Cards Face No. 20 Virginia in Home Finale

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

March 05, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Louisville notes vs Virginia Chris Mack Press Conference Carlik Jones Press Conference Digital Game Program Virginia Notes at Louisville 3 6 21

Fans are encouraged to wear red and arrive by 3:40 p.m. for Senior Day ceremony

By: Kenny Klein

Game Information
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Denny Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (171-27 in 11th year)
Television: ESPN2 - Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Dan Dakich, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; joined in progress on WHAS 840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (XM channel 380, Internet 970) Also: ESPN Radio - Sean Kelley, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst
Series History: UofL trails 5-16 (4-7 in Louisville, 1-8 in Charlottesville, 0-1 neutral)Last Meeting: Virginia 57, UofL 54 (March 7, 2020 at Charlottesville, Va.)
UofL National Ranking: unranked in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: ACC Tournament, March 9-13, Greensboro, N.C. (brackets to be announced Saturday evening)

Louisville will play its final game of the regular season as the Cardinals face the No. 20 Virginia Cavaliers on "Wear Red for the Seniors" Day on Saturday in the KFC Yum! Center. Fans are encouraged to wear red attire to the game and arrive by 3:40 p.m. for the pregame ceremony.

Louisville's game at Virginia Tech on Wednesday was cancelled due to COVID issues with the Hokies. In its last game, Louisville won 80-73 in overtime at Duke last Saturday as the Cardinals became just the second team in the last 12 years to sweep the Blue Devils in the regular season.

Virginia (16-6, 12-4 ACC), ranked 21st by AP and 20th in the USA Today poll, had dropped three straight before defeating Miami 62-51 at home on March 1 when Sam Hauser led Virginia with 18 points, making 4-of-9 three-pointers. The teams were scheduled to play in Charlottesville on Feb. 6 before the game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Cardinals.

Virginia is third in the nation in free throw percentage (.804), third in personal fouls per game (12.9), fifth in scoring defense (60.2 ppg) and eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.392). Hauser is ninth in the ACC in scoring (15.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.445). Virginia is No. 13 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 21 in the NET rankings, No. 10 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 15 by Ken Pomeroy through March 3.

Louisville trails Virginia 5-16 in its series history and the Cavaliers have won 10 of the last 11 meetings. The teams split last year's two meetings, with the Cardinals prevailing 80-73 in Louisville (2-8-20) -- Virginia's only loss over its last 12 games of the 2019-20 season -- as the Cardinals shot 51 percent from the field and Jordan Nwora led UofL with 22 points; and the Cavaliers won 57-54 in Charlottesville (3-7-20) with Nwora leading the Cards with 18 points in the final game of the season before the pandemic halted sports.

Louisville has won 17 of its last 20 Senior Day games. Three players will participate in the pregame ceremony including Carlik Jones, Charles Minlend and Malik Williams. Four senior student managers -- Ben Garvey, Jared Grantz, Kiran Rao and Seth Tatum -- will also be recognized during the Senior Day ceremony.

Saturday's game will be Louisville's 11th home game this season, the fewest home games for the Cardinals in 58 years -- since UofL was 9-2 in Freedom Hall during the 1962-63 season. Five of Louisville's eight missed games were to be home games, including four ACC games.

Notes

Jae'Lyn Withers was named ACC co-Freshman of the Week for games Feb. 22-28 after averaging 14 points, 11 rebounds and shooting 52.4 percent from the field in two wins. He produced his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Notre Dame last Wednesday. He totaled 16 points and nine rebounds at Duke, his ninth game this season with nine or more rebounds.
Louisville has a 73-35 record during the month of March over the last 16 years (since 2005; .676 winning percentage) entering Saturday's game against Virginia, including a 40-19 mark since 2012 (.678). UofL is 21-13 during regular season games in March since 2005 (52-22 in postseason games, .703).
Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News Mid-Season All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List, had his 100th career double-figure scoring effort at Duke, including the last 40 consecutive games (all 17 at UofL). He is the first person in UofL history to reach double figures in his first 17 games at UofL.
Samuell Williamson has averaged 12.4 points and 11.6 rebounds over the last five games, grabbing double-digit boards in four of the last five. He is second for the Cardinals in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and ranks seventh in the ACC.
Carlik Jones has scored an average of 10.4 of his 17.6 points per game in the second half this year (176 of 300 points).
Louisville is 12-0 when shooting better from the field than its opponent, 11-1 when outrebounding its opponent, 10-1 when scoring 70 or more points, 10-1 when allowing less than 70 points, 12-1 when leading at halftime, and 12-0 when leading with 5:00 remaining in a game.
David Johnson needs 17 points for 400 in his career.
Louisville is No. 27 in the RPI, No. 27 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 46 by KenPom, No. 50 in the NCAA NET and No. 46 in ESPN's College BPI through March 3.