Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Duke Blue Devils

The Cardinals will face the Blue Devils for the third time this season.

(Photo of Carlik Jones: Natalie Ledonne via the Atlantic Coast Conference)

Louisville Cardinals (13-6, 8-5 ACC) vs Duke Blue Devils (12-11, 9-9 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. EST
- Location: Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: Duke -2.0
- All-Time Series: Duke leads 10-9
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 80-73 on Feb. 27, 2021 (Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• F Samuell Williamson (6-7, 210, So.)
• F Dre Davis (6-5, 220, Fr.)
• C Jae'Lyn Withers (6-8, 215, R-Fr.)
• G Carlik Jones (6-2, 185, Gr.)
• G David Johnson (6-5, 210, So.)

Duke

• F Wendell Moore (6-5, 216, So.)
• F Matthew Hurt (6-9, 235, So.)
• C Mark Williams (7-0, 243, Fr.)
• G DJ Steward (6-2, 163, Fr.)
• G Jeremy Roach (6-1, 175, Fr.)

Comparison

	Louisville	Duke
Scoring Average	68.6	76.3
Points Allowed	66.3	72.0
Scoring Margin	+2.3	+4.3
FG Percentage	43.8%	46.9%
Opp. FG% Percentage	42.1%	46.2%
3PT Percentage	31.1%	35.1%
Opp. 3PT Percentage	30.1%	36.1%
FT Percentage	71.7%	69.6%
Rebounding Average	38.2	35.1
Rebound Margin	+5.2	+1.7
Turnovers Per Game	11.6	12.9
Turnover Margin	-0.5	+1.2

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville took both regular-season meetings versus the Blue Devils, winning 70-65 at home on Jan. 23 and outlasting the Blue Devils 80-73 in an overtime game in Durham on Feb. 27.
  
• After missing seven conference games due to COVID-19 issues of its own or its opponent, Louisville posted a 8-5 record in its seventh season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville has won at least eight league games for 15 straight seasons. The Cardinals have finished in the top three in its conference nine of the last 17 years.
• Louisville graduate guard Carlik Jones was honored as a first team 2020-21 All-ACC selection, sophomore guard David Johnson earned honorable mention All-ACC honors, and freshman forward Jae’Lyn Withers was chosen as a member of the ACC All-Freshman team in a vote of media and league coaches.
• All-ACC guard Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top five in scoring (17.0 ppg, 5th in the ACC), assists (4.6 apg, 3rd), assists/turnovers ratio (2.16, 3rd) and free throw percentage (.826, 3rd). Jones has 100 career double-figure scoring efforts, including 40 of his last 41 games (17 of his 18 at Louisville). He is the first person in UofL history to reach double figures in his first 17 games at Louisville.
• Samuell Williamson has averaged 11.8 points and 11.3 rebounds over the last six games, grabbing double-digit boards in five of the last six. He leads the Cardinals in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and ranks fourth in the ACC.
• Louisville leads the ACC and ranks 29th in the nation in three-point field goal defense (.301). UofL has held 12 of its 19 opponents below 30 percent accuracy from three-point range, including five of the last six. UofL limited ACC three-point leader Virginia to 3-of-15 threes in its last game.
• David Johnson is the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding and assists, averaging 12.6 points, 3.3 assists (11th in the ACC) and 5.5 rebounds (25th). He has nearly doubled his scoring and rebounding averages from a year ago and has buried six times his number of three-pointers from last season (team leading 30-of-79 threes this year, .380). 
• Jae’Lyn Withers has averaged 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last three games. He produced his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Notre Dame. He totaled 16 points and nine rebounds at Duke, his ninth game this season with nine or more rebounds.
• Louisville has held nine opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field this season and have held opponents to 42.1 percent on the season. Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, ranking first in the ACC in three-point field goal defense (.301), fourth in scoring defense (66.3 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (.421).
• Louisville has won at least eight conference games for the last 15 consecutive seasons. Louisville is assured of finishing with its 73rd winning season over the last 76 seasons.
• Louisville has won the rebounding battle in 12 games this year, including nine ACC games (trailed Virginia 34-30 in its last game). Louisville is 11-1 in games when outrebounding its opponent. UofL’s +5.6 rebounding advantage in conference games is second in the ACC, and its +5.2 margin on the season is third best.

Duke

• Tenth-seeded Duke defeated fifteenth-seeded Boston College 86-51 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
• Duke’s 35-point margin of victory was the second-largest ever in the first round of the ACC Tournament. As the No. 1 seed in 1999, Duke defeated ninth-seeded Virginia by 37 points (104-67).
• Duke freshman DJ Steward led all scorers with 17 points in Tuesday’s game, marking the 17th game this season in which he has scored in double figures. Steward entered the ACC Tournament ranked first in scoring among conference freshmen at 13.0 points per game.
• Another freshman, Mark Williams, added 13 points for the Blue Devils on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Williams is shooting 77.8% (35-for-45) over Duke’s last five games.
• The Blue Devils are an ACC-best 104-45 in the ACC Tournament with a league record 21 titles -- eight crowns have come at Greensboro Coliseum where Duke is 40-18 the tournament (28-10 under Coach K).
• Mike Krzyzewski is 66-23 all-time in the ACC Tournament with 15 titles. Duke has won 12 of the last 23 ACC titles and is 49-11 in the tournament in that span, including nine wins in its last ten games.
• Sophomore Matthew Hurt, who finished the regular season as the ACC’s leading scorer both overall (18.7) and in conference play (18.6), is looking to become the 14th Blue Devil to lead the league in scoring.
• Hurt joins Iowa’s Luka Garza as the only major college players shooting 50+ percent from the field, 40+ percent from three-point range and making 7.0+ field goals per game this season.
• Hurt was a first-team All-ACC pick and named the ACC’s Most Improved Player this season -- giving Duke at least one first-team pick in 14 consecutive years.
• Also for Duke, senior Jordan Goldwire was named to the AllDefensive Team, while DJ Steward was an All-Freshman selection. » A Blue Devil has been the ACC’s leading freshman scorer in six of the last seven seasons, and Steward is on pace to make it seven of the last eight. Steward leads all ACC freshmen at 13.0 points.
• Freshman Mark Williams is averaged 16.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting .763 (29-of-38) over the last four games of the regular season, which includes his first career double-double (18 and 11 vs. Syracuse) and first career 20-point game (20 at Georgia Tech).

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