Louisville Hosts Bucknell for Kentuckiana Friends of V Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men's basketball will play its second and final exhibition contest on Tuesday evening as it takes on the Bucknell Bison at 7 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals first played No. 19 Kansas in an exhibition game on Friday evening, falling the Jayhawks 90-82 in the Top 20 matchup.

Tuesday night's game is a charity exhibition game, raising funds for the Kentuckiana Friends of V Foundation (KFV). The game was conceptualized by UofL staff and radio color analyst Bob Valvano, who established KFV. The Cardinals chose to play Bucknell as Bob's brother, the late great Jim Valvano, was once the head coach of the Bison. KFV is an offshoot of The V Foundation that raises money for cancer research in the Louisville area.

EXHIBITION 2
Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship);
Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
Watch: ACCNX
Live Stats: Louisville Statbroadcast
Buy Tickets: Purchase

CARDINAL NOTES

Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. was named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award Preseason Watch List on Monday afternoon.
Louisville returns just a single starter and five Cardinals who have suited up in the Red and Black before. Overall, UofL returns 22.9% of its scoring (628 of 2,747 points), 31.2% of its rebounding (407 of 1,305), 18.3% of its assists (89 of 486) and 25.7% of its minutes (1,807 of 7,025) from the 2024-25 season.
Head coach Pat Kelsey is the reigning ACC Coach of the Year - he is one of 10 active DI head coaches that have earned a Coach of the Year honor in three or more DI conferences.
Louisville landed two Cards on the ACC Preseason First Team. Both senior guard Ryan Conwell and freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., earned the nod from the league. Louisville as a program was picked second in the league.
There are 14 players returning to DI this season that have made at least 175 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14
The Cardinals were ranked No. 11 in the country in the Preseason AP Poll released on Oct. 13. It was the first time Louisville was ranked in the preseason poll since being No. 5 at the beginning of the 2019-20 season. That team went on to be ranked No. 1 for two weeks and finished the COVID-shortened year at No. 14.
Currently, six of Louisville's 2025-26 opponents were ranked in the AP Preseason Poll, with four more receiving votes.
Louisville has 10 newcomers on the 2025-26 roster including redshirt seniors Aly Khalifa and Kobe Rodgers who redshirted the entire 2024-25 season due to injury.
Louisville is 27-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play

Louisville Hosts Bucknell for Kentuckiana Friends of V Classic

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Players Mentioned

Mikel Brown Jr.

Ryan Conwell

Aly Khalifa

Isaac McKneely

Kobe Rodgers

University of Louisville Athletics