Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Pitt

(Photo of Au'Diese Toney, Samuell Williamson: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Taking the court for the first time in 18 days and short their best player, Louisville found themselves on the wrong end of a blowout, falling to the Wisconsin Badgers 85-48. Continuing on their short road trip before the annual Battle of the Bluegrass, Louisville now travels up to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener. Tipoff is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 22nd at 7:00pm EST, and can be viewed on your regional sports network (Fox Sports South in Louisville).

Here are a couple of the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Cardinals' matchup with the Panthers:

Jones In, Capel Out

Of course, it wouldn't be a college basketball game in 2020 if COVID-19 wasn't an underlying storyline.

Prior to their previous game against Wisconsin, graduate transfer guard Carlik Jones, who leads the Cardinals in points (17.3), rebounds (7.0) and assists (5.3), was deemed unavailable for the matchup. Coupled with the 18-day layoff due to a program pause, and Louisville found themselves at the mercy of 37-point blowout to the hands of the Badgers.

Per guidelines set by Louisville's medical advisory group, a player must complete a "graduated return to play process" before playing again after testing positive for the virus or being identified though contact tracing. Jones was forced to sit out vs. Wisconsin because he had yet to complete enough of that process.

Fortunately, he won't have to wait much longer. Head coach Chris Mack said in his postgame press conference that Jones will be back "when we play again" against Pitt.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, their sideline will be missing one of their key members of the program.

Shortly after Louisville's game vs. Wisconsin wrapped up, Pitt announced the head coach Jeff Capel had tested positive for COVID-19, and would be unavailable for their matchup vs. Louisville.

Pitt did not reveal who will stop in Capel's place come Tuesday, although it's believed that Tim O'Toole will be the man in charge, as he is listed as the associate head coach. His lone head coaching experience came from 1998 to 2006 at Fairfield, compiling a 112-120 record.

The Big Three

While Pitt has been more so known for their defense under head coach Jeff Capel, this iteration of Panthers basketball sport a trio of high-volume scorers.

First we'll start with forward Justin Champagnie, who is the unquestioned star on the team. Through Pitt's six games, the sophomore is averaging a double-double with 17.8 points & 12.3 rebounds per game. Not only does his rebounding mark lead the ACC, but it is fifth in the Division I.

Guard/forward Au'Diese Toney isn't far behind Champagnie scoring-wise, as the junior averages 16.2 points per game. While he doesn't attempt the most threes on the team (fourth in attempts with 22), he makes the most of them as his 40.9% three-point shooting percentage leads the team, as does his field goal shooting percentage of 52.5% (minimum 20 field goal attempts).

Then finally, we have point guard Xavier Johnson, who is the orchestrator of this Pitt offense. His 6.0 assists per game leads the team, leads the conference, and is 28th in the country. Oh, and he also averages 15.2 points per game to boot.

Champagne, Toney and Johnson combine to score 49.2 points per game, which is 65.6%, or roughly two-thirds of Pitt's scoring efforts. In fact, the Panthers' fourth-leading scorer in guard Ithiel Horton, averages less than half of Johnson's total at 7.5 points per game.

Defensive Prowess

As previously mentioned, Pitt basketball under Jeff Capel has been known more so for their defense than their offensive firepower. While the Panthers do have three torrent scorers, their defensive efforts play just as big of a role as the Big Three's scoring.

Pitt leads the ACC in three point field goal defense at 26.6%, and is third in total field goal defense at 38.2%. This combines for an effective field goal percentage of 43.4%, which is 32nd in the nation and second in the ACC behind Clemson's 40.3%.

Thanks primarily to Champagnie, Pitt is also one of the better rebounding teams in the conference. Their 44.5 boards per game is second only to North Carolina (45.13), and is good for 14th in the country. Their rebound margin of +11.0 also trails UNC for second best in the ACC.

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI

Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp