Men's Basketball Opens 2016-17 Season At Home Against Evansville On Friday

GAME 1
Date: Nov.11, 2016
Time: 7:02 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (99-14 in 7th year)
Television: ACC Network Extra (available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN on the Watch ESPN app) Kent Taylor, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM 387, Internet 965)
Series History: UofL trails 12-13 (8-3 in Louisville, 4-9 in Evansville, 0-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: Evansville 92, UofL 82 (Dec. 2, 1957 at Evansville, Ind.)
UofL National Ranking: 14th USA Today, 13th Associated Press
Officials: Bert Smith, Jerry Heater, Louie Andrakakos
Next UofL Game: Nov. 14 vs. William & Mary, KFC Yum! Center, 7:02 p.m. ET (RSN)

Louisville will open its 2016-17 season as the Cardinals face the Evansville Purple Aces on Friday. UofL won its two exhibition games, including an 81-60 victory over Bellarmine on Nov. 7 in its last outing as the Cardinals jumped out to a 49-17 lead at halftime. It was the Cardinals' 33rd straight in-season exhibition victory. Friday's game is the first of three straight at home to open the season for the Cardinals in a seven-day stretch.

The Cardinals enter the game ranked No. 13 in the AP poll and 14^th in the USA Today poll. Louisville was picked to finish fourth ACC Preseason poll. The Cardinals return 10 lettermen, including starters Quentin Snider and Jaylen Johnson, from last season's squad that finished with a 23-8 record.

Evansville posted a 25-9 record last season -- its best in 27 years -- and reached the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference before falling to Northern Iowa. UofL posted a 23-8 record during the 2015-16 season and finished fourth in the ACC while beating two teams that reached the Final Four.

The Purple Aces have six seniors on their roster, led by guard Jaylon Brown, who averaged 10.8 points and was named to the MVC Most Improved Team last season as UE's starting point guard. An Evansville graduate whose 25.9 points per game as a senior in 1987-88 was sixth in the nation, UE Coach Marty Simmons is in his 10th season at his alma mater and his next victory will be the 250th of his head coaching career.

Evansville has a 13-12 advantage over Louisville in a series which dates back to 1924. It has been 59 years since the teams last met, with Evansville prevailing 92-82 on Dec. 2, 1957. Evansville won nine of the first 10 meetings.

CARD FILE:

Louisville has won 21 of its last 23 season opening games, including winning its last 12 straight openers (69-33 all-time in openers). UofL Coach Rick Pitino has a 27-3 record in opening games collectively at his four full collegiate coaching stops.
Louisville will gain its 100th victory in the KFC Yum! Center when the Cardinals earn their next win there. UofL enters 2016-17 with a 99-14 record in its first six seasons in the spectacular facility.
Louisville's 146 victories over the last five years are the fifth-most wins in the nation in that stretch. The Cards are one of just three teams to win at least 30 games in three of the last five seasons (30-10 in 2011-12, 35-5 in '12-13, 31-6 in '13-14).
Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga).
Co-captain Quentin Snider is the Cardinals' leading returning scorer for the second straight year, averaging 9.4 points and 3.5 assists (4^th in the ACC. His 2.73 assist-turnovers ratio was 43rd in the nation.
UofL Coach Rick Pitino enters the season needing five victories to reach 750 in his collegiate career and nine wins for his 400^th victory at Louisville. He is one of five active coaches with at least 740 victories.
UofL's academic performance has been impressive, as the team posted a collective 3.38 grade point average for the most recent 2016 spring semester, with 14 of 15 student athletes achieving a 3.0 or better GPA. A league-high seven Cardinals were named to the 2016 All-ACC Academic Team

Men's Basketball Opens 2016-17 Season At Home Against Evansville On Friday

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Players Mentioned

Quentin Snider

University of Louisville Athletics