Pitino emphasizes respect for UNLV

Angered by a last-minute loss to UNLV, Rick Pitino stormed off the Freedom Hall floor in frustration. If the Louisville coach had big plans for a New Year's Eve party, they were spoiled.

Pitino vividly recalls the Rebels' 56-55 upset victory over the Cardinals on Dec. 31. But he needed to be reminded that he failed to shake hands with UNLV coach Lon Kruger after the game.

Kruger shrugged it off as a nonissue. Pitino said there was no disrespect intended.

"I don't even remember that because I was yelling at the official," Pitino said Friday. "Sometimes people read into things that aren't there."

Kruger and Pitino talked in the spring and shook on a four-year extension of their nonconference series. UNLV (4-0) hosts 16th-ranked Louisville (4-0) at 1 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I have great respect for Lon. That's why I'm out here," Pitino said. "I like the way Lon runs a program, and he's a class coach."

Oscar Bellfield's short bank shot with 16 seconds to play lifted the Rebels to the win in last season's game. The Cardinals had the last shot, but Terrence Williams drove and missed from close range.

"I thought (Williams) got hammered pretty good. But that's no excuse," Pitino said. "Often you don't get that call. I've won games like that and lost games like that."

Pitino, one of the more polarizing figures in college basketball, was embroiled in controversy over the summer when he admitted in an interview with police that he had a one-night affair with a woman in a Kentucky restaurant in 2003.

A married father of five, Pitino was forced to confront the story publicly after Karen Cunagin Sypher was charged with trying to extort $10 million from Pitino. The FBI launched an investigation.

There was speculation the scandal would cost Pitino his job, but he returned for a ninth year at Louisville, and he has another strong team after winning the Big East Conference last season and going into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

The Cardinals are led by senior guards Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa and sophomore center Samardo Samuels, who leads the team with averages of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.

"He's quite a specimen. He's 6-9, 260 (pounds) and he's lowered his body fat to about 8 percent," Pitino said of Samuels. "He's long and he's very strong."

In last season's meeting, the Rebels were able to shut down Samuels with a swarming defense. Bellfield and Tre'Von Willis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game, and UNLV led 10-0 after three minutes. Louisville missed its first 11 field goals and eventually trailed 22-7.

"They try to take you out of everything you do with good defensive pressure," Pitino said. "They front the low post. They had four guys surrounding Samardo last year and wouldn't allow him to catch the basketball. When you dribble in the lane, they converge on the lane. They deny the wings. That's why we enjoy playing them.

"You're not going to face any better man-to-man defense than Vegas, so it prepares you really well for some of the Big East games that you have coming up down the road."

The strength-of-schedule boost the Rebels get by playing Louisville is just one of many benefits Kruger sees to continuing the series.

"From our perspective, it's a huge challenge playing against a quality team that makes you prepare well for a lot of different things," Kruger said. "If you can win against a team like that, it helps a lot."

The Cardinals, who beat UNLV 68-48 at the Thomas & Mack on Nov. 21, 2007, are next on the road against Kentucky on Jan. 2.

"We're growing. We're going to get a lot better as the season goes along," Pitino said. "To play a true road game this early in the season, this will be a great test for us.

"Before we go into Kentucky and play in the Big East, we wanted to go into an environment that is very hostile and has a strong home-court advantage. You want to go into a tough home-court advantage like Vegas. It prepares you well.

"We have a great respect for UNLV. For both of us, it's a win-win situation."

• NOTES -- Next Thanksgiving, the Rebels will play in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. They will be joined in the eight-team field by Stanford, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Cal State Northridge, DePaul, Tulsa and Virginia Tech. ... UNLV returns to Louisville next year, probably Dec. 11. The Cardinals will open a 22,000-seat arena with more than 70 luxury suites. "It's probably the finest arena ever built ... in pro or college," Pitino said.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.