Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Prairie View A&M Panthers

The Cardinals close out the month of November by hosting the Panthers at the KFC Yum! Center.

(Photo of JJ Traynor, Carlik Jones: Scott Utterback/Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

Prairie View A&M (1-1, 0-0 SWAC) at Louisville Cardinals (2-0, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Sunday, November 29 at 6:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: Fox Sports South
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -25.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 2-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 90-65 on Dec. 3, 2005 (Freedom Hall - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• F Quinn Slazinski (6-8, 215, 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.)

Prairie View A&M

• F Lenell Henry (6-8, 200, Sr.)
• G Jeremiah Gambrell (6-3, 180, So.)
• G Faite Williams (6-2. 175, Jr.)
• G Damari Parris (6-1, 165, Gr.)
• G Jawaun Daniels

Main Storylines

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville's matchup with Prairie View A&M: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Prairie View A&M

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Panthers, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape & Prediction: Louisville vs. Prairie View A&M

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville built an 11-point second half lead and hung on to win 71-70 over Seton Hall in the Cardinals’ second game of the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic. Freshman JJ Traynor made a follow basket, grabbed a key rebound and made two free throws in the final 19 seconds after UofL trailed by one.
• Carlik Jones has led the Cardinals in scoring, rebounding and assists in each of the first two games. He produced a double-double against Seton Hall with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Last season at Radford, Jones was the only player in the nation to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, and was one of just 16 players in Division I men’s basketball to do so since the 1996-97 season.
• Quinn Slazinski’s (10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) 20 points and 11 rebounds in two games are more than he totaled in 15 games as a freshman last year (15 points, 10 rebounds in 2019-20).
• Louisville has held its first two opponents below 34 percent shooting from the field (Evansville .298, Seton Hall .333). Last season, the Cardinals were 13th in the nation in field goals percentage defense (.389).
• Louisville has won 83 of its last 87 nonconference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last 11 seasons.
• Louisville has won 57 straight home games in the month of November spanning the last 29 years, including a 44-0 record in the KFC Yum! Center.
• Louisville is 5-5 all-time in games played on Nov. 29, winning its last three on that date.
• Samuell Williamson suffered a toe injury in the second half against Seton Hall and did not return in the game. He had produced career-best totals of 17 points and five assists, while matching his career high with six rebounds vs. Evansville in his previous game.
• Williamson is the fourth key Cardinal player that is out with an injury, joining Malik Williams (foot), Charles Minlend (knee) and Josh Nickelberry (knee). The Cardinals are down to eight scholarship players, seven of them freshmen or sophomores.
• Louisville is averaging 44 points in the paint in the first two games, 59 percent of its scoring. Louisville lost the rebounding battle 43-41 vs. Seton Hall against an experienced and tall front line.
• UofL was dominant on the glass vs. Evansville with a 46-18 board edge, the largest rebounding advantage for the Cardinals since out-rebounding Grand Canyon by 35 (55-20) on Dec. 5, 2015.
• After redshirting last season as a freshman, Jae’Lyn Withers is averaging 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as the Cardinals’ starting center. Of his career-best 11 points and six rebounds against Seton Hall, seven points and five rebounds came in the second half.
• Dre Davis (8.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) blocked three shots vs. Evansville, the most by a Louisville freshman in his career debut since George Goode blocked five vs. Morehead State on Nov. 22, 2008.
• JJ Traynor scored 11 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting in his collegiate debut vs. Evansville. His three dunks tied the Louisville record for most dunks in a freshman debut.

Prairie View A&M

• Prairie View A&M, which posted a 19-13 record in 2019-20 and won the Southwest Athletic Conference Championship, is picked to finish third in the SWAC this season behind Texas Southern and Southern.
• In the last meeting, the Cardinals won 90- 65 in the first game of the Colonial Classic on Dec. 3, 2005 in Louisville’s Freedom Hall as Juan Palacios scored 19 points to lead the Cards. UofL prevailed 100-76 on Dec. 15, 1990 when Everick Sullivan scorer 19 points to lead six Cardinals in double figures.
• Louisville has a collective 8-0 record against current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, having previously faced five of its 10 members. The Cardinals last played a SWAC team when they beat Southern 104-54 in the second game of the 2018-19 season in the NIT Season Tip-off in the KFC Yum! Center on Nov. 13, 2018 as Jordan Nwora led UofL with 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
• Panthers head coach Byron Smith, who is in his eighth year with the Prairie View A&M men’s basketball program, and fifth full season as head coach, was the director of basketball operations at his alma mater, the University of Houston, under Clyde Drexler from 1998-00, when Louisville won its three matchups against the Cougars.
• The Panthers harassed Little Rock into 19 turnovers during the teams' season opener Wednesday. The Trojans only had three such games last season where they turned over the ball more than 19 times.
• Panther Newcomer Jeremiah Gambrell asserted himself as perhaps one of the top ball-hawks to watch in the SWAC, swiping three steals in his PVAMU debut.
• Junior guard Faite Williams showed a promising signs of things to come on the offensive end, scoring a career-high 18 points versus Little Rock.
• Prairie View A&M prides itself on team depth and the ability to get contributions from anyone on any given day. That was again confirmed in the season opener, as all 10 Panthers who dressed played at least six minutes versus Little Rock. Additionally, nine of those ten recorded some sort of statistical impact in the game.

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