Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. DePaul Blue Demons

DePaul Blue Demons (7-1, 0-0 Big East) at Louisville Cardinals (6-2, 1-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Friday, December 10th at 8:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -8.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads series 38-21
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 77-57 on Feb. 1, 2020 (PNC Arena - Raleigh, N.C.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

F Dre Davis (6-5, 210, So.)
F Jae’Lyn Withers (6-8, 225, R-So.)
C Malik Williams (6-11, 245, Sr.)
G Noah Locke (6-3, 210, Sr.)
G Jarrod West (5-11, 185, Gr.).

DePaul

F David Jones (6-6, 195, So.)
F Brandon Johnson (6-8, 220, Gr.)
C Nick Ongenda (6-11, 210, Jr.)
G Javon Freeman-Liberty (6-4, 180, Sr.)
G Philmon Gebrewhit (6-7, 190, Jr.)

Main Storylines

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

Comparison

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

Louisville

Louisville prevailed 73-68 over NC State in its first ACC game of the season on Dec. 4 as the Cardinals closed the game on a 9-0 run over the last 3:03. Matt Cross, who contributed 13 points and seven rebounds in the win, buried a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to break the tie game. Malik Williams, second in the ACC in rebounding, produced his seventh career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Malik Williams, a preseason All-ACC second team selection and the MVP of the 2021 Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, needs nine points for 700 in his career. He has grabbed at least eight rebounds in seven of the first eight games, including his seventh career doubledouble with 14 points and 12 rebounds at NC State. He is second in the ACC in rebounding (9.8 rpg) and seventh in the nation in defensive rebounding (7.9 per game).
Louisville has a 48-13 record (.787) in the month of December over the last eight years.
Jarrod West handed out his 450th career assist with six assists against NC State. He is third in the nation in career steals among active players with 267, including 13 in his first eight games at Louisville.
Louisville is No. 18 nationally in adjusted defense in KenPom analytics (second in the ACC). The Cardinals rank 19th in the NCAA in defensive rebounding (29.9 rpg) through Dec. 5. Louisville is averaging 28.0 points from its bench.
Dre Davis has averaged 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds over the last five games, UofL’s top scorer in that stretch (11 pts., 7 reb. at NC State).
El Ellis has scored 29 points in his last 26 minutes on the court -- 18 in the final seven minutes at Michigan State as part of his career-high 22 points, and 11 point in 19 minutes at NC State. He had scored just 27 points through his first six games with the Cardinals. He became the sixth different player in eight games to lead UofL in scoring at Michigan State.
Noah Locke has made four three-pointers in three games this season, including 12 points on 4-of-8 threes at NC State.
Louisville has produced nine or more steals in five of its eight games. The Cardinals are sixth in the ACC in steals (8.0 per game)
Louisville has held seven of its first eight opponents under 43 percent from the field this season and four under 40 percent. The Cardinals lead the ACC and are 50th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.387)
Noah Locke is fourth in the ACC in three-pointers made per game (2.4). Locke has made at least three threes in five games
Jarrod West is seventh in the ACC in assists-turnovers ratio (2.31) and ninth in assists (3.5). West handed out his 450th assist in his career with five at NC State (424 at Marshall, 29 at Louisville).
Samuell Williamson has scored in double figures off the bench in three games this season. He is third in rebounding (5.1 rpg) for the Cardinals this year.
Jae’Lyn Withers grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds against Maryland, his fifth career game with double-digit rebounds.
Freshman forward/center Roosevelt Wheeler delighted Louisville fans in his debut against Navy with three points and three rebounds in nine minutes for his first court time this year. He contributed four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes against Mississippi State.

DePaul

Head coach Tony Stubblefield is made his DePaul debut with a 97-72 win over Coppin State on Nov. 10. He was named the 15th head coach in program history in April. Stubblefield spent the last 11 seasons at Oregon and helped the Ducks to 10 postseason appearances that included eight NCAA Tournament berths.
DePaul hits the road for the first time this season in a Friday night game at Louisville. The Blue Demons won seven of eight games in a season-opening homestand at Wintrust Arena with the Louisville game starting a three-game road trip to close the non-conference slate. Following Friday’s game, DePaul plays at UIC and Northwestern next week.
Notes following DePaul’s 87-67 win against Duquesne on Tuesday: u DePaul is now 33-7 against non-BIG EAST opponents in the last three-plus seasons.

The Blue Demons finished the home non-conference schedule with a 7-1 record… DePaul’s final three non-conferences contests are on the road before opening BIG EAST play on Dec. 20 against Creighton.
The 51-point second half marked the fourth time this season scoring at least 50 points in a half.
Yor Anei’s 11 rebounds marked his first 10-rebound game of the season (seventh career)... career high is 12 rebounds on two occasions, most recently against Western Michigan on Nov. 22, 2019.
Javon Freeman-Liberty tallied his sixth game with at least 20 points this season (25th career).
Philmon Gebrewhit posted his fourth game in double figures this season and first since opening the season with three straight games of at least 10 points.
Brandon Johnson notched his ninth career game with multiple three-pointers... the game was also his 75th career game in double figures.
Tuesday was the 28th meeting between the programs... DePaul holds a 15-13 advantage all-time against Duquesne… the game was the first meeting since January 1991.
DePaul is 117-97 all-time against the current alignment of Atlantic 10 programs.

Over the last three-plus seasons, the Blue Demons are 33-7 against non-BIG EAST opponents. A year ago, saw DePaul go 2-0 in non-conference regular-season games with wins over Western Illinois and Valparaiso.
With a 6-0 record in November, the Blue Demons have won 15 straight games in the month of November.
DePaul did not play its first game last season until Dec. 23 due to various instances of COVID-19 protocols.
November 2019 saw the Blue Demons go 8-0 while the 2018-19 season saw a 4-1 record with a win in the final game of the month that season.
Javon Freeman-Liberty has played just under 88 percent of the minutes through eight games. He has totaled 280:46 of time on the court of out a possible 320 minutes. Freeman-Liberty is ranked in the top three in the BIG EAST in scoring (1st), defensive rebounds (1st), minutes (2nd), rebounding (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd) and steals (t3rd). In the NCAA rankings, he is ranked seventh nationally in scoring and is the only player among the top 50 in rebounds per game under 6-5. Freeman-Liberty is tied for 50th in rebounding... as a team, DePaul ranks among the top three in the BIG EAST in scoring (t1st - 85.2 ppg), field goal percentage (3rd - .492), offensive rebounds (3rd - 12.4 orpg) and defensive rebounds (t3rd - 29.1 drpg)... individually, two of the top eight scorers in the BIG EAST are Freeman-Liberty (1st - 21.8 ppg) and David Jones (8th - 15.8 ppg)... three of the top nine rebounders are Freeman-Liberty (2nd - 8.8 rpg), Jones (6th - 7.5 rpg) and Brandon Johnson (t9th - 7.1 rpg).

(Photo of Malik Williams: Michael Clevenger - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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