Men's Basketball Travels to Virginia for a Big Monday Matchup

GAME 24
Date: Feb. 6, 2017
Time: 7:02 p.m.
Site: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va. (14,593)
Television: ESPN - Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Dan Dakich, analyst; Allison Williams, reporter.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; joined in progress on WHAS, 840 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Luke Hancock, analyst.
(Sirius channel 81, XM 81, Internet 81) Also: ESPN Radio - Marc Kestecher, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst
Series History: UofL trails 4-9 (3-5 in Louisville, 1-4 in Charlottesville)
Last Meeting: Virginia 61, UofL 53 (Dec. 28, 2016 at KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: seventh USA Today, sixth Associated Press
Officials: James Luckie, Ted Valentine, Mike Eades
Next UofL Game: Feb. 11 vs. Miami, KFC Yum! Center, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville plays its second straight on the road as the Cardinals visit the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. on ESPN's Big Monday. Louisville won for the seventh time in its last eight games and third straight in prevailing 90-67 at Boston College on Saturday as the Cardinals shot 57.6 percent from the field, the fourth time in the last five games. UofL has shot 50 percent or better from the field. Donovan Mitchell and Deng Adel led the Cards with 19 points each.

Sophomore Donovan Mitchell leads three Cardinals who are averaging double figures. Mitchell is averaging 15.0 points per game and 4.9 rebounds. Quentin Snider, who is out with an injury for two to three weeks, ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game along with a team leading 72 assists. Deng Adel rounds out the top scorers with 11.1 points per game. Jaylen Johnson leads the Cardinals on the boards with 6.5 rebounds per game.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from behind the arc. UofL is averaging 41.1 rebounds per game while holding opponents to 34.1 rebounds a game.

Virginia (17-5, 7-3 ACC), ranked ninth by AP and 11th USA Today, has won seven of its last nine, falling only in that stretch to No. 4 Villanova 61-59 on Jan. 29 and 66-62 at Syracuse on Feb. 4.

The Cavaliers are among the top 15 nationally in scoring defense (1st in the nation, 54.0 ppg), fewest turnovers (2nd, 9.9 per game) and assist turnover ratio (7th, 1.55), scoring margin (10th, +14.9), field goal percentage (10th, .494) and field goal percentage defense (12th, .392). Virginia is No. 10 in the RPI, No. 10 in the Sagarin Ratings and No. 11 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 4.

Virginia has a 9-4 series advantage over Louisville, winning four of the last five matchups. Earlier this season, the Cavaliers won 61-53 in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 28 in the ACC opener for both teams as Louisville had season lows in points (53), field goals attempted (44) and three-point percentage (14.3) while also matching a season low for field goals made (19), three-point field goals made (2), assists (7) and blocked shots (2).

CARD FILE

Louisville posted a collective 3.18 grade point average for the recently completed 2016 fall semester, with 11 men's basketball student-athletes achieving a 3.0 or better GPA.
Louisville is sixth in the nation in field goal defense (.378), seventh in blocked shots (6.0 bpg) fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.286), eighth in scoring margin (+16.2) and 10th in offensive rebounds per game (13.8).
Louisville has faced the nation's second toughest schedule according to the RPI through games of Feb. 4.
Louisville has won at least 19 of its first 23 games for the fifth straight season.
In his last 10 games, Donovan Mitchell has averaged 19.6 points 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 steals and made 32-of-69 three-pointers (.464). Mitchell, who earned he ACC Player of the Week honors last week, is second in the ACC and is 32nd in the nation in steals (2.1 per game). He is ninth in the Kenpom.com national player of the year ratings through Feb. 4.
Louisville has a 27-14 record in its conference road games over the last five years (.659).
Louisville has a 53-16 record (.768) in February over the last nine years (since 2007-08), winning 19 of its last 25 in the month.
Louisville's 165 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). UofL needs one more win to reach 20 this year.

Men's Basketball Travels to Virginia for a Big Monday Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Jaylen Johnson

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

University of Louisville Athletics