No. 1 Louisville Hosts EKU on Saturday Afternoon

GAME 11
Date: Dec. 14, 2019
Time: 12:01 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (152-25 in 10th year)
Television: ACC Network - Roy Philpott, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 137, XM 201, Internet 964)
Series History: UofL leads 52-22 (39-4 in Louisville, 10-17 in Richmond, 3-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 87, Eastern Kentucky 56 (Dec. 17, 2006 in KFC Yum! Center)
UL National Ranking: No. 1 Associated Press, No. 1 USA Today
Officials: Bill Covington, Jr., Jeb Hartness, Tim Comer
Next UofL Game: Dec. 18 vs. Miami (Ohio), KFC Yum! Center, 8:30 p.m. ET (ACCN)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville returns to the KFC Yum! Center for the first of two straight home non-conference games as the Cardinals face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday. Louisville (9-1, 2-0 ACC) lost its first game of the year in falling 70-57 to Texas Tech in the 25th Annual Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 10.

The Cards shot a season-low 34 percent from the field, including making just 3-of-17 three-pointers (.176), and committed a season-high 19 turnovers in losing for the first time in 11 games at the Garden. Jordan Nwora led UofL with 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Louisville has three players averaging double figures through 10 games. Junior Jordan Nwora leads the team in scoring with 20.8 points per game, while pulling down 7.5 rebounds a game. Steven Enoch is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Ryan McMahon ranks third on the team with 10.0 points per game while connecting on 48.2 percent from behind the arc. Dwayne Sutton leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game while averaging 8.9 points. Darius Perry leads the team with 47 assists.

The Colonels (3-6) have dropped their last four games, including a 76-57 loss at Northern Kentucky in their last game on Dec. 8 as senior guard Ty Taylor led EKU with 14 points. Eastern Kentucky leads the OVC and ranks fourth in the nation in steals per game (11.0) and is second nationally in
turnovers forced per game (21.8).

EKU head coach A.W. Hamilton was former UofL forward Montrezl Harrell's prep coach at Hargrave Military Academy. Hamilton was an assistant coach for one season (2017-18) at NC State under former UofL assistant coach Kevin Keatts prior to becoming the Colonels' head coach last season.

Louisville has a 52-22 all-time series record against Eastern Kentucky, which is located 101 miles southeast of Louisville in Richmond, Ky. Louisville has won the last 14 straight meetings, including an 87-56 victory in the last matchup (12-17-16). This is the Cardinals' fourth-most played all-time series. UofL has faced only Cincinnati (99 times), Memphis (90) and Western Kentucky (80) more times.

CARD FILES

Toy Collection Saturday -- New toys will be collected and subsequently donated to Norton's Childrens Hospital and Home of the Innocents prior to the Cardinals' Dec. 14 game.
Louisville has an 87-6 record against nonconference opponents in the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals have won 43 of their last 46 home games against non-conference opponents.
Louisville is seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.357) 34th in field goal percentage (.481) and is 20th in scoring margin (+16.3). UofL is third in the nation in defensive efficiency and 1th in offensive efficiency in KenPom rankings.
Louisville's last three opponents have combined to shoot 14-of-75 (.186) from three-point range. UofL is 21sth nationally in 3-pt. FG defense (.272).
Jordan Nwora's 208 points scored this year is the second-most by a UofL player through 10 games over the last 20 seasons. He is second in the ACC in scoring (20.8 ppg, 24th in the nation). The preseason ACC Player of the Year, Nwora was a preseason All-America selection by AP and many others. He needs 56 points for 1,000 in his career.
Dwayne Sutton, who has two double-doubles this year, is sixth in ACC in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and fourth in offensive rebounds (3.1). He needs 10 points for 1,000 career points at two different schools (582 UofL, 408 at UNC Asheville).
Louisville's No. 1 AP ranking for the second straight week marks only the fourth time that the Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 and the first since Jan. 14, 2013. UofL has been in the AP Top 4 for five straight weeks for the first time since 1979-80.

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Players Mentioned

Steven Enoch

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Darius Perry

Dwayne Sutton

University of Louisville Athletics