Cardinals Face No. 9 Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday Night

Tuesday, November 27

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:30 PM

University of Louisville

MICHIGAN STATE

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

Cardinals Face No. 9 Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday Night

November 26, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Live Stats Louisville Game Notes Game Program

Louisville faces another ranked team with the Spartans at the KFC Yum! Center

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 6
Date: Nov. 27, 2018
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (134-21 in 9th year)
Television: ESPN - Jason Benetti play-by-play; Dan Dakich, analyst; Molly McGrath, reporter.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 135, XM 384, Internet 972)
Series History: Tied 5-5 (2-0 in Louisville, 0-3 at Michigan State, 3-2 neutral)
Last Meeting: Michigan State 71, UofL 67 (Dec. 2, 2015 at East Lansing, Mich. ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Officials: Ted Valentine, Jamie Luckie, Bert Smith
Next UofL Game: Dec. 1 at Seton Hall, Newark, N.J., 12:07 p.m. ET (FOX))

Louisville returns home to the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday to face Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. In its last outing, UofL fell to Marquette 77-74 in overtime in the third place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y. last Friday. Louisville had led for most of the game and missed a shot and two tips at the end of regulation. Christen Cunningham scored a season-high 16 points and handed out three assists to lead the Cardinals.

The Cardinals are very balanced on the offensive end, with three players averaging double figures. Sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cardinals in in scoring and rebounding with 18.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Darius Perry ranks second on the team with 11.2 points per game, while shooting 53.8 percent from behind the line while dishing out 15 assists on the year. Steven Enoch ranks third on the team, averaging 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Michigan State, ranked No. 9 in the AP and USA Today polls, has won its last five games, including victories over UCLA (87-67) and Texas (78-68) to win the Las Vegas Invitational last week. Guard Cassius Winston was named the tournament MVP.

The Spartans, who posted a 30-5 record last season while winning the Big Ten Conference regular season championship, are third in the nation in assists per game (21.2), 13th in three-point field goal percentage (65-of-152, .428) and are 14^th nationally in rebounding margin (+13.2). Co-captain Joshua Langford is the Spartans' top scorer (18.5 ppg, 19-of-40 three pointers, .475) and Kenny Goins is the top rebounder (9.0). Goins totaled five points and 13 rebounds against Louisville in 2015 in 18 minutes off the bench. A preseason All-Big Ten selection on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List, guard Cassius Winston (18.0 ppg, 7.5 apg) is sixth in the nation in assists per game (7.5) and has made 19-of-42 three-pointers (.452).

Louisville and Michigan State are tied 5-5 in their series standings, with four of the matchups coming in NCAA Tournament play and three in regional finals. In the last meeting three years ago, Michigan State prevailed 71-67 over the Cardinals in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in East Lansing, Mich. (12-2-15). Damion Lee led UofL with 23 points in that game.

CARD FILES

Louisville has made 26 more free throws(133-of-172, .773) than its opponents have attempted(80-of-107, .748). Louisville is second in the nation in free throw attempts per field goal attempts (172/272, 63.2 percent) and is second in the nation with 30.9 percent of its points coming from free throws. UofL is 30^th in the nation in free throw percentage.
Nearly half of Louisville's points this year have come from its bench (40.6 points per game). The Cardinals' bench produced a school-record 63 bench points against Southern.
UofL has won 49 straight home games in the month of November spanning the last 28 years, including a 36-0 record in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville has a 42-6 record during the month of November over the last eight years, winning 22 of its last 26 games.
Louisville's 2019 signing class is ranked as the best in the nation by ESPN.com, third by Rivals.com and fourth by 247sports.com. All six individuals are ranked highly among the nation's prospects, including five of the six among ESPN's top 100. The impressive signing class includes Aidan Igiehon, David Johnson, Josh Nickelberry, Quinn Slazinski,