Men's Basketball Hosts Kentucky on Wednesday Night

GAME 12
Date: Dec. 21, 2016
Time: 7:04 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (105-14 in 7th year)
Television: ESPN - Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Jay Bilas, analyst; Maria Taylor, reporter.
Also - ESPN College GameDay on site with Rece Davis, Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 119, XM 193, Internet 955)
Series History: UofL trails 15-34 (8-12 in Louisville, 5-18 in Lexington, 2-4 neutral)
Last Meeting: Kentucky 75, UofL 73 (Dec. 26, 2015 in Lexington, Ky.)
UofL National Ranking: 11th USA Today,10th Associated Press
Officials: James Luckie, Roger Ayers, Ron Groover
Next UofL Game: Dec. 28 vs. Virginia, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Louisville will play its fourth of five straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face intrastate rival Kentucky on Wednesday. Louisville won its fifth straight last Saturday, an 87-56 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the 15th annual Billy Minardi Classic when six Cardinals scored eight or more points as UofL used a season-best 26-0 run to pull away. Quentin Snider was named the Cardinals' MVP in the game with 13 points and six assists.

Two Cardinals are averaging double figures after the first three games of the season. Sophomore Donovan Mitchell leads Louisville in scoring with 11.7 points per game while Quentin Snider is second on the team with 11.0 points. Deng Adel is the third leading scorer with 9.7 points per game. Jaylen Johnson leads the team on the boards with 8.1 rebounds per game while also averaging 9.5 points per game. Snider leads the team with 42 assists on the year.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from behind the arc. UofL is averaging 45.0 rebounds per game while holding opponents to just 35.7 rebounds a game.

Kentucky (10-1), ranked sixth by AP and fifth USA Today, has lost only to No. 2 UCLA this season. Kentucky beat North Carolina 103-100 on Dec. 17 in Las Vegas in its last game as Malik Monk scored a UK freshman record 47 points and De'Andre Fox totaled 24 points and 10 assists.

The Wildcats are among the top five nationally in scoring (3rd in the nation, 95.2 ppg), assists (4th, 19.9 apg), scoring margin (4th, +23.5), offensive rebounds (5th, 15.7 per game), and blocked shots (5th, 7.1 bpg). Fox is eighth in the nation averaging 7.2 assists. Fox and Bam Adebayo were preseason All-SEC first team selections, while Monk and Isaiah Briscoe were second team All-SEC preseason picks. Kentucky is No. 9 in the RPI, No. 4 in the Sagaring Ratings and No. 4 by Ken Pomeroy through Dec. 18.

Louisville trails the all-time series against Kentucky 15-34. UK has won eight of the last nine. UofL's last win in the series was an 80-77 victory on Dec. 29, 2012. The Wildcats hold a 25-11 advantage since the series resumed in 1983. Current UofL Coach Rick Pitino had a 6-2 record as the Wildcats' head coach in games against Louisville; and has a 5-11 record facing UK. The Wildcats won 75-73 in Lexington last season (12/26/15) as Damion Lee's
three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short. Lee led the Cardinals with 27 points.

CARD FILE

Louisville has a 30-4 record during the month of December over the last five years, winning 18 of its last 21 in that month.
Louisville has won 53 of its last 54 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last seven seasons. UofL has an overall 106-14 record in the spectacular arena, including a 62-3 record against non-conference opponents. The Cards have won their last 17 home games vs. non-conference opponents.
UofL Coach Rick Pitino, who has a 401-135 record in his 16th season at Louisville, won his 400th victory with the Cardinals on Dec. 10. 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.
Donovan Mitchell leads the ACC and is 14^th in the nation in steals (2.5 per game). His seven steals against Old Dominion matched the fourth most ever at UofL. His 27 steals in 11 games is two more than he had his entire freshman year.
Louisville's 156 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 has opened with at least a 10-1 record through 11 games for the seventh straight season. The Cardinals have started the season11-1 each of the last six years.
UofL has an all-time 10-13 record vs. teams ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, winning three of those last five occurrences.
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).

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Jaylen Johnson

Damion Lee

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

University of Louisville Athletics