No. 11 Louisville Hosts Virginia Tech on Sunday

GAME 30
Date: March 1, 2020
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (161-26 in 10th year)
Television: ACC Network - Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Jordan Cornette, analyst; Katie George, reporter.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 84, XM 371, Internet 371)
Series History: UofL leads 34-8 (17-3 in Louisville, 16-3 in Blacksburg, 1-2 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 72, Virginia Tech 64 (Feb. 4, 2019 in Blacksburg, Va.)
UL National Ranking: No. 10 USA Today, No. 11 Associated Press
Officials: Ted Valentine, Bill Covington, Jr., Jamie Luckie
Next UofL Game: March 7 at Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 4:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)

LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- Louisville opens the month of March with its final home game of the season in the KFC Yum! Center -- where UofL is 16-1 this year -- as the Cardinals face the Virginia Tech Hokies on Sunday. Fans are encouraged to "Wear Red for the Seniors" and arrive by 5:30 p.m. for the Senior Day ceremony.

Louisville fell 82-67 at No. 6/6 Florida State on Feb. 24 in its last game. Five Cardinals scored eight or more points at Florida State, led by Ryan McMahon's 14 points off the bench (3-5 three-pointers, 5-5 free throws). Malik Williams injured his left ankle early in the game and is doubtful for Sunday's game against Virginia Tech.

Louisville has five players averaging eight or more points a game. Nwora leads the team in scoring with 17.9 points per game, while pulling down 7.4 rebounds a game. Steven Enoch is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Dwayne Sutton averages 9.3 points while leading the team in rebounding with 8.3 per game. Fresh Kimble leads the team with 78 assists.

The Hokies (15-13, 6-11 ACC) have dropped eight of their last nine games, including a tight 56-53
home loss to Virginia on Feb. 26 in their last game. The Hokies made 9-of-27 three-pointers against Virginia and had recovered from a 15-point deficit to tie the game in the closing seconds.

Virginia Tech leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.6) and is fourth in assist/turnovers ratio (1.55) and 15^th three-point field goals made (9.8). Hokie redshirt freshman forward Landers Nolley II is fourth in the ACC in scoring (16.6 ppg) and seventh in three-pointers made (64, 2.3 per game). Virginia Tech is No. 108 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 85 in the NET rankings, No. 82 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 102 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 26.

Louisville leads 34-8 in its series against Virginia Tech, winning the last 15 matchups and 26 of the last 28. Last season, UofL prevailed 72-64 at No. 11/10 Virginia Tech (2-4-19) as Dwayne Sutton totaled 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Cardinals. Ryan McMahon added 17 points off the bench, including 12 points in 83 seconds during a second-half stretch.

Louisville and Virginia Tech were fellow members of the Metro Conference from 1978-1995.
When UofL joined the ACC, it was the first time the teams had played in 20 years.

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Louisville's 14-4 ACC start is its best in its six years in the conference and its best in any league since the Cardinals won the 2014 American Athletic Conference title with a 15-3 record. It is Louisville's most ACC wins in a season. UofL has 18 straight 20-win seasons on the court.
Louisville is 18th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.384). UofL has made as many as nine three-pointers in a game on 17 occasions this season (12 of the last 19), including 9-of-25 threes vs. North Carolina on Feb. 22.
Louisville has a 56-16 record in its conference home games over the last eight years (.778). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its six years in the ACC with a 41-13 ACC home record.
In the last four games, David Johnson has 24 assists with 10 turnovers. He made his first career start vs. Syracuse and over the last 13 games has averaged 9.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
Dwayne Sutton as averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds over the last five games – tops on the team in that stretch -- while shooting 51 percent from the field. He grabbed his 600^th rebound at Louisville against Syracuse.
UofL is 18th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.389), 21st in rebound margin (+6.2), 26th in scoring margin (+10.7) and 43rd in scoring defense (64.3).
Jordan Nwora was honored on the 2020 CoSIDA District 2 Academic All-District basketball team. The preseason ACC Player of the Year is second in the ACC in scoring (17.9 ppg), eighth in rebounding (7.4), fourth in three-point goals (2.4), fifth in FT percentage (.813) and seventh in FG percentage (.441).

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Players Mentioned

Steven Enoch

David Johnson

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

Malik Williams

University of Louisville Athletics