LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men’s basketball opens a three-game homestand to finish off the season with the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.



Louisville has won 16 of its last 17, most recently closing out its road slate with a 71-66 victory at Virginia Tech. Pitt has lost two straight, most recently dropping one to Georgia Tech 73-67 on Tuesday night.



The Cardinals snapped a five-game losing streak to the Panthers after beating them in Pittsburgh 82-78 on Jan. 11. Louisville leads the all-time series 22-11 with a 12-3 mark at home in The Ville.



GAME 29

Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship);

Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Jody Demling, analysis)

Watch: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp | Chris Spatola, analysis)

Live Stats: Louisville Live Stats



PROMOTIONS

• Stripe Out | Let's stripe out the KFC Yum! Center! Take a look at the map here to see what color to wear as you prepare for gameday.
• 502 Day | We will celebrate all things Louisville for the third annual 502 Day game.

CARDINAL NOTES

• The Cardinals secured a double bye in the ACC Tournament and will begin postseason play in the quarterfinals in Charlotte on Thursday, March 13.
• Louisville has improved from eight wins in 2023-24 to 22 wins in 2024-25, the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 14 wins.
• For the first time in the 111 years of program history, Louisville has earned five road wins with a margin of victory of 20 points or more: at Virginia (20), at Syracuse (24), at SMU (25), at Boston College (26) and at NC State (25).
• Starting point guard Chucky Hepburn was named to the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Midseason Team.
• Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals are one of the most improved teams in the country from the end of 2023-24 to now, accounting for the NET and number of wins. He was named to the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List on Feb. 21.
• As of Feb. 27, Reyne Smith is second in the country in 3’s per game (3.71) and total 3-pointers (104). He’s fourth in total 3-point attempts (270). Chucky Hepburn is 18th in the country in assists per game (6.0) and 24th in total assists (163). He’s also 12th in total steals (66) and 11th steals per game (2.44).
• Sophomore forward James Scott is second in the country in dunks as of Feb. 27 with 64 makes on the year, according to Bart Torvik. He leads the ACC in that category and is third on Louisville’s dunks in a single season list.
• Three of Louisville’s six losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 2 Duke (25-3), No. 5 Tennessee (23-5) and No. 17 Kentucky (19-9). As of Feb. 27, those teams, plus RV Ole Miss (19-9), are a combined 86-26.
• Against Florida State on Feb. 22, Chucky Hepburn knocked down 17 free throws, marking a new single game record for the Cards.
• At SMU on Jan. 21, Chucky Hepburn broke the UofL single game assists record with 16. Reyne Smith broke the program’s single game made 3’s record with 10. Louisville became the only DI team this century to have a player with 10+ 3’s and 15+ assists in the same game. The Last NBA team to do it was the Warriors with Klay Thompson (10 3PM) and Steph Curry (15 AST) on Nov. 20, 2022.

Forbes getting absolutely no help from the defense. Wind is really giving them fits. Forbes gives up a 2r HR and the guy on base reached on an error and the guy who homered stayed up after a foul popout that was dropped. Really driving up Forbes pitchcount

It's a little insane to me that we've just bought the idea that UofL is a likely 7 seed. That has bothered me for weeks now. UofL SHOULD easily be fighting for a 4-5 seed and should they go undefeated and win the ACCT, should be fighting for a 2 seed (UofL would be 28-6). Right now UofL should comfortably be a 4 or 5.

Some thoughts, using Lunardi's bracketology and looking at Pomeroy and the Net.

For reference UofL is 26th in the NET, 23rd on KenPom, 23rd on Evan Miya.

I get it. Losing to good teams isn't that bad. But at some point winning games has to matter. UK has been flirting with fallout of the top 25 and is 5-6 in their last 11 games and they've not moved off that 3 line. 2 of those losses are to teams that might not make the tournament or at the very least will barely get in. (Ark/Texas). Kentucky is 14 in the Net, 15 on Ken Pom and 20th on Evan Miya. Those metrics say UK should be a mid-tier 5 seed right now.

Oregon is a 5 seed. They are 32 in the net, 34 on Ken Pom, and 39 on Evan Miya.

Michigan is 22 in the Net, 24 on Ken Pom, and 27 on Evan Miya. They should be in the 6-7 range but are currently a 4.

Mich State a 2 with a 13 net. 10 Net, and 10 Evan Miya.

Illinois is an 8, despite having a higher NET than UofL, Michigan, UCLA, Oregon and a number of teams. Why? Because they're 18-11. So the losses do count against them but UK being a 3 with 9 losses and 5 double-digit losses is absolutely fine.

There are a number of rankings that don't make any logical sense.