Cards Visit Virginia on ESPN's Big Monday

Game Information
Site: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va. (14,623)
Television: ESPN - Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, analyst; Andraya Carter, reporter.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; joined in progess on WHAS 840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (XM channel 383, SiriusXM App 973)
Series History: Louisville trails 5-17 (4-8 in Louisville, 1-8 in Charlottesville, 0-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: Virginia 68, UofL 58 (March 6, 2021 at KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: unranked in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: Jan. 29 vs. Duke, KFC Yum! Center, Noon ET (ESPN)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Louisville plays its lone road game in the middle of a five-game stretch as the Cardinals visit Charlottesville, Va. to face the Virginia Cavaliers on ESPN's Big Monday at 7:01 p.m. ET.

On the day UofL retired All-America Russ Smith's No. 2 jersey, Louisville fell 82-70 to Notre Dame on Saturday in the KFC Yum! Center as the Irish shot a torrid 63.3 percent from the field against the Cardinals, including 15-of-23 three-pointers (.652). Jarrod West led the Cardinals with a season-high 14 points, Jae'Lyn Withers contributed nine points and a game-high nine rebounds, and Mason Faulkner totaled nine points and a team-high five assists.

Faulkner has averaged 8.5 points and 6.0 assists while starting the last two games and has just two turnovers in those two. He has scored eight or more points in six of his last nine games. He is second in the ACC in assist-turnovers ratio at 2.70.

Noah Locke, fourth in the ACC in three-pointers made per game (2.4), has scored in double figures seven of the last nine games and on 13 occasions this season. He has made at least three threes in 10 games and has made 21-of-42 threes over the last eight games (.500)

Virginia (11-8, 5-4 ACC) has won four of its last seven games, but dropped its last game at NC State 77-63 on Jan. 22 as the Wolfpack shot 60 percent for the game -- the highest against the Cavaliers this year -- including 12-of-22 three-pointers (.545). Guard Armaan Franklin led UVa with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-7 three-pointers.

Virginia leads the ACC in scoring defense (59.7 ppg) and is sixth in field goal percentage defense (.420). Leading scorer Jayden Gardner (13.9 ppg) is among the ACC leaders in rebounding (6.8, 14th in the ACC), field goal percentage (.520, sixth in the ACC) and free throw percentage (.771, 12th in the ACC).

Virginia leads the series 17-5 over Louisville and the Cavaliers have won 11 of the last 12 meetings. In the last matchup, Virginia won 68-58 over UofL in the KFC Yum! Center (3-6-21) as David Johnson led the Cardinals with 14 points in the loss. The Cardinals will play Virginia in its last regular season game in Louisville on March 5.

Notes

Louisville has averaged 28.3 points per game from its bench this season. Louisville's bench contributed 34 points against Notre Dame, UofL's ninth game this season with over 30 bench points. The Cardinals have had 21 double-figure scoring efforts off the bench this season, including 14 from Jarrod West vs. Notre Dame. The Cards are 19th in the nation in bench minutes.
Louisville Director of Basketball Operations Taylor Barnette played basketball his freshman year at Virginia (2012-13) before finishing his collegiate career at Belmont (1,085 career points).
Louisville has an all-time 14-7 record in games played on Jan. 24, winning six of the last seven games played on that date.
Louisville's 34 ACC road wins in its eighth year in the league is the fourth-most in the ACC in that period.
Malik Williams has grabbed at least eight rebounds in 12 of his 18 games and ranks third in the ACC in rebounding (8.6 rpg) and 21st in the nation in defensive rebounding (6.8 per game). He needs one point for 800 in his career.
Sydney Curry has scored 39 points in his last three games after combining for 33 points over his first 12 games this season (22 pts., 10 reb. vs. NC State on Jan. 12). He is averaging 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds over his last five games. He tweaked his ankle against Notre Dame and scored four points in 13 minutes, but is expected to play at Virginia.
Opponents have shot nearly 10 percentage points higher against the Cardinals in their eight losses (.471) than in their 11 victories (.372).
Louisville is 8-2 this season when outrebounding its opponent, 10-1 when shooting better from the field than the opposition, and 8-1 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Curry

Mason Faulkner

David Johnson

Noah Locke

Jarrod West

Malik Williams

Jae'Lyn Withers

University of Louisville Athletics