Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Cardinals return to the KFC Yum! Center and hope to secure ACC win No. 1 for the season against the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-13, 0-9 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (2-19, 0-10 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: Regional Sports Networks
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Georgia Tech: -3.0 (KenPom)
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 25-14
- Last Meeting: Notre Dame won 84-74 on Mar. 8, 2022 (ACC Tournament: Barclays Center - Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
• F Kamari Lands (6-8, 220, Fr.)
• F Jae'Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
• F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Georgia Tech

• G Deivon Smith (6-1, 176, Jr.)
• G Miles Kelly (6-6, 175, So.)
• G Dallan 'Deebo' Coleman (6-6, 218, So.)
• F Jalon Moore (6-7, 209, So.)
• C Rodney Howard (6-11, 256, Sr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Yellow Jackets, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Georgia Tech

Game Notes

Louisville

• On Jan. 19, Louisville added freshman forward/center Emmanuel Okorafor to the roster. Okorafor is a 6-foot-9 native of Lagos, Nigeria, and is eligible immediately after arriving from NBA Academy Africa. He made his college debut Saturday at Notre Dame with eight points, five rebounds and one block in 18 reserve minutes.
• Over the last seven games since turning to 2023, redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James is averaging 14.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 47% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line. In the first 14 games of the year, James averaged just 6.9 points while shooting 44% overall and 31% from 3-point range.
• Over the last 12 games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 18.6 points, 5.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals. As of Monday, Ellis was one of 21 players in the nation with at least 360 points and 100 assists this season. After having a positive or even assist-to-turnover ratio just three times in the first nine games of the season, Ellis has been positive or even in 10 of the last 12 games. Ellis’ current 17.3 points per game overall is tied for the ninth-most by a Cardinal in the last 30 seasons.
• After averaging 1.7 points and 3.6 rebounds across the first nine games, senior forward Sydney Curry is averaging 8.3 points and 6.2 rebounds over the last 12 games while shooting 58% overall. His career-high 19 rebounds against Florida A&M were the most by a Cardinal since Luke Whitehead grabbed 19 boards against Marquette on Jan. 31, 2004.
• Sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield missed the last four games with a foot injury. He leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game and is averaging 7.5 points per contest.
• Last game: Louisville fell behind by as much as 30 points in a 76-62 loss at Notre Dame. It matched their longest losing streak of the modern era, which was set earlier this season after dropping their 2021-22 finale and their first nine games of the current season. It's their longest losing streak since dropping 12 straight from Feb. 23, 1940 to Feb. 8, 1941.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: With Louisville leading 9-7, Notre Dame went on a 13-0 run, including three 3- pointers, to build a 20-9 lead at the 13:17 mark. o JJ Starling scored the final six points of the half for the Fighting Irish to make it 46-24.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: After the Notre Dame lead reached 30, Louisville later rattled off a 14-0 run to pull back within 64-50 with 8:20 left. o The Cardinals got it to 14 multiple times with the ball, but couldn’t capitalize.
• UofL shot 25 of 54 (.463) from the field, 8 of 23 (.348) from 3-point range, and 4 of 7 (.571) from the free-throw line.
• The Cardinals had 13 assists against 12 turnovers, marking the first time they’ve had more assists than turnovers since the win over Western Kentucky on Dec. 14.
• Emmanuel Okorafor, the freshman from NBA Academy Africa made his college debut after joining the team last week. He contributed eight points, five rebounds and a block in 18 minutes in his debut. Okorafor made the third-latest debut for a freshman in program history. Wayne Blackshear played his first game in Game 25 of the 2011-12 season, while Brad Morgan debuted in Game 23 of the 2000-01 season.
• El Ellis finished with eight points and six assists, giving him at least four assists in seven straight games.
• Fabio Basili tied his career high with six points in 12 minutes off the bench. Basili made a career-high two 3-pointers and also handed out two assists.
• Mike James scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. o James has scored at least 14 points in five of the last seven games.
• Jae'Lyn Withers finished with 10 points, his ninth double-digit performance of the season.
• Kamari Lands scored eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting, including two 3s. o It was Lands’ most points since Dec. 31 at Kentucky.

Georgia Tech

• Tech (8-13, 1-10 ACC) looks to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Cardinals, the first of two scheduled regular-season meetings between the two schools. Tech’s only ACC win to date came over No. 12 Miami, 76-70, on Jan. 4, and since then has lost to Florida State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, NC State, Syracuse, Clemson and Duke, all by double digits with the exception of a one-point, overtime defeat at Notre Dame. The Jackets, 1-7 in the month of January, sit a half-game out of last place in the conference standings.
• Georgia Tech plays three of its last nine ACC games on the road, including trips to Louisville and NC State this week. The Yellow Jackets’ only remaining home games are against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Louisville.
• Ten of Tech’s first 11 ACC games have come against opponents in the top 10 of the conference standings (combined record: 64-32). Notre Dame (2-9) is the exception. The Yellow Jackets face four of those teams (NC State, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Syracuse) among its remaining nine ACC games, all of them on the road.
• Of the four teams added in the 2013 expansion of the ACC, Tech had the longest history with Louisville, meeting 28 times prior to the Cardinals joining the conference.
• Tech is No. 2 in the ACC in three-point defense and is 44th nationally, allowing 30.5 percent from distance.
• Tech leads the ACC in bench scoring, its reserves contributing 21.7 points per game this season. The bench has provided 30 or more points six times this season, and has outscored its opponents’ reserves in 12 of 20 games.
• Tech has used nine different starting lineups this season, and no Yellow Jacket has started every game. Nine Jackets have started at least two games, and eight of them have started a minimum of seven times.
• Sophomore guard Miles Kelly leads Tech in scoring, minutes, field goals made and attempted, three-point field goals made and attempted, and free throw percentage.
• Deivon Smith, at 6-1 the shortest player on Tech’s roster, leads the Yellow Jackets in rebound average at 5.7 per game. He has three double-digit rebound games this season.
• Georgia Tech has used the same starting five in its last three games. Tech has utilized nine different starting lineups total this season. Nine Yellow Jackets have started at least two games this season, and none have started every game.
• With Lance Terry (hamstring) unavailable against Duke, Tech still utilized 10 players for only fifth time this season. Nine or more Yellow Jackets have taken the court in 15 of 21 games. Tech ranked No. 126 in the nation this season in bench minutes (33.0 pct. entering the game), and only one other Josh Pastner Tech team has seen its reserves play more. Freshmen Freds Pauls Bagatskis and Cyril Martynov each saw action for the first time since Dec. 17.
• Tech has averaged 24.2 three-point attempts in ACC games, trying at least 20 in every game except Virginia (16).
• Tech has suffered three of its four poorest three-point shooting performances in its last four games (2-for-21 vs. NC State, 4-for-23 vs. Clemson, 5-for-22 vs. Duke). The Jackets have connected on just 21.6 percent from distance over that span.
• Tech is 1-13 this season when the opponent makes a higher percentage of its field goal attempts, 7-0 when it has a better percentage.
• Tech’s last three opponents (NC State, Syracuse, Clemson, Duke) have each shot better than 50 percent from the floor (53.8 percent combined). Only two (Georgia, Virginia) did so in the Jackets’ first 17 games.
• Tech is 6-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points (1-0 in the ACC), 2-12 when failing to reach 70. The Jackets have set season lows for points in each of their last two games (51 vs. Clemson, 43 vs. Duke).
• Tech has connected on less than 40 percent from the floor in four of its last five games (Pitt, NC State, Clemson, Duke). The Jackets’ 30.9-percent clip against Duke was a season low.
• Tech is 18-for-38 from the foul line in its last five games after hitting 75.6 percent from the stripe in its first six ACC games.
• Tech has assisted on 56.9 percent of their field goals in ACC games, fourth-best in the ACC.
• After a four-game stretch in which it averaged 17 turnovers, Tech has averaged less than 12 in its last five games.

(Photo of Sydney Curry: Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports)

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