Cardinals Host Southern on Tuesday Night

GAME 2
Date: Nov. 13, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (132-21 in 8th year)
Television: ACC Network Extra (available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN on the Watch ESPN app) Kent Taylor, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM channel 382, Internet 964)
Series History: First Meeting
Officials: A.J. Desai, Tony Chiazza, Jeffrey Anderson
Next UofL Game: Nov. 16 vs. Vermont, NIT Season Tip-Off, KFC Yum! Center, 7:01 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)

Louisville will play its second game of season and its first unbracketed game in the NIT Season Tip-Off as the Cardinals face the Southern Jaguars on Tuesday. In its earliest season opener in UofL history, the Cardinals prevailed 85-72 over Nicholls last Thursday as Steven Enoch's 15 points and eight rebounds led six Cardinals with at least eight points. It was the debut at Louisville for Coach Chris Mack, who had guided Xavier to a 215-97 record and eight NCAA Tournament appearances in nine seasons.

Enoch leads the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and eight rebounds per game. Darius Perry ranks second on the team with 14 points per game. V.J. King and Jordan Nwora round out the top scorers with 12 points per game.

After posting a 15-18 record last season, the Jaguars have dropped their first two games this season, falling 82-62 at Alabama on Nov. 6 and 80-53 at Baylor on Nov. 10 in the Emerald Coast Classic. Southern coach Sean Woods, a former player at Kentucky (1988-92) and coach at Morehead State (2012-16), is in his first year at the school.

Senior forward Sidney Umude is the top returning scorer (12.5 ppg) and rebounder (6.1 rpg) for Southern. Senior guard Eddie Reece led the Jaguars with 16 points against Alabama; Umude had eight points and three rebounds. Reese also led Southern with 18 points at Baylor. Last season, the Jaguars were No. 326 in the KenPom rankings, 311 in the RPI and No. 321 in the Sagarin ratings.

It is the first meeting between the two schools. UofL has a 7-0 record against current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, having previously faced four of its members (Jackson State 3-0, Prairie View A&M 2-0, Alcorn State 1-0, Texas Southern 1-0). In its last matchup against a SWAC team, Louisville beat Texas Southern 102-71 on Dec. 10, 2016.

CARD FILES

Louisville's 42 free throws made against Nicholls in the season opener were its most in 63 years -- since hitting 44 vs. Canisius on Dec.10, 1955. The 55 free throw attempts were the most by a UofL team since making 41-of-59 at the line against Texas on Dec. 9, 1995. UofL made 41-of-46 free throws vs. Rutgers in 2014. The Cardinals made their last 14 free throws of the game against Nicholls State.
Louisville has won 66 of its last 69 nonconference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last nine seasons.
Darius Perry's 14 points against Nicholls (4-4 FG, 2-2 3FG, 4-5 FT) was the second-highest total of his career and the most since he scored 17 in the Cards' opener last year.
In their first three games against outside competition including a pair of exhibitions, the Cardinals have limited their opponents to just 31.4 percent shooting from the field.
Louisville will face one of the nation's most difficult schedules this season, with 11 possible opponents ranked among the preseason AP Top 25, including seven of the top 10 teams. UofL's eight games against preseason AP Top 10 foes is three more than any team in the nation. Over half of the Cardinals' games -- 17 of 31 -- will be played against teams in the AP Top 25 or among those receiving votes in the preseason poll.
V.J. King is the Cardinals' leading returning scorer and lone returning starter, averaging 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds a year ago. The two-time All-ACC Academic Team selection scored in double figures in 14 games last year. King and Christen Cunningham were elected team co-captains by a vote of their teammates.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Christen Cunningham

Steven Enoch

V.J. King

Jordan Nwora

Darius Perry

Related Videos