Okay, hmmm, uh . . . well . . . uh, ahem (throat cleared) . . . uh, well . . . uh . . . okay . . .

. . . Truth: There’s simply not much even a verbose fellow like myself can say about that, uh, I guess you can call it a game against Rutgers.

Of course, I’m sure I’ll find some things to say, if only to keep you occupied for a few more minutes. Though, to be honest, there’s really nothing to dissect about yesterday’s 61 point blowout.

Louisville is much better. Louisville was ready to play.

Rutgers sucks. Rutgers wasn’t ready to compete. Rutgers quit.

The Scarlet Knights should be ashamed. Coach and former star Eddie Jordan should be ashamed. AD Julie Hermann should be ashamed. Calista Flockhart, Mario Batali, Alexi Lalas, David Stern — notable Rutgers alums all — should be ashamed. And I’m sure Paul Robeson and James Gandolfini, also grads, who surely watched in the clouds, were both disgusted and ashamed.

* * * * *

Dino Gaudio, a fellow who never fails to remind viewers why he was fired as coach at Wake Forest, was the “expert” in the ESPNU studio.

The wisest insight he may have ever offered was this observation before the beginning of the second half, at which juncture, U of L led 58-16.

“Louisville may not have to score in the second half to win.”

The Scarlet Knights trumped their miniscule first half output after the break, by scoring . . . 15 points. Had the Cards not tallied a point after the break, they would have won by, egads, 27.

Which, as telling as it may seem, is far from a true indication of Rutgers’ futility. They tallied 7 of those 2d half points in the first 3:20 after the break, scoring but 8 points in the final 16:40 of the game.

In the opening half, the losers — an apt designation if ever there was one — led 7-6 after 3:13 of action, scoring but 9 points in the final 16:47 before intermission.

* * * * *

Chris Jones vowed he was going to channel his anger, sadness, frustration and grief over the murder of his step-brother into focus on his game.

So he did. 18 points on 7/14 shooting (4/7 from long range), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and but a lone turnover. Oh yeah, and a blocked shot.

Of all the improvements by the Cardinals, both individually and as a team over the last month, that of this juco transfer is the equal of any.

It’s as if a light switched on, and he understood what the Cardinal M.O. was all about, and bought in.

* * * * *

Other numbers and observations of note that may be of interest only to me.

SVT’s 10 boards.

SVT’s 4 steals.¹

Mango’s 8 rebounds.

Mango’s sweet stroke at the FT line.²

Other than that, U of L dominated every single statistical category. Duh!

* * * * *

Luke Hancock’s shooting hand index finger is still heavily taped.

It certainly affected his accuracy yesterday, both from the field and at the charity stripe.

* * * * *

So laughable was the game,³ we clicked over at the media timeout when the Cards led 75-25 to the Kansas/ Oklahoma State tilt, which was headed to OT. Every time we clicked back, the Cards lead was larger.

* * * * *

The Cardinals remain ranked 2d in the algorithms of both Ken Pomeroy and Jeff Sagarin.

More important, U of L’s RPI remains #24. Despite that low ranking, self-proclaimed Doyen of Bracketology Joe Lunardi has moved U of L up a line to a #3 seed.

* * * * *

Next: Houston, “upset” winner over Larry Brown’s SMU Mustangs.

U of L previously throttled the Cougars, 91-52 in the Yum!, and handled them, 77-62, in Houston.

At this juncture, my impulse is to discuss possible AAC title game opponents, either Cincy or UConn, which battered Memphis State last night.

But I remain a strict adherent to the two immutable cardinal⁴ rules of post season play.

1) Survive and advance.

2) You only play who you play.

Beat Houston.

— Seedy K