Men's Basketball Hosts Southern Illinois on Tuesday Night

Tuesday, November 21

LOUISVILLE, KY

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

Men's Basketball Hosts Southern Illinois on Tuesday Night

November 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Louisville Notes Southern Illinois Notes Live Stats

Cardinals play the first of two home games this week against Southern Illinois

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 3
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (116-15 in 8th year)
Television: Regional Sports Networks (FOX Sports South in Louisville) Tom Werme, play-by-play; Mike Gminski, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 137, XM 137, Internet 137)
Series History: UofL leads 4-2 (3-1 in Louisville, 1-1 in Carbondale)
Last Meeting: UofL 74, Southern Illinois 51 (Dec. 10, 2016 at KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: 18th USA Today, 19th Associated Press
Officials: Roger Ayers, Mike Eades, Ted Valentine
Next UofL Game: Nov. 24 vs. St. Francis, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra - available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN on the Watch ESPN app)

Louisville will play its third of four straight home games to open the season when it faces the Southern Illinois University Salukis on Tuesday. Louisville beat Omaha 87-78 last Friday as the Cardinals limited Omaha to 24.4 percent shooting from the field in the first half, held a 53-41 rebounding advantage for the game and blocked 15 shots, it was the most swats in a game in 14 years.

Deng Adel leads the Cardinals in scoring with 20.5 points per game. Freshman Darius Perry ranks second on the team with 13.0 points per game while junior Ray Spalding is averaging 10.5 points per game. Spalding leads the team on the boards with 9.0 rebounds per game. Quentin Snider and Adel lead the team with seven assists a piece.

SIU (2-0) has won its first two games: 81-66 at Winthrop on Nov. 10 in its season opener, and 69-64 vs. Illinois-Springfield in its home opener on Nov. 18 as Aaron Cook led Southern Illinois with 20 points and four assists. The Salukis return three starters from last season's 17-16 squad which tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Two Salukis are out with injuries. Thik Bol, a preseason second-team All-MVC selection, had knee surgery on Nov. 3 and is expected to miss approximately six weeks. He started every game last season and averaged 9.1 points, blocked 76 shots and shot a team-best 53.3 percent from the field. Saint Louis transfer guard Marcus Bartley broke a bone in his right wrist and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Guard Armon Fletcher missed SIU's last game against Illinois Springfield with a knee injury, but is expected to play in Tuesday's game against Louisville.

Louisville has won four of its six previous matchups with Southern Illinois and the last three straight. The Cardinals prevailed 74-51 in the KFC Yum! Center last season as Deng Adel totaled 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double (12-10-17).

CARDINAL NOTES

Card File — Louisville is one of four schools that have both its men's and women's basketball teams ranked among the nation's top 20 teams (also Duke, Notre Dame and Texas A&M) ... The Cardinals are off to a great start at the free throw line this season, connecting on 76.5 percent of their charity tosses in their first two games. Freshman guard Darius Perry has made all 13 of his free throws ... Junior forward Ray Spalding scored a career-high 19 points and posted his third career double-double vs. Omaha in adding 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. His rebound total was one below his career high of 12 ... Louisville's bench has contributed 33 percent of the Cardinals scoring this season (53 bench points in two) ... The Cardinals have scored 21 percent of its points off of turnovers (34 of 159 points) ... Louisville's 87-78 victory over Omaha was the Cardinals' 138th consecutive win when scoring 85 or more points in regulation, including a perfect 115-0 record over the last 17 years.