Saturday, December 10, 2016

TV: ACC Regional Sports Networks: #11 Louisville Hosts Texas Southern at 2 pm ET

Date: Dec. 10, 2016
Time: 2:04 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (104-14 in 7th year)
Television: ACC Regional Sports Networks Wes Durham, play-by-play; Jason Capel, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 134, XM 193, Internet 955)
Series History: First meeting
UofL National Ranking: 13th USA Today, 11th Associated Press
Officials: Ted Valentine, Jeb Hartness, Bill McCarthy
Next UofL Game: Dec. 17 vs. Eastern Kentucky, Billy Minardi Classic, KFC Yum! Center, Noon ET (Regional Sports Networks)

Louisville will play its second of five straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Texas Southern Tigers on Saturday. Louisville prevailed 74-51 over Southern Illinois on Wednesday after the Cardinals bolted out to a 19-4 lead in about the first eight minutes of the game. Louisville limited the Salukis to 35.2 percent shooting from the field, 12 percentage points below their average entering the game and the sixth time this season that UofL has held an opponent below 36 percent accuracy from the field.

Two Cardinals are averaging double figures after the first three games of the season. Sophomore Donovan Mitchell leads Louisville in scoring with 11.3 points per game while Quentin Snider is second on the team with 10.3 points. Deng Adel is the third leading scorer with 9.9 points per game. Jaylen Johnson leads the team on the boards with 8.2 rebounds per game while also averaging 9.2 points per game. Snider leads the team with 32 assists on the year.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from behind the arc. UofL is averaging 44.1 rebounds per game while holding opponents to just 34.8 rebounds a game.

Texas Southern fell 74-70 over Southern Illinois -- UofL's opponent on Wednesday – on Dec. 3 in its last outing as Zach Lofton led the Tigers with 26 points and four steals. The Tigers have had the week off before visiting Louisville, the eighth straight road game for Texas Southern. TSU led by two with 1:30 remaining before SIU scored the last six points of the game.

The Tigers have had the week off before visiting Louisville, their eighth straight road game. Texas Southern (4-4) posted an 18-15 record last year, won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship and participated in the postseason NIT. Sophomore forward Derrick Griffin, the SWAC Player of the Year last season, averages 12.1 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds while shooting 77.1 percent from the field, sixthbest
in the nation. Junior guard Zach Lofton is the Tigers' top scorer, averaging 21.0 points per game (36th in the nation). Highly regarded freshman guard Demontrae Jefferson is expected to make his debut for Texas Southern against Louisville on Saturday.

Texas Southern is the second first-time opponent for the Cardinals this season (Baylor was the other). Louisville has a 47-3 record in first-time meetings with opponents under coach Rick Pitino, including an 18-1 record since the 2010-11 season.



CARD FILE
  • UofL Coach Rick Pitino, who has a 399-163 record in his 16th season at Louisville, will be seeking his 400th victory with the Cardinals on Saturday. He won his 750th career collegiate victory when the Cardinals beat Wichita State on Nov. 24. He is one of five active coaches with at least 750 victories.
  • Louisville has a 28-4 record during the month of December over the last five years, winning 16 of its last 19 in that month.
  • Attendance at the KFC Yum! Center surpassed the 2.5 million mark in its last game. A total of 2,515,173 fans have flocked to the arena to watch UofL play in the Cardinals' seven seasons, an average of 21,315 fans per game.
  • Louisville has won 51 of its last 52 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last seven seasons. UofL has an overall 104-14 record in the spectacular arena, including a 60-3 record against non-conference opponents. The Cards have won their last 15 home games vs. non-conference opponents.
  • Donovan Mitchell leads the ACC and is 21st in the nation in steals (2.4 per game). His seven steals against Old Dominion matched the fourth-most ever at UofL. His 22 steals in nine games is just three less than he had his entire freshman year.
  • Louisville's 154 victories over the last six years are the fifth-most wins in the nation in that stretch. The Cards are one of just three teams to win at least 30 games in three of the last five seasons (30-10 in 2011-12, 35-5 in '12-13, 31-6 in '13-14).
  • Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga).

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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