Men's Basketball Hosts Grand Canyon on Saturday

GAME 7
Date: Dec. 4, 2015
Time: 12:02 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (85-13 in 6th yr.)
Television: ESPN3 Kent Taylor, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Doug Ormay, analyst (Sirius channel 145, XM 193)
Series History: First Meeting
UofL National Ranking: 22nd USA Today, 24th Associated Press
Officials: Tim Kelly, Bill Covington, Jr., Tim Ebersole
Next UofL Game: Dec. 12 vs. Eastern Michigan, KFC Yum! Center, 2 p.m. ET (ACC Regional Sports Networks/Fox Sports South in Louisville)

Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center for the first of six straight at home as the Cardinals face the Grand Canyon Antelopes on Saturday.

Louisville dropped its first game of the season, falling 71-67 at No. 3 Michigan State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday as Damion Lee and Trey Lewis scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, to lead the Cardinals.

The Cardinals are led by two players averaging double figures, Damion Lee leads the duo of top scorers with 18.3 points per game. Trey Lewis ranks second on the team in scoring with 13.8 per game. Quentin Snider also leads the team in assists with 4.4 per game while averaging 9.0 points. Chinanu Onuaku leads the team in rebounding with 7.2 per game while Mangok Mathiang ranks second in rebounding with 6.7 per game.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 50.8 percent from the field while holding opponents to 34.2 percent shooting. They are also shooting 34.0 percent from behind the arc. They are averaging 43.3 rebounds and 13.8 assists per game.

Grand Canyon (6-0), which is one of the nation's 18 remaining unbeaten teams, has played its first six games of the season at home. The Antelopes won 75-72 over Central Michigan on Dec. 3 as they overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half and buried 10-of-28 three-pointers in the game. Gerald Martin (17 points, 5-of-6 three-pointers) and De'Andre Davis (17 points, 2-of-2 threes) paced
GCU against Central Michigan.

Coached by former NBA All-Star Dan Majerle in his third year at Grand Canyon, the Antelopes return three starters from its team which finished 17-15 last season and participated in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament. Majerle's alma mater is Central Michigan, GCU's foe in its last game on Thursday.

Grand Canyon is picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference, a league with two former UofL assistants as head coaches (Marvin Menzies at New Mexico State and Kareem Richardson at Missouri Kansas City). GCU is No. 126 in the Sagarin Ratings, 182 in the RPI and No. 193 in Ken Pomeroy's ratings through Dec. 2.

Saturday's game will be the first meeting for the Cardinals against Grand Canyon.

CARD FILE:

Louisville's 128 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville and Wichita State are the only schools in the nation to win 30 games in three of the last four seasons, including a school-record 35 victories amassed by Louisville's 2012-13 NCAA Championship team.
Louisville has committed nine or fewer turnovers in seven of its last 10 games dating back to last season. The Cards lead the ACC in turnover margin (+5.2, 21st in NCAA).
UofL leads the nation in scoring defense (54.5), and is second in scoring margin (+27.3), fourth in rebounding margin (+16.2) and third in field goal percentage defense (.342).
Rick Pitino will coached his 500th game at Louisville when the Cardinals played at Michigan St. on Dec. 2 (373-127 record).
Damion Lee grabbed a season-high five steals at No. 3 Michigan State, adding a team-best 23 points. He is second in the ACC in steals (1.8) and eighth in the league in scoring (18.3).
UofL has a 20-3 record during the month of December over the last four years, winning eight of its last 10 in that month.
Mangok Mathiang produced his first career double-double with career-highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds against Saint Louis, adding two blocked shots and a steal. He was honored as the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational MVP.

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Damion Lee

Trey Lewis

Mangok Mathiang

Chinanu Onuaku

Quentin Snider

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