Men's Basketball Faces Indiana in the Countdown Classic on New Year's Eve

Saturday, December 31

Indianapolis, IN

12:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

Indiana

Men's Basketball Faces Indiana in the Countdown Classic on New Year's Eve

December 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Louisville Notes Indiana Notes

Cardinals and the Hoosier will face off in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 14
Date: Dec. 31, 2016
Time: 12:38 p.m.
Site: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind. (17,923)
Television: CBS (WLKY-TV in Louisville) - Spero Dedes, play-by-play; Bill Raftery, analyst.
Radio: WKJK (1080 AM) - Nick Curran, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 135, XM 195, Internet 957)
Series History: UofL trails 7-10 (4-3 in Louisville, 1-4 in Bloomington, 2-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 94, Indiana 74 (Dec. 9, 2014 in Madison Square Garden, New York - Jimmy V Classic)
UofL National Ranking: seventh USA Today, sixth Associated Press
Next UofL Game: Jan. 4 at Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. 9 p.m. ET (ACC Network/WAVE-TV in Louisville)

Louisville plays its final non-conference game of the season and its third straight ranked opponent as the Cardinals face the Indiana Hoosiers in the Countdown Classic on New Year's Eve at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Louisville lost for the first time in seven games as the Cardinals fell 61-53 to No. 12/11 Virginia on Wednesday in the KFC Yum! Center in the ACC opener for both teams.

Three Cardinals are averaging double figures after playing in 13 games. Junior Quentin Snider leads the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game. Donovan Mitchell is second in scoring with 11.5 points per game while Deng Adel is the third leading scorer with 10.2 points per game. Jaylen Johnson leads the team on the boards with 7.5 rebounds per game while also averaging 9.4 points per game. Snider leads the team with 48 assists on the year.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from behind the arc. UofL is averaging 43.2 rebounds per game while holding opponents to just 35.4 rebounds a game.

Indiana (10-3), ranked 16th by both AP and USA Today, lost its Big Ten opener 87-83 to Nebraska in Bloomington, Ind. on Wednesday as IU made 11-of-25 three-point goals but committed 19 turnovers. The Hoosiers' other two losses this year were to No. 13 Butler and Fort Wayne away from home.

The Hoosiers are second in the nation in rebounding margin (+14.0), eighth nationally in field goal percentage (.512), ninth in scoring margin (+20.8), 18th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.285), 11th in scoring offense (88.4 ppg), and 38th field goal percentage defense (.388). Indiana is No. 134 in the RPI, 17th in the Sagarin Ratings and 20th in Ken Pomeroy's rankings through Dec. 28.

Indiana has a 10-7 series advantage over Louisville, but the Cardinals have won the last two matchups. In the last
meeting, Louisville prevailed 94-74 over Indiana in the Jimmy V Classic in New York's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9, 2014 as Terry Rozier (26 points, 6 rebounds), Chris Jones (24 points, 9 rebounds) and Montrezl Harrell (21 points, 11 rebounds) led the Cardinals.

CARD FILE

Louisville is in the midst of a stretch of four consecutive games against Top 25 Associated Press ranked opponents for the first time ever in the regular season.
Louisville has a 31-5 record during the month of December over the last five years, winning 19 of its last 23 in that month.
In neutral site games, Louisville has a 34-7 record over the last five years (.829) and a 44- 14 neutral site record over the last eight years (.759). The Cardinals have a collective 12-7 record in neutral site games played in Indianapolis.
UofL Coach Rick Pitino, who has a 402-136 record in his 16th season at Louisville, won his 400th victory with the Cardinals on Dec. 10. He won his 750th career collegiate victory when the Cards beat Wichita State on Nov. 24. He is one of five active coaches with at least 750 victories.
Donovan Mitchell leads the ACC and is 30^th in the nation in steals (2.2 per game). His seven steals against Old Dominion matched the fourth most ever at UofL. His 28 steals in 13 games is three more than he had his entire freshman year.
Louisville's 157 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 won at least 11 of its first 13 games for the seventh straight season. The Cardinals' best start in that stretch was 16-1 during UofL's 2012-13 NCAA Championship season.
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).