Cards Face Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament First Round

Game Information
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 7 p.m. ET
Site: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y. (17,732)
Television: ACC Network - Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst. (XM channel 382, SiriusXM App 972)
Series History: Louisville leads 24-14 (14-4 in Louisville, 6-4 in Atlanta, 4-6 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 67, Georgia Tech 64 (Jan. 2, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.)
UofL ACC Tournament Record: 2-5 in five appearances; 83-46 overall conference tournament record with 19 championships.
UofL National Ranking: unranked in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: if advance, vs. No. 6 seed Virginia in ACC Tournament Second Round, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

BROOKLYN -- Louisville will open play in the first round of the 2022 New York Life ACC Men's Basketball Tournament as the No. 11-seeded Cardinals face the No. 14 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In its final game of the regular season, Louisville fell 71-61 to Virginia on Senior Day in the KFC Yum! Center last Saturday as Sydney Curry continued his impressive recent performances with 24 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and three assists while connecting on 9-of-13 field goals. Louisville jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game before Virginia tied it at 14-14 and advanced to a 36-17 halftime advantage. Louisville grabbed 12 offensive rebounds against Virginia, its 15th game this season with at least 10.

Curry has averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in his last three games while shooting 69.8 percent from the field (30-of-43). He has back-to-back double-doubles in his last two games, including 18 points and 11 rebounds at Virginia Tech. His 28 points at Wake Forest was the most for a Cardinal since Jordan Nwora finished with 37 at Boston College on Jan. 29, 2020.

El Ellis, who was tied for the runner-up position in ACC Sixth Man of the Year voting, has scored in double figures in six of the last 10 games, including a career-high 25 in the Feb. 1 meeting against North Carolina. He is averaging 10.4 points per game over the last 17 games -- top for the Cardinals in that stretch, while hitting 28-of-75 threes (.373), including 11.8 ppg in the last 10 games.

Louisville will be participating in its sixth Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament this week, entering with a 2-5 record in five previous appearances. This is the first time the Cardinals have been a No. 11 seed in the ACC Tournament. UofL was a No. 7 seed in last year's event -- one of two times as a No. 7 seed position -- and have been a No. 4 seed twice, and a No. 9 once.

Georgia Tech (12-19, 5-15 ACC) closed its regular season with an 82-78 overtime victory over Boston College on March 5, its second win in the last nine games. Jordan Usher scored 30 points and handed out five assists in the victory to lead the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech guard Michael Devoe, with six double-doubles this season, is third in the ACC and in scoring (18.0 ppg) and seventh in threes per game (2.3). Louisville has a 24-14 series advantage over Georgia Tech and the Cardinals have won 11 of the last 12 meetings. In the last matchup, Louisville prevailed 67-64 at Georgia Tech on Jan. 2 as Malik Williams led the Cardinals with a team-leading 20 points and 10 rebounds as UofL shot 48 percent from the field, held a decisive 34-25 rebounding margin and built an eight-point advantage after recovering from an early seven-point deficit to win.

Notes

The ACC Tournament was in Brooklyn when the Cardinals earned their first victory in the event in 2018. The No. 4 seeded Cardinals beat Florida State 82-74 in that 2018 tournament before falling to top-ranked Virginia 95-58.
Louisville and Georgia Tech were founding members of the Metro Conference in 1975, but the Yellow Jackets left for the ACC in 1978.
Louisville has an all-time 11-8 record in games played on March 8, winning two of its last three games played on that date.
Tuesday's game will be the Cardinals' seventh in the Barclays Center, holding a 2-4 record in the facility.
Louisville used its 15th different starting lineup against Virginia on March 5 to allow all of its seniors to start. Louisville's 15 different starting lineup combinations is tied for the fourth-most in the nation.
Louisville does not have a double-figure scorer on its team, but has 10 players averaging between 4.7 and 9.5 points per game. The last time UofL finished the season without a double figure scorer was 1943-44.
Malik Williams has scored in double figures in seven of his last 10 games, including 10 points and seven rebounds against Virginia last Saturday. Williams is fifth in the ACC in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and 51st in the nation in defensive rebounding (5.9 per game).
Jarrod West is fifth in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio (2.35) and is fourth in the nation in career steals among active players with 292.
Noah Locke passed 1,200 career points with 14 at Wake Forest. He has 17 double figure scoring efforts this year, including four of the last eight games. He has made 38 percent of his three-pointers in ACC games (41-of-108). Locke has made multiple three-pointers in 19 games and at least three in 12 games this season.

University of Louisville Athletics

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Sydney Curry

El Ellis

Noah Locke

Jarrod West

Malik Williams

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