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Louisville vs Wisconsin Mens Basketball Highlights (12/19/2020)

Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Pitt Panthers

The Cardinals hit the road for their Atlantic Coast Conference opener

(Photo of Samuell Williamson, Jonathan Davis: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports)

Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 0-0 ACC) at Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1, 1-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, December 22nd at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
- How To Watch: RSN (Fox Sports South in Louisville)
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: To Be Determined
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 19-6
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 73-68 in OT on Jan. 14, 2020 (Petersen Events Center - Pittsburgh, Pa.)

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.)

Wisconsin

  • F Justin Champagnie (6-6, 200, So.)
  • F Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (6-8, 215, So.)
  • G Ithiel Horton (6-3, 200, R-So.)
  • G Xavier Johnson (6-3, 200, Jr.)
  • G Au'Diese Toney (6-6, 210, Jr.)

Main Storylines

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville's matchup with Pitt: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Pitt

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

  • Louisville plays its first ACC game of the season when the Cardinals visit the Pittsburgh Panthers on Dec. 22 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Louisville (4-1) suffered its first defeat of the season, falling 85-48 at Wisconsin on Dec. 19 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in the Cardinals’ first game after an 18-day layoff due to COVID-19 issues.
  • David Johnson led UofL with 12 points, four assists and two steals in the loss in which the shorthanded Cardinals’ played with eight active scholarship players who were all sophomores or freshmen.
  • The Cardinals have three injured players in Malik Williams (foot), Charles Minlend (knee) and Josh Nickelberry (knee).
  • Scoring, rebounding and assist leader Carlik Jones, who missed UofL’s game at Wisconsin, is expected back for the Cardinals’ game at Pittsburgh. Pitt (5-1, 1-0 ACC) has won five of its first six games this season, including a 70-55 victory at Miami on Dec. 15 in its last game, its first ACC game of the year.
  • Louisville has won its conference opening game in 10 of the last 12 seasons and seven of the last eight entering Tuesday’s ACC opener at Pittsburgh. Louisville has won its first conference road game in 10 of the last 13 seasons.
  • Louisville’s 28 ACC road wins in its seventh year in the league is the fourth-most in the ACC in that period.
  • Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 15 in each of scoring (7th in the ACC, 17.3 ppg), rebounding (13th, 7.0 rpg) and assists (2nd, 5.3 apg). Last season at Radford, the graduate transfer 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.
  • Carlik Jones is 10th in the nation in career assists among active players with 490 (21 at Louisville, 469 at Radford) and is 12th nationally among active career scorers with 1,621 points (69 at UofL, 1,552 at Radford).
  • Louisville has a 46-12 record in the month of December over the last eight years.
  • Louisville is one of only five schools to be ranked in the AP Top 25 poll at least once during each of the last 18 seasons (excluding preseason)
  • The Cardinals have enjoyed success in recent years with its last game before Christmas as Tuesday’s game at Pitt will be. Louisville has won 18 of its last 19 games played immediately before Christmas, including the last 11 straight. All but four of those have been UofL home games. The Cardinals beat Miami (Ohio) 70-46 on Dec. 18, 2019 in Louisville’s last game before Christmas last season.
  • UofL Coach Chris Mack is 4-1 against Pitt, including when his first Xavier team beat the Panthers 71-68 in the 2010 NCAA Tournament Second Round in Milwaukee, Wisc. to advance to the Sweet 16.
  • Louisville has a 19-6 series advantage over Pitt and has won 15 of the last 16 matchups (last three straight). The Cardinals won both matchups last season, prevailing 64-46 in Louisville (12-6-19) and 73-68 in overtime in Pittsburgh (1-14-20). Louisville has an 8-2 record in Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, with the last two games there decided in overtime.
  • Louisville was a member of the Big East Conference with Pittsburgh for eight seasons (2005-13). Three UofL losses to Pitt came in Big East Conference Tournaments in the Cardinals’ first three years in that league.

Pitt

  • Pitt returns to the Petersen Events Center to host Louisville in ACC play Tuesday, Dec. 16. Game time is set for 7 p.m. with AT&T Sportsnet and the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks televising the game.
  • The Panthers have won five consecutive games, including Wednesday’s ACC opener at Miami. Pitt is allowing just 61.6 points per game on 37.2 percent (107-of-288) shooting from the fi eld during its five game win streak.
  • Justin Champagnie has scored in double figures in all six games and is second in the ACC with three double-doubles. He enters Tuesday’s contests averaging 17.8 points and a conference leading 12.3 rebounds per game.
  • Pitt’s three returning starters - Justin Champagnie, Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney - combine for 49.2 points, 23.0 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game this season. The trio has registered for 16 of the team’s 18 double-figure scoring games, including seven games with 20 or more points scored.
  • Xavier Johnson leads the ACC in assists (6.0 apg.), while also ranking 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.64:1), 13th in scoring (15.2 ppg.) and tied for 15th in three-point fi eld goals (1.83 3pg.).
  • Au’Diese Toney has raised his scoring average by 6.7 points per game and is tied for ninth in the ACC in scoring (16.2 ppg.). He has scored in double figures in five of six games this season.
  • Pitt’s five-game win streak is tied for the second longest win streak under Jeff Capel. The Panthers won the first six games of the 2018- 19 season and had a five-game win streak last season.
  • Pitt is the only school in the ACC with three players ranked in the top 15 in scoring. The Panther trio of Au’Diese Toney, Xavier Johnson and Justin Champagnie combines for 49.2 points per game, 65.6 percent of Pitt’s scoring output. Champagnie (17.8 ppg.) is tied for fifth in the ACC in scoring, while Toney (16.2 ppg.) and Johnson (15.2 ppg.) rank tied for ninth and 13th, respectively.
  • The Panthers rank second in the ACC in rebounding (44.0 rpg.) and rebound margin (+11.0 rpg.). Pitt has out-rebounded five of its six opponents on the season.
  • The Panthers rank second in the ACC in offensive rebounds (14.3 orpg.) and offensive rebound percentage (.374). Pitt also has a +61 scoring margin in second chance points.
  • Pitt ranks 14th nationally in rebounds per game (44.5 rpg.). The Panthers have not averaged 40 or more rebounds per game since the 1993-94 season.
  • Xavier Johnson is 12 points shy of becoming the 47th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Johnson is averaging 13.8 points with 55 double-figure scoring efforts in 72 career games.
  • Justin Champagnie ranks fifth in the NCAA in rebounding (12.4 rpg.) and is the only player in the country averaging better than 17.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.
  • Xavier Johnson and Carlik Jones (Louisville) are the only players in the ACC averaging at least 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Johnson enters Tuesday’s game averaging 15.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game
  • Au’Diese Toney has scored 15 or more points in five of six games and is tied for ninth in the ACC in scoring (16.2 ppg). He also ranks fifth in the conference in fi eld goal percentage (.525) and 11th in offensive rebounds (2.3 orpg.).
  • Ithiel Horton has made four or more three point fi eld goals in a game twice this season and 12 times in his career. He has 90 three-point fi eld goals and shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc for his career.
  • Pitt’s post trio - Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, John Hugley and Terrell Brown - combines to average 10.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. Hugley had a season-high nine points in the win over Miami.
  • Nike Sibande made his Pitt debut against Miami after missing the first five games, while awaiting the NCAA’s immediate eligibility decision. He scored 1,496 points and made 187 three-point fi eld goals in 98 career games.
  • Justin Champagnie posted two of the four 20+ rebound games against Division I opponents this season. His 41 rebounds in back-to-back games against Northwestern (20) and GardnerWebb (20) is the most in program history.
  • Pitt has shot 50 percent or better from the fi eld in the second half in four of the past five games. The Panthers are shooting 50.3 percent (88-of175) from the field in the second half of play on the season, including 51.4 percent (74-of-144) during its current five-game win streak.
  • The Panthers are second in the ACC in assists (16.7 apg.) and are assisting on 61.7 percent (100- of-162) of their made fi eld goals. Xavier Johnson (36) and Au’Diese Toney (16) have accounted for 52 of the team’s 100 assists.
  • The Panthers have held their past five opponents to 24.6 percent (28-of-114) shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Pitt leads the ACC (T-32nd in the NCAA) in three-point field goal defense (.266) on the season.

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