Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinals end the regular season with a matchup against the Cardinal.

Louisville forward Khani Rooths (9) dunks against California during their game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Mar. 5, 2025. / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Stanford Cardinal (19-11, 11-8 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (24-6, 17-2 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, Mar. 8 at 2:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPNU
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -13.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 2-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 78-58 on Mar. 15, 2007 (NCAA Tournament - Lexington, 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.)

Stanford

• G Jaylen Blakes (6-2, 200, Gr.)
• G Oziyah Sellars (6-5 190, Sr.)
• G Ryan Agarwal (6-6, 195, So.)
• F Aidan Cammann (6-10, 220, R-Fr.)
• F Maxime Raynaud (7-1, 245, Sr.)

Comparison

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

Additional Coverage

• Watch: Louisville HC Pat Kelsey Previews Stanford
• Louisville Guard Reyne Smith 'Day-to-Day' with Ankle Injury

Game Notes

Louisville

• After Terrence Edwards Jr. scored a career high 35 points on Wednesday night against Cal, Louisville became the only DI program this season to have four different players log at least one 30-point game. It’s also the first time in Louisville’s 111-year history that the team has four players with a 30-point game.
• Louisville has improved from eight wins in 2023-24 to 24 wins in 2024-25, the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 16 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 7, Reyne Smith is third in the country in 3’s per game (3.53) and fourth 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 7, Chucky Hepburn is 24th in the country in assists per game (5.9) and 25th in total assists (172). He’s also 13th in total steals (69) and 10th steals per game (2.38).
• Sophomore forward James Scott is second in the country in dunks as of March 7 with 68 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 (24-6) and No. 19 Kentucky (20-10). As of March 4, those teams, plus RV Ole Miss (21-9), are a combined 92-28.
• 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.
• Louisville’s 48-point season-opening victory over Morehead State on Nov. 4 was Louisville’s largest margin of victory since a 104-54 win vs. Southern on Nov. 13, 2018, and largest in a season opener since a 92-38 win vs. South Alabama on Nov. 18, 2001.
• Louisville’s 48 first-half points against Bellarmine on Nov. 19 were the most since leading Eastern Kentucky 50-32 at halftime on Dec. 14, 2019.
• In its season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 4, the Cardinals held the Eagles to a 23.1% clip from the floor. It’s the lowest field goal percentage of any Louisville opponent since Nov. 13, 2015 when the Cards held Samford to 21.0%.
• 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 and March 3, Reyne Smith got the accolade on Dec. 23 and Terrence Edwards Jr. was the most recent recipient on Feb. 10.
• The Cardinals are one of the more experienced teams in the country this season. Between the 17-man roster, the average amount of years in college basketball is 3.0 years with just two underclassmen on the roster. The Cards have 12 players designated as seniors this season, tied with Western Kentucky for the most on any team in men’s DI college basketball.
• 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 has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The roster in total has made 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their previous schools, playing in 20 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.

Stanford

• The Cardinal is 19-11 this season (11-8 ACC), including ACC wins over North Carolina, SMU, California (2x), Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse, NC State, Boston College and Miami, including two quadrant one NET wins. The Cardinal went 16-2 at home this season and 9-1 in ACC play.
• Stanford’s roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen, led by the premier center in the country, Maxime Raynaud. The Pac-12 Most Improved Player last season, Raynaud is 15th nationally in scoring at 20.2 points per game and fifth in rebounding with 10.9 per night. He is second in the ACC in scoring and first in rebounding, and his 22 double-doubles this season pace the nation. No other major conference player has more than 18 (Norchad Omier, Baylor).
• Three players are averaging double figures, paced by Raynaud but also including Jaylen Blakes (13.2) and Oziyah Sellers (13.5). Both players are posting career-best numbers by a comfortable margin.
• Blakes has showcased his clutch gene this season with game winning baskets in the closing seconds against both Santa Clara and North Carolina. Blakes made national headlines on Jan. 18 with his last-second winner against the Tar Heels, while his sister, Mikayla, a freshman at Vanderbilt, scored a game-winner of her own less than 24 hours later against Tennessee.
• Kyle Smith joined the Cardinal from Washington State as the reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, where he led the Cougars to 25 wins and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24.
• Stanford is on track to break two single-season program records as a team in free throw percentage and turnovers per game. Stanford is currently shooting 79.1 percent from the stripe as a team, which would best the current program record of 76.3 percent, set by the 2005-06 team, and be just the fourth Cardinal program to shoot better than 75 percent as a unit.
• Stanford finished the regular season with the ACC's second-best home record at 16-2 overall, including a 9-1 mark in the ACC. Duke went 10-0 in the ACC at home, while the Cardinal are one of four one-loss teams at home in conference play, along with Clemson, Louisville and North Carolina.
• Stanford enters the matchup with the Cardinals at No. 82 in the NET rankings (March 3). The matchup is currently a quadrant one contest, as Louisville slots in at No. 25. 15 of Stanford’s 31 regular season games are currently slated to be in quadrant one or two, including nine in Q1.
• Oziyah Sellers has been an explosive and efficient scorer this season, averaging a career-high 13.5 points on 45.9 percent shooting, including a 39.0 percent mark beyond the arc and an 89.3 percent total at the free throw line.
• Jaylen Blakes has led Stanford to a pair of quadrant one wins on the road this season, scoring in the closing seconds to secure wins at Santa Clara (Nov. 23) and at North Carolina (Jan. 18). Stanford rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes to defeat Santa Clara, 71-69, with Blakes scoring the game-winning basket from 18 feet with two seconds to go, fading away from the elbow and sinking a jump shot. The heroics continued at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, as Blakes received the ball with just over seven seconds to play before driving coast-to-coast and hitting a fadeaway 12-foot jumper to give Stanford a 72-71 win over the Tar Heels.
• Smith heads to The Farm following a successful five-year stint at Washington State, where he went 94-71 overall, including a 25-10 mark and second-place finish in the Pac-12 in 2023-24. Smith holds a 277-204 career record in his 15th season as a head coach, including six seasons at Columbia and three at San Francisco. He spent 18 years as an assistant coach with stretches at Saint Mary’s (2001-10), Air Force (2000-01) and San Diego (1992-00).
• Stanford will meet Louisville for the first time as ACC foes, marking the third meeting all-time between Cardinal and Cardinals. The first battle came in the 2004 Maui Invitational while the most recent meeting was in the 2007 NCAA Tournament round of 64, held in Lexington, Kentucky. Stanford is looking for its first win in the series, and a win would give the Cardinal its first 20-win season since the 2019-20 campaign.

(Photo of Khani Rooths: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky