Cards Play First ACC Game of the Season at Pitt

Tuesday, December 22

Pittsburgh, PA

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

December 21, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Louisville notes vs Pittsburgh Chris Mack Press Conference Quinn Slazinski Press Conference Pitt Notes vs Louisville Where to Watch

By: Kenny Klein

Game Facts
Site: Petersen Events Center (12,508), Pittsburgh, Pa.
Television: Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports South in Louisville) - Bob Rathbun, play-by-play; Brian Oliver, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 81, XM 81, Internet 81)
Series History: UofL leads 19-6 (11-1 in Louisville, 8-2 in Pittsburgh, 0-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 73, Pittsburgh 68 / OT (Jan. 14, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Next UofL Game: Dec. 26 vs. Kentucky, KFC Yum! Center, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville plays its first ACC game of the season when the Cardinals visit the Pittsburgh Panthers on Dec. 22 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Louisville (4-1) suffered its first defeat of the season, falling 85-48 at Wisconsin on Dec. 19 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in the Cardinals' first game after an 18-day layoff due to COVID-19 issues. David Johnson led UofL with 12 points, four assists and two steals in the loss in which the shorthanded Cardinals' played with eight active scholarship players who were all sophomores or freshmen. Scoring, rebounding and assist leader Carlik Jones, who missed UofL's game at Wisconsin, is expected back for the Cardinals' game at Pittsburgh.

Pitt (5-1, 1-0 ACC) has won five of its first six games this season, including a 70-55 victory at Miami on Dec. 15 in its last game, its first ACC game of the year.

Pitt is the only school in the ACC with three players ranked in the top 15 in scoring. The Panther trio of Au'Diese Toney, Xavier Johnson and Justin Champagnie combines for 49.2 points per game. Pitt is among the national statistical leaders in offensive rebounds per game (14.3, 21st in the nation), rebound margin (+11.0, 25th) and three-point field goal defense (.266, 32nd). The Panthers are No. 58 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 67 in the Sagarin Ratings and No. 73 by Ken Pomeroy through Dec. 19.

Louisville has a 19-6 series advantage over Pitt and has won 15 of the last 16 matchups (last three straight). The Cardinals won both matchups last season, prevailing 64-46 in Louisville (12-6-19) and 73-68 in overtime in Pittsburgh (1-14-20). Louisville has an 8-2 record in Pitt's Petersen Events Center, with the last two games there decided in overtime.

Louisville was a member of the Big East Conference with Pittsburgh for eight seasons (2005-13). Three UofL losses to Pitt came in Big East Conference Tournaments in the Cardinals' first three years in that league.

UofL Coach Chris Mack is 4-1 against Pitt, including when his first Xavier team beat the Panthers 71-68 in the 2010 NCAA Tournament Second Round in Milwaukee, Wisc. to advance to the Sweet 16. Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who will miss Tuesday's game due to COVID-19 issues, was the head coach at Oklahoma when UofL beat the Sooners 78-48 in the 2008 NCAA Tournament second round in Birmingham, Ala. (3-23-08). UofL went on to reach the NCAA Elite Eight that season.

Notes

Louisville has won its conference opening game in 10 of the last 12 seasons and seven of the last eight entering Tuesday's ACC opener at Pittsburgh. Louisville has won its first conference road game in 10 of the last 13 seasons.
Louisville's 28 ACC road wins in its seventh year in the league is the fourth-most in the ACC in that period.
The Cardinals have enjoyed success in recent years with its last game before Christmas as Tuesday's game at Pitt will be. Louisville has won 18 of its last 19 games played immediately before Christmas, including the last 11 straight. All but four of those have been UofL home games. The Cardinals beat Miami (Ohio) 70-46 on Dec. 18, 2019 in Louisville's last game before Christmas last season.
Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 15 in each of scoring (7th in the ACC, 17.3 ppg), rebounding (13th, 7.0 rpg) and assists (2nd, 5.3 apg). Last season at Radford, the graduate transfer was the only player in the nation to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, and was one of just 16 players in Division I men's basketball to do so since the 1996-97 season.
Carlik Jones is 10th in the nation in career assists among active players with 490 (21 at Louisville, 469 at Radford) and is 12th nationally among active career scorers with 1,621 points (69 at UofL, 1,552 at Radford).
Louisville achieved a collective 3.10 grade point average for the 2020 fall semester, with 13 of its 17 student-athletes earning a 3.0 or better GPA. The Cardinals have attained a collective 3.0 GPA for 23 of the last 25 semesters. A league-high matching five Cardinals were named to the 2020 All-ACC Academic Team and UofL has produced an ACC-best 36 selections over its six years in the league.
Louisville has a 46-12 record in the month of December over the last eight years.