DURHAM, NC. – January 18, 2020
Louisville plays its third straight game on the road as the Cardinals visit Durham, N.C. to face the No. 3/3 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. The game will also be the centerpiece for the first ESPN College Game Day program of the basketball season.
GAME 18
Date: Jan. 18, 2020
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Site: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314), Durham, N.C.
Television: ESPN – Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Jay Bilas, analyst; Holly Rowe, reporter.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (Sirius channel 81, XM 81, Internet 81)
Series History: UofL trails 6-10 (3-3 in Louisville, 1-3 in Durham, 2-4 neutral)
Last Meeting: Duke 71, UofL 69 (Feb. 12, 2019 in KFC Yum! Center)
UL National Ranking: No. 10 USA Today, No. 11 Associated Press
Officials: Ron Groover, Jamie Luckie, John Gaffney
Next UofL Game: Jan. 22 vs. Georgia Tech, KFC Yum! Center, 7:00 p.m. ET (RSN)
Louisville won 73-68 in overtime at Pittsburgh on Jan. 14 in its last game as the Cardinals made a season-high 12 three-pointers while limiting Pitt to 37.5 percent accuracy from the field. UofL won its third straight game after scoring the last seven points in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Louisville has four players averaging nine points or more a game. Junior Jordan Nwora leads the team in scoring with 20.4 points per game, while pulling down 7.4 rebounds a game. Steven Enoch is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Dwayne Sutton averages 9.2 points while leading the team in rebounding with 9.1 per game. Ryan McMahon ranks fourth on the team with 9.0 points per game and ranks second on the team in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 43.3 percent. Darius Perry leads the team with 63 assists.
The Blue Devils (15-2, 5-1 ACC) have won nine of their last 10 games, but fell 79-72 at Clemson on Jan. 14 in their last outing as freshman center Vernon Carey led Duke with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Duke is among the top 10 in the nation in scoring margin (+19.8, second in the nation), blocked shots per game (6.4 bpg, 5th), field goal percentage (.489, 9th) and scoring offense (83.1 ppg, sixth), fifth in offensive rebounds per game (14.1) and ninth in field goal percentage defense (.386). Carey (17.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.9 bpg) is the top rated player nationally by Kenpom. Sophomore guard Tre Jones is second in the ACC in assists (6.8 per game, 15.1 ppg).
Louisville trails 6-10 in its series against Duke, with the Cardinals winning two of the last five matchups. In last year’s matchup in Louisville, the Cardinals lost a 71-69 heartbreaker to No. 2/1 Duke after leading by 23 points with 9:55 remaining in the game (2-12-19). Jordan Nwora led UofL with 23 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
CARD FILES
- Jordan Nwora’s 347 points scored this year is the most by a UofL player through 17 games over
- the last 20 seasons. He leads the ACC in scoring (20.4 ppg, 20th in the nation). The preseason ACC Player of the Year, his 20 points at Notre Dame was his 10th game this season and 23rd in the last two years scoring 20 or more points.
- Louisville has made as many as nine three-pointers in a game on 10 occasions this season,
- including five of the last nine games. UofL made a season-best 12 threes at Pitt in its last game.
- Louisville has started with at least a 14-3 record through 17 games for the seventh time in the last 10 years.
- Louisville’s 25 ACC road wins in its six years in the league is the fourth-most in that period.
- UofL is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.368), 22nd in scoring margin (+13.1), 29th in rebound margin (+6.6) and 30th in scoring defense (61.6). UofL is 14th in the nation in defensive efficiency and 17th in offensive efficiency in KenPom rankings.
- Dwayne Sutton has grabbed nine or more rebounds in five of the last six games. His 13 points and nine rebounds at Pitt were one short of a double-double (four double-double this season, nine in his career). He is third in the ACC in rebounding, averaging 9.1 per game.
- Louisville’s next victory will be the 250th of UofL Coach Chris Mack‘s career.
- Over the last 10 games, Steven Enoch and Malik Williams have combined to average 18.7 points and 12.4 rebounds while primarily splitting the center position (Enoch 10.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 21.3 minutes/game; Williams 8.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 19.0 mpg).
