Cardinals Host Florida State on Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 20

LOUISVILLE, KY

9:00 PM ET

University of Louisville

FLORIDA STATE

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January 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Cardinals return to action in the KFC Yum! Center against the Seminoles on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m.

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 18
Date: Jan. 20, 2016
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (93-13 in 6th yr.)
Television: ESPNU Mike Couzens, play-by-play; Len Elmore, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 84, XM 84)
Series History: UofL leads 31-9 (17-2 in Louisville, 11-6 in Tallahassee, 3-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 81, Florida State 59 (Feb. 28, 2015 in Tallahassee, Fla.)
UofL National Ranking: 16th USA Today, 17th Associated Press
Officials: Tim Nestor, Bill Covington, Jr., Terry Wymer
Next UofL Game: Jan. 23 at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Ga., 4 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Louisville will play its second consecutive game at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face Florida State on Wednesday after a six day break. Louisville played stellar defense in beating No. 20/17 Pittsburgh 59-41 on Jan. 14 as the Cardinals halted the Panthers 10-game win streak in matching the fewest points allowed by UofL this season.

The Cardinals are led by three players averaging double figures, Damion Lee leads the trio of top scorers with 16.7 points per game. Trey Lewis ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.6 per game. Chinanu Onuaku leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 per game while averaging 10.5 points per game.
Quentin Snider also leads the team in assists with 3.8 per game while averaging 9.8 points.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 49.3 percent from the field while holding opponents to 35.7 percent shooting. Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin, defeating opponents by an average of 22.8 points per game. The Cards are also averaging 42.4 rebounds and 13.5 assists per game.

Florida State (12-5, 2-3) has won its last two ACC games, winning an 85-78 at NC State on Jan. 13; and 69-62 over then No. 13/11 in its last game over Virginia in Tallahassee on Jan. 17 as Dwayne Bacon totaled 18 points and nine rebounds.

Florida State features a pair of productive freshmen guards in Beasley and Dwayne Bacon, who are averaging 17.1 and 16.7 points respectively, to lead the Seminoles. Both rank among the top 10 in the ACC in scoring. FSU is 49th in the ratings percentage index (RPI) and 39th in the Sagarin Ratings through Jan. 17.

Louisville has a 31-9 series advantage over Florida State and has won six of the last eight. In last year's matchup --the first between the two teams in 24 years -- Wayne Blackshear scored 18 points to lead five Cardinals in double figures as Louisville won 81-59 in Tallahassee (2/28/15). The teams were both members of the Metro Conference from 1976-91.

CARD FILE:

Louisville's academic performance in the recently completed 2015 fall semester was impressive, with 13 of 15 men's basketball student-athletes achieving a 3.0 or better grade point average. The Cardinals posted a collective 3.36 GPA for the 2015 Fall Semester, just short of the team record of 3.47 achieved in 2013.
Chinanu Onuaku has four straight double-doubles, including 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots vs. Pitt in his last game. He grabbed his 300^th career rebound vs Pitt. He has averaged 10.9 rebounds over the last eight games, grabbing double-digit boards in six of those games. He has made 67.3 percent of his field goals in the last six games.
Trey Lewis needs nine points for 1,300 career points. Damion Lee passed 1,800 points for his career against Clemson.
Louisville's 137 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville and Wichita State are the only schools in the nation to win 30 games in three of the last four seasons.
UofL leads the nation in in field goal percentage defense (.357) and scoring margin (+22.8), is second in scoring defense (57.8) and rebound margin (+12.5).
Louisville is 16th in the nation in field goal percentage (.493). UofL has shot above 50 percent in 10 of its 17 games. The Cards shot 50 percent or above on eight occasions all last season. UofL is 40th nationally in scoring (80.5 ppg).