Men's Basketball Hosts Eastern Kentucky in the Billy Minardi Classic

GAME 11
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Time: 12:05 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (105-14 in 7th year)
Television: ACC Regional Sports Networks Wes Durham, play-by-play; Mike Gminski, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 145, XM 201, Internet 965)
Series History: UofL leads 51-22 (38-4 in Louisville, 10-17 in Richmond, 3-1 neutral).
Last Meeting: UofL 78, Eastern Kentucky 63 (Dec. 30, 2004 at Freedom Hall)
UofL National Ranking: 11th USA Today, 11th Associated Press
Officials: Tim Comer, Jerry Heater, Jeff Pon
Next UofL Game: Dec. 21 vs. Kentucky, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

After a week off to complete final exams, Louisville will play its third of five straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the 15^th annual Billy Minardi Classic presented by Sun Tan City and Planet Fitness on Saturday. The event is named in memory of Pitino's brother in-law who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Louisville won its fourth straight last Saturday, a 102-71 victory over Texas Southern as Quentin Snider's 15 points and four assists led six Cardinals in double figures.

Three Cardinals are averaging double figures after the first three games of the season. Sophomore Donovan Mitchell leads Louisville in scoring with 11.4 points per game while Quentin Snider is second on the team with 10.8 points. Deng Adel is the third leading scorer with 10 points per game. Jaylen Johnson leads the team on the boards with 8.2 rebounds per game while also averaging 9.4 points per game. Snider leads the team with 36 assists on the year.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 43 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from behind the arc. UofL is averaging 44.8 rebounds per game while holding opponents to just 36.2 rebounds a game.

Eastern Kentucky (6-5), guided by former UofL Director of Video Operations Dan McHale as its second-year
head coach, had won four straight before falling 91-86 in overtime at Ball State on Dec. 10 as Asante Gist scored 19 points to lead five Colonels in double figures.

Forward Nick Mayo is fourth in the OVC in scoring (19.3 points-per-game) and ranks 20th in the nation in total points (212). Gist, a three-time OVC Freshman of the Week this year, leads all freshmen in the OVC in scoring (14.4 ppg), assists (3.9 apg), assist/turnover ratio (1.0) and minutes played (28.8 mpg). Eastern Kentucky is second in the OVC and 16th in the nation in total three-pointers made (102; 9.3 per game). EKU is No. 111 in the RPI, 174 in the Sagarin Ratings and 201 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings through Dec. 11.

Louisville owns a 51-22 advantage in the series, which is the fourth-most played series for the Cardinals. UofL has won the last 13 meetings, including a 78-63 victory on Dec. 30, 2004 in Freedom Hall in the last matchup between the schools as Francisco Garcia led the Cardinals with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. EKU was the first foe that the Cardinals faced in the first Billy Minard Classic 14 years ago, with UofL prevailing 104-63 on Dec. 17, 2002 as Taquan Dean scored 19 points to lead the Cardinals.

CARD FILE

UofL has a 9-2 record in games following at least a seven-day break over the last five years (since 2012-13).
UofL Coach Rick Pitino, who has a 400-135 record in his 16th season at Louisville, won his 400th victory with the Cardinals last Saturday vs. Texas Southern. He won his 750th career collegiate victory when the Cards beat Wichita State on Nov. 24. He is one of five active coaches with at least 750 victories.
Louisville has a 29-4 record during the month of December over the last five years, winning 17 of its last 20 in that month.
Louisville has won 52 of its last 53 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last seven seasons. UofL has an overall 105-14 record in the spectacular arena, including a 61-3 record against non-conference opponents. The Cards have won their last 16 home games vs. non-conference opponents.
Donovan Mitchell leads the ACC and is 13^th in the nation in steals (2.6 per game). His seven steals against Old Dominion matched the fourth most ever at UofL. His 26 steals in 10 games is one more than he had his entire freshman year.
Louisville's 155 victories over the last six 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).

Men's Basketball Hosts Eastern Kentucky in the Billy Minardi Classic

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Jaylen Johnson

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

University of Louisville Athletics