Men's Basketball Faces Second Straight Road Test at Virginia Tech on Saturday

GAME 29
Date: Feb. 24, 2018
Time: 1:06 p.m.
Site: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va. (9,100)
Television: CBS - Brad Nessler, play-by-play; Jim Spanarkel, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (Sirius channel 134, XM 193, Internet 955)
Series History: UofL leads 32-8 (17-3 in Louisville, 14-3 in Blacksburg, 1-2 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 94, Virginia Tech 86 (Jan. 13, 2017 at KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: unranked
Officials: Tim Nestor, Brian O'Connell, Jerry Heater
Next UofL Game: March 1 vs. Virginia, KFC Yum! Center, 8:06 p.m. ET (ACC Network/WHAS-TV in Louisville)

Louisville will play its second straight on the road -- where two of its last three regular season games will be played – as the Cardinals visit Blacksburg, Va. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday. Louisville (18-10, 8-7 ACC) dropped its second straight to a Top 25 opponent in falling 82-56 at No. 5 Duke on Wednesday. Ray Spalding produced his 10th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinals.

Deng Adel leads the Cardinals in scoring with 15.5 points per game. Quentin Snider and Spalding rank second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. Snider leads the team in assists, dishing out a team best 111 assists. Spalding leads the team on the boards with 9.0 rebounds per game. Freshman Jordan Nwora leads the team from behind the arc, shooting 44.2 percent on the year.

Virginia Tech (20-8, 9-6 ACC), receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today polls, has won seven of its last nine games, including beating No. 10 North Carolina and handing Virginia its lone league loss of the season. The Hokies won 65-58 over Clemson in Blacksburg on Feb. 21 in their last outing as Justin Robinson and Kerry Blackshear, Jr. each scored 14 points to lead Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech leads the ACC and is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage (.505) and is 20th nationally in assists turnovers ratio (1.41). The Hokies are No. 32 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 28 by Ken Pomeroy and No. 50 in the RPI through Feb. 21.

Louisville leads 32-8 in its series against Virginia Tech, winning the last 13 matchups and 24 of the last 26. UofL prevailed 94-86 last month in the KFC Yum! Center (1-13-17) as Deng Adel scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals.

CARDINAL NOTES

Louisville is third in the nation in blocked shots (6.5 bpg) and ranks 18th in field goal percentage defense (.404) and 42nd in steals per game (7.6). Anas Mahmoud is eighth in the nation in blocked shots (3.07) and Ray Spalding is 20th in offensive rebounds (3.30).
Deng Adel needs nine points for 900 in his career and Anas Mahmoud's next blocked shot will be the 200th of his career.
Louisville has held eight of its 15 ACC opponents to 40 percent or below shooting from the field. The Cardinals have collected nine or more steals in seven league games (eight vs. Duke in their last game) and lead the ACC in steals in conference games (7.9 per game).
Louisville has a 31-20 record in its conference road games over the last six years (.608). UofL is the fourth-most conference road wins in its four years in the ACC with 17.
Louisville's bench has contributed 30 or more points in seven games this season, including four of the last five (32.2 average bench points in last five games).
Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 15 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga), needing two victories to extend that streak.
Louisville achieved a collective 3.083 grade-point average for the 2017 fall semester, with nine of 14 current student-athletes earning a 3.0 or better GPA (19th consecutive semester with at least a team 3.0 GPA). UofL is one of only two schools in the nation to have perfect men's basketball multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores each of the past four years. A league-high six Cardinals were named to the 2017 All-ACC Academic Team.

Men's Basketball Faces Second Straight Road Test at Virginia Tech on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Anas Mahmoud

Jordan Nwora

Quentin Snider

Ray Spalding

University of Louisville Athletics