Men's Basketball Travels to No. 3 Virginia on Saturday
February 06, 2015 | Men's Basketball
GAME FACTS - Louisville at Virginia
Date: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va. (14,593)
Television: ESPN -- Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Dick Vitale, analyst; Doris Burke, analyst/reporter.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Doug Ormay, analyst (Sirius 91, XM 91) Also: ESPN Radio -- Bill Rosinski, play-by-play; Malcolm Huckaby, analyst.
Series History: Louisville trails 3-5 (2-3 in Louisville, 1-2 in Charlottesville)
Last Meeting: UofL 72, Virginia 56 (Feb. 19, 1990 in Charlottesville, Va.)
UofL National Ranking: 9th USA Today, 8th Associated Press
Officials: Bryan Kersey, Raymond Styons Jr., Brian Dorsey
Next UofL Game: Feb. 11 vs. Pittsburgh, KFC Yum! Center, 8 p.m. ET (ACC Network/WHAS-TV in Louisville)
Louisville will play its second straight on the road as the Cardinals visit ACC leader Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday. The game was originally scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start, but was moved to a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
Louisville won 63-55 at Miami as Chris Jones matched a career-high with six steals, grabbed eight rebounds -- one below his career best -- and added 16 points and five assists as the Cardinals improved to 5-1 on the road.
Louisville has four players averaging double figures. Terry Rozier leads the Cards in scoring with 18.5 points per game. Montrezl Harrell ranks second with 15.4 points, while Jones ranks third on the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and Wayne Blackshear averages 11.2 points. The Cardinals are solid on the boards, Harrell leads the team with 9.2 rebounds per game. Rozier ranks second on the team in rebounding with 5.5 per game.
Louisville ranks among the nation's top 25 in 10 statistical categories through games of Feb. 3. Individually, Harrell is 32nd nationally in rebounding (9.2) and 20th in field goal percentage (.573). Rozier is 25th in steals (2.1) and 38th in scoring (18.5). Jones is 18th in steals (2.2).
Virginia (20-1, 8-1), ranked third nationally in both polls, beat North Carolina 75-64 on Feb. 2 in its last outing as the Cavaliers shot 51.8 percent from the field and had five players score in double figures. Virginia won its first 19 games of the season before suffering its lone loss in falling 69-63 against Duke at home on Jan. 31 as Duke shot 50.9 percent from the field, the first time a Cavalier ACC opponent has been above 50 percent in 44 games.
Leading the nation in scoring defense allowing 50.8 points per game, Virginia has held three teams under 30 points for the game this year. Junior guard Justin Anderson, named to the midseason watch lists for the Wooden Award and USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy, leads Virginia in scoring (13.9 ppg, 46-of-92 three-pointers). The Cavaliers are also among the nation's top ten in field goal percentage defense (.355, 3rd in the nation), rebound margin (+9.5, fifth), scoring margin (+17.6, sixth) and assists-to-turnovers ratio (1.56, seventh).
Louisville trails Virginia 3-5 in its series, but has won the last two meetings. The Cardinals won the last matchup 72-56 in Charlottesville 25 years ago (2-17-90) as Everick Sullivan led the Cardinals with 22 points, four assists and three steals, while burying a school-record 6-of-6 three-point goals.
CARDINAL NOTES:
• Louisville's academic performance in the recently completed fall semester was impressive, with 15 of its 16 men's basketball student-athletes achieving a 3.0 or better grade point average. The Cardinals posted a collective 3.33 GPA for the 2014 Fall Semester, just short of the team record of 3.47 achieved last fall.
• Terry Rozier has averaged 21 points over the last 15 games, scoring over 20 points in eight contests. He has averaged 20.4 points in ACC games, which leads the league. He is second in the ACC in steals. He had his first career double-double vs. North Carolina (22 points, 10 rebounds).
• Louisville's 115 victories over the last four years are the most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville is the only school in the nation with three straight 30-win seasons, including a school-record 35 victories by its 2012-13 NCAA Title team.
• In its five ACC road games this season, Louisville has shot a collective 53.2 percent from the field (141-of-265), while connecting on 36.2 percent of its field goals in four home games. The Cardinals hit 68.2 percent of their shots in the first half at Miami in their last game.
• Louisville has a 43-10 record in February over the last eight years (since 2007-08), winning its last 12 straight in the month.
• Louisville is seeking its 13th consecutive season with 20 or more victories. Louisville is one of eight Division I schools in the nation which have won 20 or more games in each of the past 12 seasons.
