Cards to Play Longtime Conference Foe South Florida in NCAA Tournament Round of 64

Thursday, March 19

Buffalo, N.Y. | KeyBank Center

1:30 p.m. ET

University of Louisville

South Florida

Evangelos Zougris celebrates a made three during the game against SMU at the KFC YUM! Center on Janurary 31.

Photo by: Mallory Peak | Louisville Athletics

Cards to Play Longtime Conference Foe South Florida in NCAA Tournament Round of 64

March 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Pat Kelsey Monday preview Player Monday Preview Louisville Game Notes

Louisville and South Florida are slated for their 34th all-time meeting on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET in the KeyBank Center in Buffalo

By: Dana Brown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men's basketball is ready to go dancing as it starts the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against 11-seed South Florida. The game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. ET and can be found on TNT.

Louisville recently fell to Miami in the ACC Quarterfinals on Thursday, 78-73. The South Florida Bulls are on an 11-game win streak and won the American Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals and Bulls are longtime conference foes, spanning the Metro, Conference USA, Big East and American. Louisville leads the all-time record over USF 29-4, including a 2-0 mark on neutral courts. Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey has never faced South Florida in his head coaching career.

GAME 34
Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship);
Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
Watch: TNT (Brian Anderson, pxp | Jim Jackson, analysis | Allie LaForce, sideline)
Live Stats: NCAA Tournament

CARDINAL NOTES

The Cardinals are 61-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, not including a 15-3 record vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Louisville is 6-3 as a 6-seed since 1979 in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville is 5-0 against 11-seeds in the same time period.
Senior guard Ryan Conwell was named Second Team All-ACC while freshman Mikel Brown Jr. was named Third Team All-ACC and tapped to the All-Rookie Team.
Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. tied Louisville's single-game scoring record with 45 points against NC State on Feb. 9. He tied the legendary Wes Unseld who was the lone owner of the record since Dec. 1, 1967. Brown also broke the ACC freshman single game scoring record, previously set by Cooper Flagg at 42 points.
Louisville had two 30-point scorers in one game for the first time in program history as Mikel Brown Jr. scored 45 and Ryan Conwell scored 31 against NC State on Feb. 9. UofL is one of four teams in DI this season to have a game with two 31+ point scorers, as of March 15. The duo became the first pair of ACC players to drop 30+ each against another ACC team since Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson of UNC did it at Florida State on Jan. 4, 2016.
According to OptaSTATS, Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell are the only DI teammate duo in the last 30 seasons to combine for 75+ points, 15+ rebounds and 15+ threes made in a game. Only one NBA duo has ever done it: Damian Lillard and Nassir Little during Lillard's 71-point game on Feb. 26, 2023.
Mikel Brown Jr. is the only DI player since at least 2010-11 to record 45 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals in 34 minutes or less in a single game. He did so against NC State on Feb. 9.
As of March 15, Louisville is one of three DI teams with at least six victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan (7) and High Point (6). The six 40+ point wins are the most UofL has ever had in a single season.
As of March 15, Mikel Brown Jr. is one of 12 players in DI this season to score 45 points, and one of eight to do it in a regulation length game.
Louisville is one of four programs that has logged at least three games of 18+ made 3's as of March 15, joining Cornell (5 games), Charleston Southern (3) and VMI (3).
Louisville has had five games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season. Louisville is one of 18 teams in 2025-26 as of March 15 to have five games or more of at least 24 assists. Louisville has had 11 games of 20+ assists, also one of 24 teams in the nation to do so.
Louisville shot 60% from the 3-point line against the Wolfpack on Feb. 9. It was the best the Cards have shot from the arc, since shooting 62.5% in an 82-74 victory over Florida State on March 8, 2018.