Preview: Louisville Returns Home for First Ever Meeting vs. Montana

The Cardinals will attempt to bounce back against the Grizzlies.

Louisville players huddled before tipoff as the Cardinals hosted the Kentucky Wildcats at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. | Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Montana Grizzlies (7-5, 0-0 Big Sky) at No. 11 Louisville Cardinals (9-2, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, December 20 at 12:00 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 -25.0
- All-Time Series: First Meeting
- Last Meeting: N/A

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J'Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
• F/C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

Montana

• G Money Williams (6-4, 211, Jr.)
• G Brooklyn Hicks (6-3, 186, Jr.)
• G Tyler Isaak (6-4, 190, Jr.)
• F Amari Jedkins (6-7, 197, R-Jr.)
• F Kenyon Aguino (6-7, 222, Fr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Junior Bridgeman's #10 jersey is the sixth Louisville men's basketball jersey number retired by the program.
• Against Memphis on Dec. 13, Louisville had four different players with at least 3FG apiece for the first time since Nov. 22, 2010 when the Cards played Chattanooga. It was the second time in program history that six different players made at least 2FG, the first time being at WKU on Dec. 22, 2010.
• Senior guard Ryan Conwell is the only DI men's basketball player since at least 2010-11 to log at least 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes or less, according to Sports Reference. He notched that stat line against NJIT on Nov. 26.
• Louisville has had three games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season.
• Louisville is 36-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• With two 50-point victories on the season (104-45 vs. South Carolina State & 104-47 vs. NJIT), it marks the first time Louisville has had two 50-point victories in one season since 2004-05.
• A pair of Cardinals represent Louisville on the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List, Oscar Robertson Trophy Preseason Watch List and the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List; both Ryan Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. were named to the esteemed lists. Conwell is also on the Lute Olsen Early Season List.
• Louisville netted 20 3-pointers against NJIT on Nov. 26, the second-most made 3's in a single game in program history. It's just the second time ever the Cardinals have made at least 20 3's in a game. UofL was the third team in DI this season to make at least 20 3-pointers against another DI team.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. was named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award Preseason Watch List while senior guard Ryan Conwell was named the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Preseason Watch List.
• Head coach Pat Kelsey is the reigning ACC Coach of the Year - he is one of 10 active DI head coaches that have earned a Coach of the Year honor in three or more DI conferences.
• There were 14 players returning to DI this season that had made at least 175 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14.
• Louisville's back-to-back 40-point wins over Eastern Michigan & NJIT was the program's first set of back-to-back 40-point victories since 2012-13.
• Louisville's positive 38 rebounding margin against NJIT on Nov. 26 was the largest rebounding margin in program history. It was the third largest margin any DI team had against another DI team up to that point in the season.
• Louisville led 59-15 at halftime against South Carolina State on Nov. 3. The 44-point halftime lead was the largest in program history. The Cardinals are 30-3 all-time under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading at halftime.
• Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. scored 29 points against Kentucky on Nov. 11, 2025, the fourth-most points in a game by a Louisville freshman ever.
• The Cardinals landed two players on the Preseason All-ACC First Team, the only program to do so in 2025. Both Mikel Brown Jr., and Ryan Conwell earned the First Team nod. Louisville was picked second overall in the league by voting media members.
• There are 14 players who returned to DI this season that started the season with at least 175 made 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14 players.
• Louisville is one of the older teams in the country this season. When theCardinals tipped off the season on Nov. 3, the average age of the 15-man roster was 21.3 years of age.
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,569), Isaac McKneely (1,208) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,125).

Montana

• Montana is 1-6 all-time vs. the ACC. They have played five regular season games against teams from the conference and two NCAA Tournament games, most recently playing Boston College in the Second Round in 2006.
• Montana had allowed more than 8 three pointers in a game just once this season entering Wednesday night’s game. Stanford made 10, which was the most allowed by Montana. The Orediggers went 14-of-29 (.483) from three point range in the upset win.
• The Griz have more turnovers than their opponent in 10 of 12 games. They are 2-0 when committing fewer turnovers, but 4-6 when committing more.
• In road games, Montana is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from three point range.
• Money Williams is averaging 25.3 points per game on 59.0 percent shooting in Montana’s four road games.
• Te’Jon Sawyer set new career highs with 23 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday. It’s the second double-double of his career but first with Montana.
• Coach DeCuire used a new starting lineup for the first time this season on Wednesday. Brooklyn Hicks and Amari Jedkins entered the opening lineup in place of Tyler Thompson and Te’Jon Sawyer.
• Coach DeCuire is 0-11 in games against ranked teams.
• The Grizzlies will look to bounce from a tough loss on Wednesday and close out the non-conference portion of the schedule with momentum as they prepare for the start of Big Sky Conference play.
• The first priority for Montana will be to get healthy heading into league play. Already without Courtney Anderson Jr. on Wednesday, Montana also had to deal with the last-second scratch of starter Tyler Thompson because of illness.
• The shorthanded Grizzlies were shocked at home by Montana Tech, falling 82-75 to drop to 6-6 on the year. The Orediggers averaged just six made threes per game coming into Wednesday night but got hot at the right time, making 14, the most by any Griz opponent this year.
• Montana will need to be firing on all cylinders against a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday. In the last three games against ranked opponents dating back to 2023, Montana has been outscored by nearly 30 points per game.
• This is the 54th game against a ranked opponent in Montana program history. The Grizzlies are 5-48 all-time against ranked opposition. Coach DeCuire is 0-11 in games against ranked teams.

(Photo of Louisville Players: Jeff Faughender - 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