Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Eastern Michigan Eagles

The Cardinals return home to take on the Eagles.

Nov 21, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Sananda Fru (13) drives to the basket against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Heritage Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Eastern Michigan Eagles (3-2, 0-0 MAC) vs. No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (5-0, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Monday, November 24 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -26.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville Leads 1-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 86-53 on Ded. 12, 2015 (KFC Yum! Center)

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.)

Eastern Michigan

• G Jon Sanders (6-2, 185, Sr.)
• G Carlos Hart (6-5, 215, R-Sr.)
• F Addison Patterson (6-7, 220, R-Sr.)
• F Godslove Nwabude (6-9, 220, So.)
• F Mohammad Habhab (6-9, 220, R-Fr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• The Cardinals have started the season 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
• Louisville’s eight-point win over Kentucky marked the largest margin of victory the Cards have had over the Cats since 2008. It was the first time UofL has won the Battle of the Bluegrass since 2020, and the first time it claimed victory at home in the matchup since 2012.
• Louisville is 32-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. was named Co-Player and Co-Rookie 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 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.
• 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.
• Louisville led 59-15 at halftime against South Carolina State on Nov. 3. The 44-point halftime lead was the largest in program history.
• Louisville’s two season opening victories marked the first time the Cardinals have had back to-back 30-point victories since 2016.
• 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 are 14 players returning to DI this season that have 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.
• As of Sunday, six of Louisville’s 2025-26 opponents are ranked in the AP Poll, with five more receiving votes.
• 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.
• 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. Conwell is now 254 of 640 (39.7%) while McKneely is 247 of 589 (41.9%) from 3.
• 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
• 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 (1,455), Isaac McKneely (1,138) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,064).

Eastern Michigan

• Eastern used a 13-2 run to take a late first-half lead, ultimately topping Oakland, 97-91, Nov. 21. Mo Habhab produced a stellar performance with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, one block, one steal, and zero turnovers. Carlos Hart also had a standout performance, scoring 22 points to go with seven rebounds, and five assists.
• EMU overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to upend Detroit Mercy, 72-62, Nov. 18. Addison Patterson scored all 15 of his points in the second half as Mo Habhab had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Eastern finished 9-9 in MAC play and 16-16 overall in the 2024-25 season and secured its bid to the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2020, playing in postseason competition in Cleveland for the first time since 2018.
• EMU replaced key contributors from last year’s squad. The Eagles returned 7.8% of minutes played (502) and 2.9% of points scored (69). Jalen Terry ranked second in the MAC at 16.6 points per game while Da’Sean Nelson was sixth with 16.0 points per game. Both players were named Second Team AllMAC. Christian Henry scored 14.7 points per game and Jalin Billingsley added 10.5 points per game.
• Eastern has a quartet of high-profile road games in the 2025-26 season (Nov. 10 at Pittsburgh, Nov. 24 at #6 Louisville, Nov. 26 at Cincinnati, and Dec. 2 at Butler).
• The Eagles were picked ninth in the MAC Preseason Poll after placing tied for sixth last season.
• EMU has nine players from the state of Michigan, its most since the 2022-23 season (11).
• Eastern Michigan’s Stan Heath is in his fifth year at the helm of the Eagles, holding a 50-80 record at EMU and 259-287 record over 18 years as a collegiate coach.

(Photo of Sananda Fru: Aaron Doster - Imagn Images)

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