Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

Louisville Cardinals (21-6, 14-2 ACC) at Virginia Tech Hokies (12-15, 7-9 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 8:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -11.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 36-12
- Last Meeting: Virginia Tech won 80-764 on Mar. 5, 2024 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
G Reyne Smith (6-2, 190, Sr.)
G J'Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
G/F Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5th)
C James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)

Virginia Tech

G Ben Hammond (5-11, 170, Fr.)
G Jaden Schutt (6-5, 205, R-So.)
G Tyler Johnson (6-5, 215, Fr.)
F Tobi Lawal (6-8, 200, Jr.)
F Mylyjael Poteat (6-9, 260, Gr.)

Comparison

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

Additional Coverage

Game Notes

Louisville

Louisville has improved from eight wins in 2023-24 to 21 wins in 2024-25, tying for the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 13 wins.
For the first time in the 111 years of program history, Louisville has earned five road wins with a margin of victory of 20 points or more: at Virginia (20), at Syracuse (24), at SMU (25), at Boston College (26) and at NC State (25).
Louisville’s game at NC State on Feb. 12 was the first time in program history that the team has hit marks of 60% FG, 50% 3FG and 90% from the free throw line in the same game.
Starting point guard Chucky Hepburn was named to the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Midseason Team.
Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals are one of the most improved teams in the country from the end of 2023-24 to now, accounting for the NET and number of wins. He was named to the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List on Feb. 21.
As of Feb. 24, Louisville is ninth in the country in 3-point attempts per game (30.0).
As of Feb. 24, Reyne Smith is leading in the country in 3’s per game (3.81) and total 3-pointers (103). He’s third in total 3-point attempts (261). Chucky Hepburn is 19th in the country in assists per game (6.0) and 25th in total assists (155). He’s also 15th in total steals (64) and 11th steals per game (2.46).
Sophomore forward James Scott is fourth in the country in dunks as of Feb. 24 with 58 makes on the year, according to Bart Torvik. He leads the ACC in that category and is fifth on Louisville’s dunks in a single season list - one more dunk and he would tie for third.
Three of Louisville’s six losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 2 Duke (24-3), No. 5 Tennessee (22-5) and No. 17 Kentucky (18-9). As of Feb. 24, those teams, plus RV Ole Miss (19-8), are a combined 83-25.
Against Florida State on Feb. 22, Chucky Hepburn knocked down 17 free throws, marking a new single game record for the Cards.
At SMU on Jan. 21, Chucky Hepburn broke the UofL single game assists record with 16. Reyne Smith broke the program’s single game made 3’s record with 10. Louisville became the only DI team this century to have a player with 10+ 3’s and 15+ assists in the same game. The Last NBA team to do it was the Warriors with Klay Thompson (10 3PM) and Steph Curry (15 AST) on Nov. 20, 2022.
Fifth-year senior guard/forward Terrence Edwards Jr. earned ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 10 and became the third Cardinal to earn the weekly honor this season. See ‘Triple Crown’ on Page 7.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech carries a four-game winning streak in the series into Tuesday’s clash with the No. 25 Cardinals.
The Hokies swept the two meetings a year ago: 75-68 in Blacksburg; 80-64 in Louisville.
UofL still leads the series, 36-12, which dates back to Jan. 28, 1979.
Prior to their four-game winning streak in the series, VT had lost 17 in a row to the Cardinals.
Tech is 4-8 against Louisville as ACC foes and 3-18 when the Cardinals are ranked in the AP poll.
The Hokies are 5-16 against UofL in Blacksburg.
Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey and Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young have squared off three times before, with Young winning two of those battles at Wofford while Kelsey was the head coach at Winthrop.
Kelsey won the most recent head-to-head battle with College of Charleston defeating the Hokies, 77-75, in the 2022 Charleston Classic title game. Tech forward Ben Burnham, who played for the Cougars at the time, had nine points on 4 for 5 shooting.
Tuesday night will be the first time Tech forward Ben Burnham squares off against his former head coach Pat Kelsey and teammates Reyne Smith, James Scott, Kobe Rodgers and Spencer Legg.
Burnham was part of two CAA regular-season championship, two tournament championship and two NCAA tournament teams while at the College of Charleston. He averaged 9.5 points in three seasons with the Cougars, including
a career-best 11.9 ppg as a junior. Burnham dialed up 19 points in CofC’s first-round game against Alabama in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
Jaydon Young dialed up a career-high 27 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 5 of 11 from long range to propel the Hokies to an 81-68 win at Miami on Feb. 22. It was the first time a Tech player scored 25-plus off the bench since Justin Bibbs had 31 against Grambling State on Dec. 19, 2015.
The Hokies overcame a double-figure deficit for the third time this season when they erased a 14-point margin at Notre Dame on Feb. 8.
Tobi Lawal’s fourth double-double of the season sparked the Hokies to their second road victory of the season, 76-66, at Florida State on Jan. 29. Arguably, Lawal is putting together an All-ACC-type of season.
Prior to the season opener, Tech redshirt sophomore Jaden Schutt last played an in-season college basketball game on March 16, 2023. He played three minutes in Duke’s 74-51 victory in the 2023 NCAA first round game vs. Oral Roberts at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
Mike Young is in his sixth season in Blacksburg and is tied for fourth in all-time wins at VT.
The Hokies return just 12.8% of their scoring from a season ago, led by Mylyjael Poteat’s 219 points. Only five of Tech’s 14 players were on the 2023-24 roster: Poteat, Brandon Rechsteiner, Conner Venable, Patrick Wessler and Jaydon Young.
Tech senior Ben Burnham eclipsed 1,000 career points vs. South Carolina. The Fort Mill, S.C., native chose the Hokies over the Gamecocks, Florida State and Ole Miss last spring once he entered the transfer portal out of College of Charleston.

(Photo of Chucky Hepburn: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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