Cardinals Host Kent State on Saturday Afternoon

GAME 11
Date: Dec. 15, 2018
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (137-21 in 9th year)
Television: ACC Regional Sports Networks/ Fox Sports South in Louisville - Evan Lepler, play-by-play; Brian Oliver, analyst. (see stations listed below)
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM
channel 193, Internet 955)
Only Previous Meeting: UofL 85, Kent St. 67 (Feb. 18, 1951 at Louisville Gardens)
Officials: Leslie Jones, Tim Comer, Jeb Hartness
Next UofL Game: Dec. 21 vs. Robert Morris, KFC Yum! Center, 7:05 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)

Louisville, ranked 20th in the NCAA Men's Basketball NET ratings through games of Dec. 12, plays its second of five straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday. Louisville prevailed 72-68 over Lipscomb on Wednesday as the Cardinals limited the Bisons to 35.4 percent shooting from the field. Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 22 points and added nine rebounds, his sixth game this season with 20 or more points. Malik Williams produced his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Dwayne Sutton totaled a season-high 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Cardinals are very balanced on the offensive end, with four players averaging over eight points. Sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cardinals in in scoring and rebounding with 18.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Ryan McMahon averages 9.2 points a game, while leading the nation and ACC in free throw percentage at 96.7 percent. Steven Enoch ranks third on the team in scoring with nine points per game while Dwayne Sutton is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Kent State (8-1) won its sixth straight in beating Wright State 83-76 in a home game on Dec. 8 as Jaylin Walker led KSU with 25 points, seven rebounds and two steals. It was the Golden Flashes' lone game in a two-week stretch.

Kent State, which is off to its best start in five years and has won all three of its road games this season, is 32nd in the nation in assists/turnovers ratio (1.4) and 48th in scoring offense (82.2 ppg). Senior guard Jaylin Waker, who missed the first five games of the season with a suspension, leads the Golden Flashes in scoring, averaging 24.5 points per game (18-of-35 three-pointers, .514). Walker has scored 1,320 career points, 12th among Kent State career scorers. Senior guard Jalen Avery, a team captain, averages 15.2 points and a team-high 4.2 assists, while
forward Phillip Whittington is Kent State's top rebounder, averaging 8.9 points and 7.8 rebounds.

Louisville won its only previous meeting against Kent State 85-67 on Dec. 18, 1951 in Louisville Gardens as guard Bob Naber led six Cardinals in double figures with 18 points. UofL posted a 20-6 record in the 1951-52 season and the Cardinals were one of 12 teams selected for the NIT.

CARD FILES

Louisville has a 79-5 record against nonconference opponents in the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals have won 35 of their last 37 home games against non-conference opponents.
Louisville has made 22 more free throws (217-of-282, .770) than its opponents have attempted (139-of-195). Louisville is sixth in the nation in free throw attempts per field goal attempts (282/563, 50.1 percent) and is third in the nation with 26.9 percent of its points coming from free throws. UofL is 20th in the nation in free throw percentage.
Jordan Nwora has scored in double digits in nine of 10 games this season, averaging 18.2 points per game (fifth in the ACC). He had 22 points and nine rebounds in his last game vs. Lipscomb, his sixth game with 20 or more points and his seventh game with seven or more rebounds. He is the first Cardinal in 17 years to score 20 or more in at least six of the first 10 games.
Malik Williams gained his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Lipscomb. He is the fourth Cardinal in over 40 years to produce a double-double in 17 minutes or less.
Nearly half of Louisville's points this year have come from its bench (35.1 points per game).
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, Samuell Williamson and Jae'Lyn Withers.

Where you can watch the Kent State game:
FOX Sports South
FOX Sports Sun
FOX Sports Midwest
YES
NBC Sports Washington
NESN Plus
AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh
SportsTime Ohio
FOX Sports Detroit
FOX Sports North Plus
FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus
FOX Sports Southwest
FOX Sports San Diego
FOX Sports Prime Ticket
AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mtn.
AT&T Sportsnet Las Vegas
Root Sports Northwest

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Steven Enoch

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

Malik Williams

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