Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Creighton Bluejays

No. 8 Creighton Bluejays (24-10, 15-5 Big East) vs. No. 9 Louisville Cardinals (27-7, 18-2 ACC)

- Tipoff: Thursday, Mar. 20 at 12:15 p.m. EST
- Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
- How To Watch: CBS
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -2.5
- All-Time Series: Creighton leads 2-1
- Last Meeting: Creighton won 62-58 on Mar. 11, 1999 (NCAA Tournament - Orlando, 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.)

Creighton

G Steven Ashworth (6-0, 175, Sr.)
G/F Jamiya Neal (6-5, 190, Sr.)
F Jasen Green (6-8, 230, So.)
F Jackson McAndrew (6-10, 220, Fr.)
C Ryan Kalkbrenner (7-1, 270, Sr.)

Comparison

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

Additional Coverage

Game Notes

Louisville

This is just the second time UofL has been named an eight-seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1979. As an eight-seed in 1992, the Cardinals went 1-1 in the tournament. Louisville is a perfect 3-0 against nine-seeds, beating them in 1992, 2009 and 2013.
Louisville is 53-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament when playing a game as the higher seed. The Cardinals are 3-4 when playing in the South/Southeast Region, and are 4-2 in Lexington-based tournament games.
Both Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team for their performances in Charlotte.
Senior guard Chucky Hepburn was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year alongside his head coach Pat Kelsey who was voted ACC Coach of the Year. Hepburn was tabbed as a First Team All-ACC selection and AP Honorable Mention AllAmerican while teammate Terrence Edwards Jr. earned a spot on the Third Team.
After Terrence Edwards Jr. scored a career high 35 points against Cal on March 5, 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 25 wins in 2024-25, the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 19 wins - it also leads the nation in win differential.
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 is also a Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Semifinalist.
As of March 18, Reyne Smith is third in the country in 3’s per game (3.53) and 11th 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 18, Chucky Hepburn is seventh in the country in total steals (81), 10th in steals per game (2.43), 19th in total assists (192) and 24th in assists per game (5.8).
As of March 18, sophomore forward James Scott is third in the country in dunks with 79 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. Scott is nationally behind only Creighton’s own Ryan Kalkbrenner who has 103 dunks on the year.
Terrence Edwards Jr. led the Cardinals throughout the ACC Tournament in mid-March, averaging 25.0 ppg over the three contests. He shot 45% from the floor, netted eight 3-pointers, and pulled down an averaged of 5.3 rebounds per game. He scored 29 points against the Blue Devils in the Championship game, the most any opposing individual has scored against Duke all season. Chucky Hepburn also earned All-Tournament honors, averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds per 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 and March 3, Reyne Smith got the accolade on Dec. 23 and Terrence Edwards Jr. earned it 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 Florida State on Feb. 22, Chucky Hepburn knocked down 17 shots at the charity stripe, marking a new single game record for the Cards. Hepburn had tied the previous record of 16 earlier in the year against North Carolina on New Year’s Day.
Against Florida State on Dec. 21, Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. both logged eight assists apiece; it was the first Louisville game to have two Cardinals log at least eight assists each in the same game since Peyton Siva and Gorgui Deng both had eight against Syracuse in the 2013 Big East Tournament championship game.
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. Louisville has 12 players that were on teams that won 20 or more games in the 2023-24 season.

Creighton

Creighton is 24-10 this year entering the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays took second in the BIG EAST regular-season after posting a 15-5 mark in league play, then were the runner-up at the BIG EAST Tournament last weekend as well.
Unanimous All-BIG EAST pick Ryan Kalkbrenner (19.4 ppg., 8.8 rpg., 2.7 bpg., .655 FG%) was named a Second Team All-American by College Hoops Today and Third Team All-American by The Sporting News and Field of 68. In addition to being one of the most efficient shooters in NCAA history, Kalkbrenner joined Patrick Ewing as the second man named a four-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. He was named BIG EAST and National Player of the Week on Nov. 11 and Jan. 21 and became the third player in CU history to surpass 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Steven Ashworth (16.3 ppg., 7.0 apg., .926 FT%) was a Second Team All-BIG EAST choice at point guard, and is joined on the wing by Jamiya Neal (11.5 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 4.4 apg.). Those three seniors scored 66.1 percent of CU's points in league play.
Creighton averages 75.2 points per game and shoots 47.5 percent from the field, 33.9 percent
from three-point range and 73.3 percent at the line while grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game more than the opposition.
Creighton is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, and 17th in the last 27 years. The Bluejays are 20-26 all-time in NCAA action, including a 13-12 record in its first game. Last season Creighton defeated Akron and Oregon to reach the Sweet 16, where it fell to Tennessee.
Creighton is one of just five teams to have reached at least three of the last four Sweet 16s. Gonzaga and Houston have done it each of the last four seasons, while Alabama, UCLA and Creighton have done it three times each.
Creighton is 6-8 against teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field, including two wins over UConn and one each against Kansas, St. John's, Xavier, and Marquette.
Creighton has won at least one game in 13 of its last 15 postseason appearances. The stretch began in 2007-08.
Nine players on the Creighton team have played in a NCAA Tournament game before, and seven of them have appeared for the Bluejays in the BigDance.
Greg McDermott is 11-12 in NCAA Tournament action as a Division head coach. He went 0-3 at
Northern Iowa (0-1 in 2004, 2005 and 2006) and is 11-9 at Creighton (3-1 in 2023, 2-1 in 2021 and 2024, 1-1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2022 and 0-1 in 2017 and 2018). In 2022, McDermott led the Bluejays to their first Elite Eight since 1941.
Since the NCAA began seeding all the teams in 1979, this year marks the second time Creighton has been a No. 9 seed (also 2022). Creighton's best seed ever was being a No. 3 in 2014 and 2024.
Fifteen of Creighton’s previous 20 postseason runs (all but 2010, 2014 and 2016, 2017 and 2019) have included a game that was decided in the final seconds, including each of its last four trips.
Creighton is 61-175 all-time against top 25 teams. Creighton is 41-58 under Greg McDermott against nationally-ranked teams, 34 more top 25 wins than any other coach in Creighton history. Prior to McDermott’s arrival, Creighton was 20-117 all-time against top 25 foes.

(Photo of Louisville Players: Jim Dedmon - Imagn Images)

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