Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Lipscomb Bisons

Lipscomb Bisons (7-5, 0-0 ASUN) at Louisville Cardinals (2-9, 0-2 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, December 20 at 6:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network Extra
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -1.0 (KenPom)
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 2-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 72-68 on Dec. 12, 2018 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
F Jae'Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 250, So.)
F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Lipscomb

G Derrin Boyd (6-3, 210, So.)
G Will Pruitt (6-3, 195, So.)
G Trae Benham (6-3, 205, So.)
F Jacob Ognacevic (6-7, 220, So.)
F Ahsan Asadullah (6-10, 275, Gr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Bisons, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Lipscomb

Game Notes

Louisville

In two wins last week, senior guard El Ellis averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals. He set career highs Wednesday against Western Kentucky with 30 points and 10 assists. Ellis is the first Cardinal to hit those marks since current team video coordinator Reece Gaines did it against TCU on March 6, 2002. It’s the 22nd time nationally since 2018 that a player has reached those numbers, and Ellis is the first player in Division I to do so this season.
After averaging 1.7 points and 3.6 rebounds across the first nine games, senior forward Sydney Curry is averaging 11.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over the last two games while shooting 67% from the field. His career-high 19 rebounds against Florida A&M were the most by a Cardinal since Luke Whitehead grabbed 19 boards against Marquette on Jan. 31, 2004.
Junior forward JJ Traynor has made more 3-pointers in 11 games this season (10 of 23, .435) than he did in his first two full seasons combined (7 of 16).
Freshman forward Kamari Lands has averaged 11 points per game off the bench across Louisville’s two wins. Lands has made 25 of 26 free throws this season (96.2%). Lands is one of six players in the country shooting at least 96% from the free-throw line on at least 25 attempts.
The Cardinals have 40 total assists in their last three games, including a season-high 17 against Western Kentucky. Louisville had 36 total assists in its six previous outings. After recording three total assists in the first eight games of the season, junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers has tallied seven total assists in the last three games.
Last game: Louisville took down Florida A&M 61-55 to establish their first winning streak of the Kenny Payne era. Payne now owns a 2-9 record after securing his first two wins of his head coaching career.
KEY FIRST HALF RUN: The Cardinals started the first half on a 14-5 run in the first 11:18. This was the largest lead for Louisville in the first half. o The Rattlers fought back with a 6-0 run to end the first half and bring the score within two points going into the locker room (22-20).
KEY SECOND HALF RUN: After a 12-4 run by the Rattlers to bring the game to a tie at 34-34, Louisville went on a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 11 with 9:58 remaining in the game.
UofL shot 19 of 45 (.422) from the field, 3 of 14 (.214) from 3-point range, and 18 of 25 (.720) from the free-throw line. o The Cardinals pulled down a season-high 45 rebounds, out-rebounding the Rattlers 45-31.
Sydney Curry grabbed the fourth double-double of his career with a season-high 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Curry is the ninth player in Division I this season to snag at least 19 boards in a game. The forward was 5 for 7 from the field while recording two blocks and one steal.
El Ellis led the team in assists with seven while scoring in double-figures for the ninth time this season with 13 points. Ellis also had a career-high two steals.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield scored eight points on 3 of 6 shooting from the field while adding three blocked shots, which tied for his season-high. The forward pulled down nine rebounds, second behind Curry for the team.

Lipscomb

The Bisons are coming off a hard fought loss at Michigan, losing by eight points at Crisler Arena.
Will Pruitt is coming off a career-high 27 points in the last matchup at Michigan.
Jacob Ognacevic leads Lipscomb, scoring at a 15.8 clip.
Lipscomb has three Bisons averaging double digits. Along with Ognacevic, Pruitt is averaging 11.8 while Derrin Boyd is averaging 10.2.
Ahsan Asadullah is leading the Lipscomb squad, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.
The Bisons get really good production from its bench players. The Bisons average over 30 bench points per game, good for 27th in the nation.
Lipscomb is 3-1 on the season after a loss and 4-3 after a win.
Ahsan Asadullah eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark with his second rebound at Michigan.
Ahsan Asadullah was named to the Preseason All-ASUN team and was one of just three unanimous selections to the team.
The Bisons were picked to finish sixth in the Preseason ASUN Coaches Poll and eighth in the Preseason Media Poll.
Head Coach Lennie Acuff is in his 33rd year as a head coach and is in his 4th year at the helm of the Bisons program.
Lipscomb had its best start (6-2) since the 2018-19 season when the squad made it all the way to the NIT Final.
Lipscomb has made it to one NCAA Tournament (2018). The Bisons have made the postseason for 12-consecutive seasons.
Lipscomb returned starters Ahsan Asadullah, Will Pruitt and Trae Benham and returned bench contributors Quincy Clark, Tommy Murr, Jason Montgomery, Grant Asman and Jacob Ognacevic. The returning players contributed 63.6% of last year’s scoring with Asadullah leading las year’s scoring with 381 total points, 15.2 PPG.
Asadullah became the first person in ASUN history to score 1400 points, notch 800 rebounds and dish out 300 assists. This season against Michigan, Asadullah eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark with his second rebound of the night. He has been an ASUN First Team selection for three-consecutive seasons. Last season he averaged 15.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 4.5 apg.
Lipscomb picked up several big transfer additions this offseason. AJ McGinnis came to Lipscomb after spending his freshman season at UNCG and last year at Cincinnati. Last season at Cincinnati, he averaged 2.3 ppg, 0.5 rpg and 5.0 mpg in eight apearances.
Derrin Boyd is a transfer from Georgetown College where he started all 33 games, guiding Georgetown College to a 25-8 mark last season. He was a two-time Mid South Conference First Team member at Georgetown and was the 2022 Mid South Conference Tournament MVP and was an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention last season.
Matt Schner, a graduate transfer, was a highly decorated player at Emory where he was a three-time UAA Conference Champion, three-time First Team All-UAA, two-time UAA Conference Player of the Year, a 2022 D3Hoops First Team All-American and made four NCAA DII Tournament Appearances. He set Emory’s single-season total points record with 611 in 2022 where he averaged 23.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.6 apg in 37.9 mpg.
Lipscomb has been in several nail biters over the last four games this season. In its last four games, the matchups have been decided by a total of 18 points with the largest margin during the stretch being an eight point game at Michigan.

(Photo of El Ellis: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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