Preview: Louisville Faces Duke in Ranked Showdown

The Cardinals and Blue Devils face off in a rematch of last season's ACC Championship.

Mar 15, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard J'Vonne Hadley (1) drives to the basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2025 ACC Conference Championship game at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

No. 6 Duke Blue Devils (12-1, 2-0 ACC) at No. 16 Louisville Cardinals (11-3, 1-1 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -1.0
- All-Time Series: Duke Leads 17-9
- Last Meeting: Duke won 73-62 on Mar. 15, 2025 (ACC Tournament)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Adrian Wooley (6-4, 200, So.)
• 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.)

Duke

• G Cayden Boozer (6-4, 205, Fr.)
• G Caleb Foster (6-5, 205, Jr.)
• G/F Isaiah Evans (6-6, 180, So.)
• F Cameron Boozer (6-9, 250, Fr.)
• C Patrick Ngongba (6-11, 250, So.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville men’s basketball returns home for the start of a three-game homestand beginning with a rematch of the 2025 ACC Championship. The Cards most recently dropped an ACC road game at Stanford on Friday night.
• Louisville is 66-87 against Top 25 teams in the last 15 years. UofL has won 25 of its last 66 games when facing Top 10 teams.
• Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 168-64 all-time in conference play as a head coach.
• 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.
• 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 is 38-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• 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 three 3-pointers 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 multiple 3-pointers, 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.
• 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 ACC Co-Player and CoRookie of the Week on Nov. 17 after averaging 24.0 ppg, 6.0 apg and shooting 48.1% from the floor in Louisville’s two Week 2 victories - a 96-88 win over Kentucky and 106-81 win over Ohio.
• 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.
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,627), Isaac McKneely (1,252) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,163).
• 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.

Duke

• Duke is in game two of a five-game stretch with four road contests.
• Duke has won 24 of its last 25 games against conference opponents.
• No. 20 Louisville is Duke’s sixth nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Blue Devils have a 4-1 record against top-25 teams.
• Duke is seventh in the NET rankings and is tied for the most Quad 1 wins (4).
• Duke has secured top-25 victories over No. 7 Michigan State, No. 15 Florida, No. 22 Arkansas and No. 25 Kansas.
• Duke is one of just seven teams ranked in the top-16 nationally in both offensive efficiency (124.8, 11th) and defensive efficiency (95.9, 16th) ratings. (KenPom).
• The Blue Devils lead the ACC and are ninth nationally in scoring margin (+21.8).
• On the glass, Duke ranks 14th in the country in rebound margin (+10.5 - best in ACC), 28th in rebounding (41.4 rpg) and 22nd in defensive rebounding (28.8).
• Isaiah Evans (pictured) scored a career-high 28 points, highlighted by six three-pointers, a career-high eight field goals and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, at Florida State.
• Evans has drained three or more 3-pointers in seven games this season. Duke is 18-0 the past two seasons when the sophomore sharp-shooter hits three or more triples.
• Cameron Boozer is the nation’s third-leading scorer with 23.0 points per game, ranks 21st nationally with 9.8 rebounds per contest and sits 13th with seven double-doubles.
• Boozer’s nine assists against Florida State are the most by a Blue Devil in the past three seasons (10 assists by Tyrese Proctor against Pitt in the 2023 ACC Tournament).
• On Dec. 16, Jon Scheyer broke the ACC record for the fastest coach to 100 wins (122 games), exceeding the standard set by Duke’s Vic Bubas in 1964 (128 games).
• Duke posted a record of 36-3 (.923) in 2025, to tie the ACC record for most wins in a calendar year, equaling the 1992 Blue Devils (36-2) and North Carolina in 2008 (36-3).
• Fueled by a career night from Isaiah Evans, No. 6 Duke defeated Florida State, 91-87, on Saturday at Donald L. Tucker Center. Evans scored a career-high 28 points, highlighted by six three-pointers, to help Duke earn a conference victory in its first road test of the league calendar.
• Duke is one of just seven teams ranked in the top-16 nationally in both offensive efficiency (124.8, 11th) and defensive efficiency (95.9, 16th) ratings, according to KenPom.com. The Blue Devils are the nation’s No. 9 rated team, according to KenPom, with an overall rating of 28.92. (through games played on Jan. 4). The 2024-25 Blue Devils achieved the best offensive efficiency rating (130.1) in the history of KenPom (since 1996-97 season).
• Duke’s offense is playing at a faster pace this season than any prior campaign under head coach Jon Scheyer, according to KenPom.com. The Blue Devils’ average length of possession on offense is 15.4 seconds, which is the 24th quickest use of time nationally. In comparison, Duke’s average length of offensive possession was 17.1 seconds in 2024-25, 17.5 in 2023-24 and 18.7 in 2022-23.
• Through 14 games, the Blue Devils have accumulated 286 deflections, an average of 20.4 per game. Duke amassed a season-best 32 deflections versus Niagara (Nov. 21), topping the previous high of 30 against Indiana State (Nov. 14).
• Cameron Boozer is the first Duke freshman to score 35 points or more twice - amassing 35 points versus Indiana State (Nov. 14) and tallying 35 points again versus Arkansas (Nov. 27). The freshman forward became the first NCAA Division I or NBA player in the last 30 seasons to have an eight-game span with more than 175 points, 75 rebounds and 25 assists, 10 or fewer turnovers, and an undefeated record - doing so in Duke’s first eight games. (OptaSTATS).
• Duke has a record of 59-2 (.967) when committing 15 or fewer fouls under head coach Jon Scheyer, compared to 43-21 (.672) when the Blue Devils have 16 or more fouls. (@EvanMiya).
• Maliq Brown is the national leader in 2-point field goal percentage (83.7%), having made 36-of 43 shots inside the arc.
• Duke’s 11-0 start was the best open to a season since the 2017-18 campaign.
• The 55-point margin of victory over Army West Point (Nov. 11) was Duke’s largest road win in program history

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

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