Tale of the Tape: No. 10 Louisville at No. 22 Virginia
Posted on Saturday, Mar. 7, 2020, 12:28 pm
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Photo by Matt Riley, UVA Athletics
It’s Senior Day at John Paul Jones Arena for Mamadi Diakite and Braxton Key, as No. 22 Virginia hosts 10th-ranked Louisville at 4 p.m. (ESPN) in the regular-season finale.
The Wahoos (22-7, 14-5 ACC) are looking for a season split with the Cardinals (24-6, 15-4), who prevailed in an 80-73 thriller in the first meeting at the KFC Yum! Center on Feb. 8.
That was Louisville’s first win in 10 tries against UVA, and the Cards will be gunning for their first-ever win at JPJ this afternoon — UL is 0-5 all-time in the building since joining the conference in 2014-15.
Virginia, a slim 1-point favorite, enters Saturday on a seven-game win streak, having not lost since falling in Louisville nearly a month ago. The Cardinals are just 3-3 since then, with losses — all on the road — at Georgia Tech (64-58), Clemson (77-62) and Florida State (82-67). UVA has won five straight at JPJ, including a pair over teams ranked in the top 10, while Louisville is 6-4 on the season away from home.
Heading into Saturday, the ‘Hoos are No. 44 overall according to KenPom (1st AdjD, 236th AdjO) and No. 46 in the latest NET rankings; Louisville is 9th in the KenPom ratings (13th O, 30th D) and 8th in the NET.
UVA got a pair of game-winning free throws from Kihei Clark with 8 seconds left to pull one out in Miami late Wednesday night, and there’s no doubt that the house will be loud and rockin’ this evening for the final home game of Diakite and Key’s Wahoo careers. Expect their teammates to lay everything on the line to send the senior duo out with a big W and carry the momentum into Greensboro and beyond.
Louisville may be struggling a bit as of late, but Chris Mack knows how much his players and the Cardinal fans would love to see even a share of the conference’s regular-season title, which they would clinch with a victory — it would be the program’s first as an ACC member.
ACC Preseason Player of the Year Jordan Nwora is second in the ACC in scoring (18 ppg), and is the only Cardinal to average double figures. Nwora led the team with 22 points in the first meeting, connecting on 7 of his 14 shots — 4 of 8 from 3-point land. Nwora will once again be the obvious focal point for Tony Bennett’s defense.
There’s a bit of a question mark down low for Louisville, as center Malik Williams missed last weekend’s win over Virginia Tech and is considered a game-time decision today. Steven Enoch and Williams each had a hand in the February win, as each scored 13 points.
Forward Dwayne Sutton, who ranks in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding with 8.3 a game, graduate point guard Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble and sharpshooting specialist Ryan McMahon will each see lots of playing time, along with Darius Perry, who sank three early 3-pointers in the first matchup, and freshman guard David Johnson, who can get to the hole with consistency and efficiency.
Clark (23 points) and Tomas Woldetensae (27) combined for 50 points in the first meeting with Louisville, which is saying a lot considering that the ‘Hoos have failed to reach the 50-point mark as a team on five occasions this season, including Wednesday night against the Hurricanes. Woldetensae is in the midst of a shooting slump, and there’d be no better time than this evening to bust out of it.
In Louisville, Woldetensae was on fire, connecting on 7 of 10 shots from 3-point land and 10 of 13 overall. Clark was 8 for 13 from the floor that day, including nailing a career-best four from downtown. The ‘Hoos shot 53.1 percent on the day and 50 percent (11 of 22) from long range, as they erased a 14-point halftime deficit and nearly hung on for the upset.
Player Stats
As of 3/7
