How’d they get here?: Louisville came back from a 35-22 halftime deficit against Syracuse in the Big East final, locating their offensive mojo when 6'8", 235-lb. freshman Montrezl Harrell broke out for 20 points. The final tally was 78-61 in favor of Louisville. Formidable? I think so.

Outlook: Louisville has always had the requisite parts to win a title this season. It’s finally starting to look like those parts are meshing into the unit that can get it done.

How do I know you?: Luke Hancock, the designated gunner for offensively-challenged Louisville, is a transfer from mid-major darling George Mason.

Eric is the editor of Storming the Floor. He tweets @stfhoops.