Preview: Louisville vs. Indiana in Indianapolis

In this story:
No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (7-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. No. 22 Indiana Hoosiers (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten)
- Tipoff: Saturday, December 6 at 2:15 p.m. EST
- Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
- How To Watch: CBS
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -4.0
- All-Time Series: Indiana Leads 12-10
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 89-61 on Nov. 27, 2024 (Battle 4 Atlantis)
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.)
Indiana
- G Conor Enright (6-1, 180, R-Sr.)
- G Tayton Conerway (6-3, 190, R-Sr.)
- G Lamar Wilkerson (6-6, 205, R-Sr.)
- F Tucker DeVries (6-7, 225, R-Sr.)
- F Reed Bailey (6-10, 230, Sr.)
Comparison
See how the Cardinals stack up against the Hoosiers, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Indiana
Game Notes
Louisville
- 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 is the third team in DI this season to make at least 20 3-pointers against another DI team.
- Louisville's back-to-back 40-point wins (87-46 over Eastern Michigan & 104-47 over NJIT) is the program's first set of backto-back 40-point victories since 2012-13.
- 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.
- Louisville has had two 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's positive 38 rebounding margin against NJIT on Nov. 26 was the third-largest rebounding margin by any team against a DI opponent this season, and the largest rebounding margin in program history.
- Louisville is 34-0 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.
- 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.
- Seven of Louisville’s 2025-26 opponents are ranked in the AP Poll, with six more receiving votes.
- 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.
- 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.
- Louisville is one of the older teams in the country this season. When the Cardinals 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 (1,509), Isaac McKneely (1,186) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,092).
Indiana
- Indiana University returns to non-conference play its 126th season of competition in men’s basketball against No. 6/6 Louisville at 2:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game is part of the third annual CareSource Invitational, a series of college basketball games dedicated to raising awareness and funds for adolescent and young adult mental health.
- Indiana (7-1, 0-1 B1G) suffered its first setback of the season with a 73-64 result at Minnesota on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Despite advantages of 22-5 in points off turnovers and 13-1 in bench production, the Hoosiers struggled to find consistent offense and shot just 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the field and 8-of27 (29.6%) from behind the arc.
- Indiana has scored 100 points or more in three games this season: vs. Marquette (100-77) on Nov. 9, vs. Milwaukee (101-70) on Nov. 19, and vs. Bethune-Cookman (100-56) on Nov. 29. The stretch of 100-point games marks the most in a single season since 2016-17 (5 games).
- Indiana ranks 17th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. The last time the Hoosiers closed the season ranked inside the top 20 in the metric was 2012-13, a year that ended in a Big Ten Championship.
- IU holds opponents to 42.2% effective field goal shooting (7th nationally), 40.5% shooting from inside the arc (4th), and 30.8% from the 3-point line, the lowest mark for an Indiana defense since 2013-14.
- Indiana has dished out 20-or-more assists in four games. The Hoosiers average 20.0 helpers per night and have assisted on 68.4% of its made field goals, the sixth-best rate in the country.
- Indiana knocked down at least nine 3-point field goals in six of eight games this season. IU has averaged 10.3 made shots from behind the arc per game, the fourth-best mark in the Big Ten.
- Five Hoosiers average double-figure scoring numbers, led by redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries. He has averaged 16.8 points per night on 42.0% (29-of-69) shooting from the 3-point line. He has made at least three 3-pointers in six games.
- The Hoosiers underwent a complete overhaul of the roster during the offseason with 10 transfer additions. The class ranked third in the Big Ten Conference and 10th nationally according to 247Sports.
- The 10-man portal class made 554 starts in NCAA Division I basketball prior to joining the Hoosiers. IU is the only program to bring in at least 10 transfers with 30-plus collegiate starts.
- Four players enter the season having made at least 80 career 3-pointers while shooting better than 35.0% from behind the arc.
More Cardinals Stories
(Photo of Ryan Conwell: Nelson Chenault - Imagn Images)
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McGavic is a 2016 Sport Administration graduate of the University of Louisville, and a native of the Derby City. He has been covering the Cardinals in various capacities since 2017, with a brief stop in Atlanta, Ga. on the Georgia Tech beat. He is also a co-host of the 'From The Pink Seats' podcast on the State of Louisville network. Video gamer, bourbon drinker and dog lover. Find him on Twitter at @Matt_McGavic