St. Francis (PA) @ Louisville preview

Louisville has been trying to sidestep distractions this season and another one is out of the way with the school declaring that highly touted Brian Bowen won't be allowed to play for the school. The firing of long-time coach Rick Pitino hasn't affected the on-court look and the No. 18 Cardinals strive to win their fourth straight game when they host Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday.

Pitino was dismissed for his perceived role in the corruption scandal exposed by the FBI and Bowen is the Louisville recruit reportedly at the center of the issues. Bowen has maintained he knows nothing about the alleged $100,000 payout Adidas paid to get him to sign with the Cardinals but the school announced the no-play edict and said he is free to transfer. Louisville played terrific defense in Tuesday's 84-42 rout of Southern Illinois as it held the Salukis to 26.6 percent shooting from the field. Saint Francis steamrolled Division III Franciscan 96-54 on Tuesday but fell to a ranked team earlier this season when it lost 85-68 to Saint Mary's.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra

ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS (2-2): The availability of junior guard Isaiah Blackmon (14.3 points per game) remains in doubt after he injured a knee during a game last Saturday and sat out Tuesday's victory. "I'm going to remain hopeful that we get a productive result from the MRI," Red Flash coach Rob Krimmel told reporters. "Until those results come back, I don't want to speculate on where we would go. If it's good we move forward. If it's bad, we have to adjust some things, rally the troops and next man up until we get those results." Junior guard Jamaal King is also averaging 14.3 points while sophomore guard Keith Braxton is averaging 13 per game.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (3-0): Freshman forward Jordan Nwora displayed his potential by scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Southern Illinois. "The biggest, it shouldn't be a surprise, but the most pleasing thing to me about him is we know he can shoot, but he's really dedicated himself the last couple of weeks to doing more than that," interim coach David Padgett said after the contest. "He's mixing it up. He's getting in there rebounding. He's trying to defend much harder, and he is." Nwora is averaging 10 points per game, ranking third behind junior forward Deng Adel (19 per game) and freshman guard Darius Perry (12 per outing).

TIP-INS

1. Louisville has won the previous two meetings, with the most recent occurring during the 1984-85 season.

2. The Cardinals fired associate head coach Kenny Johnson on Wednesday for his role in the scandal.

3. The Red Flash are shooting just 28.4 percent from 3-point range.

PREDICTION: Louisville 91, Saint Francis 73