Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Cal Golden Bears

Cal Golden Bears (13-16, 6-12 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (23-6, 15-2 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, Mar. 5 at 9:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -16.0
- All-Time Series: Cal leads 1-0
- Last Meeting: Cal won 77-62 on Mar. 19, 2010 (NCAA Tournament - Jacksonville, Fla.)

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.)

Cal

G Jovan Blacksher (5-11, 165, Gr.)
G Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185, Fr.)
G Andrej (6-7, 205, So.)
F Rytis Petraitis (6-7, 210, Jr.)
C Mady Sissoko (6-9, 240, Gr.)

Comparison

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

Additional Coverage

Game Notes

Louisville

Louisville has improved from eight wins in 2023-24 to 23 wins in 2024-25, the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 15 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).
Starting point guard Chucky Hepburn was named to the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Midseason Team. He earned his second ACC Player of the Week award on Monday.
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 March 4, Reyne Smith is second in the country in 3’s per game (3.66) and third in total 3-pointers (106) - he’s 17 made 3’s away from breaking Louisville’s made 3-pointers in a single season record.
As of March 4, Chucky Hepburn is 22nd in the country in assists per game (6.0) and 25th in total assists (167). He’s also 14th in total steals (68) and 10th steals per game (2.43).
Sophomore forward James Scott is second in the country in dunks as of March 4 with 66 makes on the year, according to Bart Torvik. He leads the ACC in that category and is third on Louisville’s dunks in a single season list.
Three of Louisville’s six losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 2 Duke (27-3), No. 4 Tennessee (24-5) and No. 19 Kentucky (19-10). As of March 4, those teams, plus RV Ole Miss (20-9), are a combined 90-27.
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.
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.
This is the first season in Louisville’s 11 years in the ACC that three different players have earned ACC Player of the Week. Chucky Hepburn had the title on Dec. 2, Reyne Smith got the accolade on Dec. 23 and Terrence Edwards Jr. was the most recent recipient on Feb. 10. It’s the first time since the 2014-15 season that Louisville has earned the award more
than twice in a single season, as Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier combined for it five times that year.
Against North Carolina on Jan. 1, Chucky Hepburn made 16 free throws, tying the program record for free throws made in a single game.
Louisville has just two underclassmen in freshman Khani Rooths and sophomore James Scott. Louisville is one of just 11 schools in DI that has two or fewer underclassmen on their roster, and the only Power Four school in that list.
Louisville returns just a single letterwinner to its roster in walk-on Aidan McCool. The program returns virtually 0% in all statistical categories from 2023-24. Louisville is one of five programs in the country returning 0% in scoring, rebounding and minutes played; the Cardinals are joined by DePaul, IU Indy, Iona and Kentucky.

Cal

Jeremiah Wilkinson has established himself as one of the most dynamic freshmen to put on a Golden Bear uniform. The left-hander is second among ACC freshmen in scoring (14.8 PPG) and has averaged 19.8 PPG since cracking the starting lineup 11 games ago on Jan. 22. The three-time ACC Rookie of the Week has scored 20-plus points nine times, the most by a Cal freshman since Shareef Abdur-Rahim – a fellow native of the greater Atlanta area – did so 16 times in 1995-96.
Mady Sissoko has played the best basketball of his career down the stretch this season, highlighted by a monster performance in Cal’s 82-71 win over Boston College last Saturday. Sissoko – who has averaged 9.3 PPG on 65.2% shooting and 8.9 RPG in his past 14 games since Jan. 8 – had career highs of 21 points (9 of 10 shooting) and 15 rebounds to lead the Bears past the Eagles. Cal’s big man is fourth among ACC players with 8.4 RPG in conference play and has pulled down 10-plus rebounds in six of the past 10 games, including three double-double efforts. Sissoko has scored double figures 11 times in 28 games played this season after doing so just seven times in the first 124 games of his career at Michigan State (2020-24).
The Bears have overcome shooting woes this season by averaging an ACC-leading 17.1 free throws made per game and grabbing 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, another league-best mark. Cal’s emphasis on attacking the rim was on display last week with 40 paint points, 22 free throws and 21 second-chance points in a loss to SMU, followed by another 38 paint
points in the win over Boston College. The Bears are scoring more than 66% of their points (49.4 PPG) either in the paint or at the free throw line this season.
Andrej Stojakovic continues to be one of the ACC’s most well-rounded players – he’s one of only three major-conference players averaging at least 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks per game this season (Cooper Flagg, Duke; Johni Broome,
Auburn) – despite taking a step back in scoring since returning from a four-game absence due to illness and injury. The sophomore guard stuffed the box score in Cal’s win vs. Boston College with 15 points, five rebounds, a career-high four blocks and two assists, and his 3-pointer with 6:08 remaining sparked a pivotal 11-0 run that helped the Bears put the game away.
Cal punched its ticket to the ACC Tournament by defeating Boston College last Saturday. The Bears, who leave the Bay Area for Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday, will be on the road for a minimum of nine consecutive days through Tuesday, March 11. A run through the ACC Tournament, hosted at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 11-15, could keep Cal away from home for 13 straight days.
Cal has faced a share of the good and bad on Wednesdays this season, going 3-1 when home and 0-4 on the road against ACC foes.
Cal has averaged 74.2 PPG in 60 total games under Mark Madsen since the start of the 2023-24 season (74.5 PPG in 2024-25).
The 74.1 PPG average under Madsen is a 9.9-point improvement from Cal’s 64.3 PPG average over the previous six seasons (2017-23).
The Bears have cranked up their offensive attack in the second halves of games this season, scoring 40+ points 17 times after the intermission compared to just eight times in first halves. Cal scored 40-plus points in both halves of its 82-71 win over Boston College (March 1). It’s the first time in ACC play the Bears have done so, and just the fourth time all season.
Cal has had 5 double-figure scorers in the same game seven times this season (4-3) and 4 double-figure scorers 13 times (8-5).
Cal will be without junior forward BJ Omot for the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to a wrist injury. Head coach Mark Madsen announced the update on Jan. 20. Omot had not played for the Bears since Nov. 17 at USC. Omot was arguably Cal’s best defender and proved to be much more than that in the first four games of the season with three double-figure scoring efforts, including a season-high 15 at Vanderbilt (Nov. 13).

(Photo of Terrence Edwards Jr: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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