Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

Up next: U of L vs. Jacksonville State, approx. 2:45 p.m., Friday, Indianapolis. TV: CBS.

Rick Pitino emerged from this weekend confident and excited about his Louisville basketball team after three days of practices and the announcement Sunday night that the Cards received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and would tip off Friday in Indianapolis.

U of L (24-8) made "great strides" over the past two weeks, Pitino said, and while the 81-77 loss to Duke in Thursday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals was disappointing, it did not change his feelings about his team.

"I thought we had a great season – not a good season, a great season – with what we were returning, but I never felt at any point in time very confident that we had a great basketball team," Pitino said at a press conference Monday. "The last 10 days or so I felt very confident that we made great strides."

Louisville tips off against No. 15 seed Jacksonville State about 30 minutes after the completion of Friday's first game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse between Michigan and Oklahoma State, which starts at 12:15 p.m.

Pitino said the way his team has been concentrating and focusing since March began was the source of his new-found confidence. He pointed out center Mangok Mathiang and wing Deng Adel as the two players spearheading the promising improvements in practices.

Mathiang averaged 13 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals over the past three games. He is 16 of 31 from the field in that stretch, and, much to the delight of U of L fans nervous about their team's free-throw shooting, Mathiang has made seven of his last eight foul shots.

Adel, a sophomore who is third on the team in scoring, averaged 16.5 points and 4.7 rebounds over the past four games.

"They were just paying attention to the defensive end of the court and I thought we really made great strides offensively, in the halfcourt as well as the fullcourt," Pitino said. "... Those two guys really came on."

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Donovan Mitchell, U of L's top scorer, hasn't been so hot. The 6-foot-3 guard is 10 for his last 38, including a dismal 5 of 23 from 3-point range. Against Duke, Mitchell made 3 of 14 and struggled with foul trouble, though Pitino said some of that could be blamed on odd officiating.

Pitino pulled Mitchell aside after the loss to Duke and had a conversation with his star, hoping to reboot his confidence and keep his spirits up. Mitchell said Thursday he wasn't worried about his offense, but he was frustrated with how he played on defense.

"Donovan took bad shots in that game," Pitino said. "He was trying to show everybody he's a great shooter rather than being a great basketball player. I said, 'You've already proven you're a great shooter, son. You have to play the game of basketball and let it come to you.'"

As a group, the last few days have been focused on free-throw shooting – Pitino estimated his team attempted 11 million foul shots in practice since Thursday – and what they hope is a run in the NCAA Tournament.

U of L was rewarded with the high seed because of the challenging schedule it played, NCAA Tournament selection committee chair Mark Hollis said Sunday. And Pitino said his players can reap the rewards of the difficult slate in the postseason because they'll be used to the high level of competition.

"I was worried about making the tournament at the beginning of the year," Pitino said. "... When (Chinanu Onuaku left for the NBA), I said we over-scheduled. This was a team with one nine-point scorer returning. My major concern was to make the tournament. Then we started playing better basketball. ... We're more than ready to play even though we have a lack of experience because of the competition we've played."

As soon as U of L was placed in the field and given its opponent, Pitino said he and his team went back to the school's practice facility to start preparing. Each assistant studied three Jacksonville State games Sunday night, and the staff met Monday to discuss what they found.

The players just kept working on free throws.

"The only difference is we have more meetings and more media obligations," Pitino said. "Outside of that, it's all the same prep. You don't want to get the players nervous by changing things. I try to relax more and let them know this is the fun time of their life, so we don't get too bent out of shape. Our team knows we're playing a very dangerous opponent."