No. 22 Cardinals visit No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday in ACC/BigTen Challenge

Game Facts
Site: Kohl Center (17,287), Madison, Wis.
Television: ESPN2 - Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Jay Bilas, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 132, XM 193, Internet 955)
Only Previous Meeting: UofL 70, Wisconsin 53 (Dec. 28, 1978 in Freedom Hall, Louisville, Ky.) Louisville Holiday Classic
UofL National Ranking: No. 22 USA Today, No. 23 Associated Press
Next UofL Game: Dec. 22 at Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 7:00 p.m. ET (RSN)

Louisville plays its first road game of the season when the Cardinals visit the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wisc. in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Saturday.

Louisville (4-0), ranked 22nd by USA Today and No. 23 by AP, had paused team activities on Dec. 3 due to COVID-19 issues before its first full practice on Dec. 12, forcing a cancellation of its Dec. 4 game against UNC Greensboro, postponing its Dec. 16 game vs. NC State, and moving its Wisconsin game 10 days later to Saturday.

In their last outing on Dec. 1, the Cardinals won their fourth straight in prevailing 75-54 over Western Kentucky as ACC Freshman of the Week Dre Davis scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Cardinals.

Wisconsin has won five of its first six games, including a 77-63 victory over Loyola (Chicago) on Dec. 15 in its last game.Wisconsin, which returns all five starters from last season, has won five of its first six games, including a 77-63 victory over Loyola (Chicago) on Dec. 15 in its last game. Its lone loss was 67-65 at Marquette on Dec. 4.

UofL won the only previous meeting between the two schools 42 years ago, a 70-53 victory in the Louisville Holiday Classic on Dec. 28, 1978, led by Derek Smith's 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Louisville has won four of its six previous matchups in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and three of its last four in the event, including a 58-43 victory over No. 4 Michigan in the KFC Yum! Center last season (12-3-19).

Notes

Louisville has won its first four games of the season for the 11th time in the last 12 years. The Cardinals have started 5-0 in eight of the last 11 years entering Saturday's game.
Louisville's offensive efficiency (22nd in the nation) and defensive efficiency (25th) are both among the nation's top 25 by KenPom through Dec. 15. Louisville has held three of its first four opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field. In early NCAA statistics through Dec. 15, Louisville is 27th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.365) and 21st in scoring defense (58.0). The Cardinals are 20th in the nation in field goal percentage (.519).
UofL has a collective 60-47 series record against current members of Big Ten Conference, having previously faced all 14 of its members.
UofL Coach Chris Mack has a 1-1 record against Wisconsin. His Xavier teams lost to the Badgers 66-63 in the 2016 NCAA Second Round in St. Louis, Mo. (3-20-16); and prevailed 80-70 in Madison, Wis. in a Gavitt Tipoff game (11-16-17) during the 2017-18 season when Xavier posted a 29-6 record for the year.
Louisville has an all-time 11-9 record against teams ranked No. 12 in the AP poll, winning its last such matchup (83-62 at North Carolina, Jan. 12, 2019).
Louisville has a 16-10 all-time record in games played on Dec. 19, winning its last four straight and 12 of its last 13 on that date.
Louisville's 18 days between its last game on Dec. 1 against Western Kentucky and its next on Dec. 19 at Wisconsin will be its longest in-season stretch without a game in 54 years. It is the longest break of its length since the Cardinals had 20 days between playing its last regular season game on Feb. 25, 1967 and next on March 17 in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kansas.
Carlik Jones is seventh in the nation in career assists among active players with 490 (21 at Louisville, 469 at Radford) and is 13th nationally among active career scorers with 1,621 points (69 at UofL, 1,552 at Radford).

No. 22 Cardinals visit No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday in ACC/BigTen Challenge

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Players Mentioned

Dre Davis

Carlik Jones

University of Louisville Athletics