Cardinals Face Syracuse After After 16-Day Break

UPDATE: This game was postponed about 4 1/2 hours prior to tipoff due to a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Louisville men's basketball program.

Game Information
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Denny Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (170-27 in 11th year)
Television: ACC Network - Mike Couzens, play-by-play; Jordan Cornette, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; also joined in progress on WHAS, 840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM channel 371, Internet 371)
Series History: UofL leads 19-10 (10-4 in Louisville, 4-6 in Syracuse, 5-0 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 90, Syracuse 66 (Feb. 19, 2020 in KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: unranked; receiving votes in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: Feb. 20 at North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)

After a 16-day break for COVID-related issues and having four games postponed, Louisville plays its second straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Syracuse Orange on Wednesday.

In its last game on Feb. 1, Louisville beat Georgia Tech 74-58 in the KFC Yum! Center as two Cardinals produced double-doubles in David Johnson with 10 rebounds and a career-high 24 points, and Samuell Williamson with career-bests of 20 points and 18 rebounds. UofL gathered a season-high 56 rebounds -- including 20 off the offensive glass -- the most by a UofL team in six years.

The Orange (12-6, 6-5 ACC) have won three of their last four and five of their last seven, including a 75-67 home victory over Boston College on Feb. 13 in their last game as Joseph Girard's 16 points led all five Syracuse starters in double figures. Louisville had made the trip to play Syracuse on Feb. 3, but the game was the first of four Cardinals games postponed for COVID-19 issues.

Syracuse is among the nation's top 25 statistically in free throw percentage (.790, 8th in the nation), steals (9.2, 10th), blocked shots (4.9, 22nd), and personal fouls per game (14.7, 13th). The Orange, with all five starters averaging scoring in double figures, lead the ACC in steals and three-point field goal percentage defense (.297), and rank second in scoring offense (76.6), assists, blocked shots and free throw percentage. Syracuse is No. 47 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 52 in the NET rankings, No. 29 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 57 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 14.

Louisville leads 19-10 in its series vs. Syracuse, winning six of the last nine. In last year's matchup, the Cardinals prevailed 90-66 (2-19-20) as UofL made 10-of-24 threes and held a 45-36 rebounding advantage. Five Cardinals scored in double figures, led by Jordan Nwora's 17 points, while Malik Williams produced his fifth career double-double (14 pts.,13 reb.).

The Cardinals' latest pause in team-related activities due to COVID-19 issues was the second of the season and lasted 16 days between games. It is its longest in-season stretch without a game in 54 years. After its Feb. 1 victory over Georgia Tech, UofL practiced on Feb. 2 before traveling to Syracuse. That evening, test results revealed a positive test that affected several more through contact tracing. Additional positive tests in ensuing days kept the Cards out of practice until a return of some team members on Feb. 12.

In early December, UofL paused due to a positive COVID-19 test and accompanying contact tracing measures among "Tier 1" individuals within the program. UofL paused on Dec. 3, cancelled its Dec. 4 game against UNC Greensboro, postponed its Dec. 16 game vs. NC State, and postponed its Dec. 9 Wisconsin game to play on Dec. 19. The Cardinals returned to team practice on Dec. 12.

Notes

UofL twice beat Syracuse in the championship game of the Big East Tournament (2009, 2013).
Louisville has a 60-17 record in its conference home games over the last nine years (.779). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its seven years in the ACC (45-14 home record).
Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News Mid-Season All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List recently, ranks third in the ACC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg). Jones has 97 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 37 consecutive games (all 14 at UofL). He needs four points for 1,800 in his career. Jones has collected 15 steals in the last seven games.
Louisville is 9-1 when outrebounding its opponent. UofL's +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games and its +6.1 margin on the season is second in the ACC. The Cardinals outrebounded Georgia Tech 56-39 on Monday.
David Johnson is the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding (6.1, 21st in ACC) and assists (3.4, ninth in the ACC), adding 13.1 points per game. He has made 22-of-47 three-pointers in his last nine games (.468; 6-of-11 vs. Georgia Tech) and has made a team-leading 29-of-68 threes on the season (.426). He made just five threes as a freshman.
Samuell Williamson has averaged 11.0 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field off the bench over the last three games, grabbing double-digit boards twice.
Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, leading the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401) and ranking third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL has held eight opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field.

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Players Mentioned

David Johnson

Carlik Jones

Jordan Nwora

Malik Williams

Samuell Williamson

University of Louisville Athletics