Men's Basketball Opens ACC Play at Home Against Wake Forest on Sunday

Sunday, January 3

LOUISVILLE, KY

8:00 PM ET

University of Louisville

WAKE FOREST

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Men's Basketball Opens ACC Play at Home Against Wake Forest on Sunday

January 02, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Cardinals host the Demon Deacons on Sunday Night

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 14
Date: Jan. 3, 2016
Time: 8:01 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (91-13 in 6th yr.)
Television: ESPNU Anish Schroff, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 81, XM 81)
Series History: Louisville leads 3-1 (1-0 in Winston-Salem, 2-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 85, Wake Forest 76 (Jan. 4, 2015 in Winston-Salem, N.C.)
UofL National Ranking: 18th USA Today, 18th Associated Press
Officials: James Luckie, Pat Driscoll, John Gaffney
Next UofL Game: Jan. 7 at NC State, Raleigh, N.C., 7 p.m. ET (ESPN/ESPN2)

Louisville opens the new year with its first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season as the Cardinals face Wake Forest in the KFC Yum! Center on Jan. 3. In its final non-conference game of the regular season, Louisville fell 75-73 at Kentucky on Dec. 26 as Damion Lee scored 27 points to lead the Cardinals in the loss. UofL had trailed by 16 points in the second half, but fought back and missed a shot at the buzzer.

The Cardinals are led by two players averaging double figures, Damion Lee leads the duo of top scorers with 18.1 points per game. Trey Lewis ranks second on the team in scoring with 14.7 per game. Quentin Snider also leads the team in assists with 4.2 per game while averaging 9.3 points. Chinanu Onuaku leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 per game while averaging 9.5 points per game.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 51.2 percent from the field while holding opponents to 36.0 percent shooting. Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin, defeating opponents by an average of 27.7 points per game. The Cards are also averaging 42.8 rebounds and 14.7 assists per game.

Wake Forest (9-3) has won seven of its last eight games, winning 77-71 at LSU on Dec. 29 in its last outing. The Demon Deacons' lone loss in the last eight games was to No. 6 Xavier 78-70 on Dec. 22 after leading by 18 in the first half.

Indiana and UCLA are among the teams Wake Forest has beaten this year. Senior forward Devin Thomas, who totaled 31 points and 11 rebounds against Louisville last year, is second in the ACC and 23rd nationally in rebounding with 10.2 boards per game. Thomas is ninth in the ACC in scoring (16.6), fourth in blocked shots (2.0) and has 27 career double-doubles (six this season).

Louisville has won three of its four previous meetings against Wake Forest, including an 85-76 victory on Jan. 7, 2015 in Winston-Salem, N.C. in the Cards' first-ever ACC game. Two meetings have come in NCAA Tournament action, with the teams splitting those two matchups.

CARD FILE:

Louisville has won its conference opening game in six of the last seven seasons. The Cardinals have a 9-5 record in its first league home game in Coach Rick Pitino's first 14 seasons at UofL.
Louisville's 134 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 scoring margin (+27.7), is second in rebounding margin (+14.5), third in scoring defense (57.4), and sixth in field goal percentage defense (.360).
Louisville is ninth in the nation in field goal percentage (.512). UofL has shot above 50 percent in nine of its 13 games. The Cards shot 50 percent or above on eight occasions all last season. UofL is 13th nationally in scoring (85.1 ppg).
Damion Lee needs 27 points to reach 1,800 for his career. Trey Lewis needs 32 points for 1,300 career points.
Louisville has opened with at least an 11-2 record through 13 games for the sixth straight season.
UofL has a 27-13 record during the month of January over the last five years, including an 11-4 record in the last two years.
Damion Lee has been the Cardinals' top scorer in nine of 13 games this season. He is among the ACC leaders in scoring (18.1, 4th), steals (1.8, 3rd) and free throw percentage (.892, 3rd). He scored a season-best 27 points at Kentucky.