The 2013–14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

during the

2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November with the 2K Sports Classic and ended with the Final Four in Arlington, Texas April 5–7. It was tipped off by the 2013 Champions Classic on November 12, 2013. Season he ...

, Louisville's 100th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

and were coached by

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...

in his 13th season. The team played its home games on

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships ( 1980, 1986) and six Fin ...

Court at the

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on Ma ...

. 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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

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 Montrezl Dashay Harrell (; (born January 26, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. Harrell received t ...

Departures

Class of 2013 signees

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 Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

. 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 ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

'' that his destination would be

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

, 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 North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

93-84. They finished out their non-conference slate with 5 victories, including a 79-63 win over

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

in the Billy Minardi Classic, and a loss at Rupp Arena to archrival #18

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. They entered American Athletic Conference play with an 11–2 record.

Departures

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 Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

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 Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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 The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

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 Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in the second round by a score of 71-64. They defeated #5 seed

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in the third round, but their reign as defending champs ended when the Cardinals were dethroned by #8

74-69 in the Sweet 16, finishing 31-6.

Schedule

, - ! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;", Exhibition , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;", Regular season , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;", American Athletic Conference tournament , - ! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;", NCAA tournament

Rankings

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 The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

(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 George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

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 Pervis Ellison (born April 3, 1967) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Never Nervous Pervis" for his clutch play with the University of Louisville, after leading Louisville to a national championship, El ...

. *Russ Smith set the school record for most points in a half previously held by

Larry O'Bannon Larry O'Bannon (born August 15, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for Hispano Americano of the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He played college basketball for the University of Louisville. Early life O'Bannon attended Jefferso ...

Charlie Tyra Charles E. Tyra ( ; August 16, 1935 – December 29, 2006) was an American basketball player who is best known as the first Louisville Cardinal All-American. He played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Kn ...

and

Butch Beard Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr. (born May 5, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He was the starting point guard with the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Career Early years Beard played high school basketbal ...

(26) with 27 in the first half against Houston on 3-14-14. *Russ Smith set the school record for most points in a conference tournament game with 42 against Houston on 3-14-14. The previous record was 31 by

Milt Wagner Milton Wagner Jr. (born February 20, 1963) is an American basketball coach. After playing college basketball at Louisville, Wagner played in the NBA. He served as assistant coach for the UTEP Miners and the Auburn Tigers. Biography Wagner played ...

. *Russ Smith set the AAC record for most points in a game with 42 against Houston on 3-14-14. *Russ Smith broke the school record for most steals in a career with 257, previously held by

Peyton Siva Peyton Robert Siva Jr. (born October 24, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Louisville, leading the school to two Final Fours in ...

(254). *Russ Smith broke the school record for most career points in the NCAA tournament, breaking a record previously held by Milt Wagner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Louisville Cardinals men's basketball seasons

Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, 2013-14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, 2013-14