Cardinals Will Face Saint Louis in Brooklyn
August 10, 2015 | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's basketball team will face Saint Louis in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational on Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"This is our fourth season hosting BROOKLYN HOOPS events and we are thrilled to continue showcasing teams from the nation's top conferences," said Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center. "We are ready for another exciting season of college basketball, culminating in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship."
Tickets will go on sale Thursday, August 20 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased via Ticketmaster by visiting www.barclayscenter.com, or www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning Friday, August 14 at noon. Tickets are available for groups by calling 855-GROUP-BK.
The game is the Cardinals' fourth in the round-robin Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational, with UofL's first three games played in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center. The first three games and dates will be announced with the remainder of the Cardinals' schedule in late August or early September.
Louisville has a 46-20 all-time series advantage over Saint Louis since their first meeting in 1928. The Cardinals have won four of the last five matchups and are 4-0 against the Billikens in neutral site games. In the last meeting, UofL beat Saint Louis 66-51 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on March 22, 2014 in Orlando, Fla. The schools were previously fellow members in three conferences: Missouri Valley (1964-75), Metro (1975-82), Conference USA (1995-2005).
Saint Louis returns nine scholarship players from last year's squad, which was among the youngest in the nation and finished 11-21 overall. Among the returnees is sophomore forward Milik Yarbrough, an Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie team selection a year ago. Yarbrough was one of five freshmen in the country to lead his team in scoring (10.0 ppg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg). Ash Yacoubou, the Billikens' lone senior, was second on the team with 9.1 ppg. Neufeld played with Canada in the 2015 FIBA U-19 World Championship this past summer. Two-time A-10 Coach of the Year Jim Crews enters his fourth season at the helm.
Despite losing four starters including a pair of NBA Draft picks, optimism is high for Louisville, which posted a 27-9 record last season and reached its fifth NCAA Elite Eight in the past eight years. In addition to an incoming top ten freshman class, UofL Coach Rick Pitino bolstered his roster with a pair of senior graduate transfers in 6-6 guard Damion Lee, who was the nation's fourth-leading scorer at Drexel last season (21.4 ppg) and 6-2 guard Trey Lewis, who led Cleveland State with a 16.3 scoring average and made a school-record 96 three-pointers.
A pair of 6-10 front court returnees gained experience in international competition over the summer as sophomore Chinanu Onuaku won a gold medal as a member of the 2015 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team, while junior Mangok Mathiang competed with Australia and led the 2015 World University Games in rebounding.
Barclays Center's college basketball franchise BROOKLYN HOOPS is presented by Ticketmaster, with other partners including Applebees's, adidas, GEICO, High Point Solutions, McDonald's, Modell's, Powerade, JetBlue, and Honda.
Barclays Center opened on September 28, 2012, and is a major sports and entertainment venue in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. One of the most intimate seating configurations ever designed into a modern multi-purpose arena, Barclays Center offers 17,732 seats for basketball, 15,795 for hockey, and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, and has 101 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, and 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by American Express.
The Cardinals depart Aug. 10 for Puerto Rico to play a series of nine exhibition games over six days against the Puerto Rico National Team and Junior Team on Aug. 11-16, playing three double headers. All nine games of the Cardinals' venture will be broadcast live through Learfield Sports on WHAS Radio (840 AM) in Louisville. Additionally, barring any local complications, all nine games will be televised through a live stream with a simple production (not HD) on the UofL Athletics web site at www.GoCards.com/puertorico. A one-time, $9.95 fee will provide access to all nine games.
