Preview: Louisville Takes On Stanford to Wrap Up West Coast Trip

The Cardinals head across the bay to wrap up their West Coast trip.

Mar 13, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Chucky Hepburn (24) on defense against Stanford Cardinal guard Ryan Agarwal (11) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

No. 16 Louisville Cardinals (11-2, 0-0 ACC) at Stanford Cardinal (11-3, 0-1 ACC)

- Tipoff: Friday, January 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -10.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville Leads 4-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 75-73 on Mar. 13, 2025 (ACC Tournament)

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.)

Stanford

• G Ebuka Okorie (6-2, 185, Fr.)
• G Benny Gealer (6-1, 185, Sr.)
• G Ryan Agarwal (6-6, 205, R-Jr.)
• F Chisom Okpara (6-8, 240, Sr.)
• F A.J. Rohosy (6-9, 230, Gr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• The Cardinals opened ACC play with a 90-70 victory at California on Tuesday night. Stanford fell to Notre Dame 47-40 on the same evening to start off their league slate.
• With a win, it would be the first time Louisville has started 2-0 in conference play since 2021 22. It would also be Kelsey's 300th career victory as a head coach.
• Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 168-63 all-time in conference play as a head coach. Kelsey is 79-38 in road league games.
• Louisville is one of five DI teams with at least four victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and High Point.
• The late great Junior Bridgeman is the sixth player in Louisville men's basketball history to have their jersey number retired.
• 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 four 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 38-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• 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.
• 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.
• With two 50-point victories on the season, it marks the first time Louisville has had two 50 point victories in one season since 2004-05.
• 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.
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,609), Isaac McKneely (1,235) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,149).
• 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.
• Of the 10 players who were on an NCAA DI roster in 2024-25, eight of them were on teams that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The roster has made 14 cumulative NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their current/previous schools, playing in 10 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.

Stanford

• Stanford is out to a 11-3 start, including wins over Colorado, Minnesota and Saint Louis at neutral sites, marking its best start since 2019-20. Stanford is outscoring its foes by 8.4 points per game this year.
• Stanford won the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert with wins over the Gophers and Billikens, with Benny Gealer's buzzer beater on Nov. 28 sending the Cardinal home victorious.
• Ebuka Okorie ranks 11th in the country in scoring at 21.5 points per game and third among freshmen. He joins only Duke's Cameron Boozer and BYU's AJ Dybantsa as freshmen nationally north of 21 points per night. Chisom Okpara is averaging 15.2 points per night, which ranks 17th in the ACC.
• The Cardinal posted a successful first season under the leadership of Kyle Smith, winning the program’s most games since 2014-15 (21) and matching a program record for wins on its home court (17). 2025-26 marks the program’s second year in the ACC, after Stanford finished seventh in its maiden season. The Cardinal was postseason bound for the first time since 2018, appearing in the NIT.
• Maxime Raynaud graduated from Stanford in 2025 after posting one of the top seasons in program history, and the All-American was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in June. Raynaud, Spencer Jones and Ziaire Williams have each scored 20 or more in the NBA since Dec. 1, including career highs for Jones (28) and Raynaud (25). He is posting 14.3 points and 9.6 rebounds as a starter with Sacramento (eight games).
• Opening the conference slate in a low-possession defensive battle, Stanford fell to visiting Notre Dame, 47-40, at Maples Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 30. Chisom Okpara led the Cardinal with 13 points while Oskar Giltay tallied double digit rebounds for the second time in his career, finishing with 11 boards. Stanford’s defense held the Irish to just 32.1 percent from the floor and 18.8 percent from beyond the arc, and it limited them to just 47 points, marking its lowest since giving up 46 to Oregon State on Jan. 19, 2023.
• As the calendar flips to 2026, Ebuka Okorie has dazzled for the Cardinal with averages of 21.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Okorie ranks 11th nationally in scoring, and third among freshmen, joining Duke's Cameron Boozer and BYU's AJ Dybantsa as the only three freshmen nationally above 21 points per game, and second in the ACC, trailing only Boozer.
• With wins over Minnesota and Saint Louis, Stanford captured its first multi-team event championship since the 2007 Basketball Travelers Classic, winning the Acrisure Invitational.
• Stanford finished the 2024-25 regular season with the ACC’s second-best home record, and it went 17-3 overall, including a 9-1 mark in the ACC. Duke went 10-0 in the ACC at home, while the Cardinal were one of three one-loss teams at home in conference play, along with Clemson and Louisville.
• Stanford's AJ Rohosy (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Division III) and Jeremy Dent-Smith (Cal State Dominguez Hills, Division II), have been revelations this season as graduate transfers. Rohosy - an All-American and Academic All-American last season at CMS - is averaging 8.9 points per game on 55.4 percent shooting with six games in double figures, while Dent-Smith - a two-time All-American at CSUDH - is averaging 7.0 points per game with five double-digit scoring performances.
• Kyle Smith doesn't just love analytics - the analytics love him back. Smith was ranked No. 7 on KenPom's list of the top 25 active coaches based on what they add to what is already captured by the model predictors. He was one of four coaches to rank in the top-15 on both sides of the ball.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: Jim Dedmon - Imagn Images)

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