Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cardinals end their trip in the Maui Invitational with a matchup against the Bearcats in the seventh place game.

Louisville Cardinals (0-5, 0-0 ACC) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-3, 0-0 American)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, November 23 at 2:30 p.m. EST
- Location: Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
- How To Watch: ESPNU
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Cincinnati -7.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 56-43
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 58-57 on Feb. 22, 2014 (Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Oh.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
• F Jae'Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
• F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 250, So.)
• F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Texas Tech

• G David DeJulius (6-0, 200, Gr.)
• G Mika Adams-Woods (6-3, 180, Sr.)
• G Jeremiah Davenport (6-7, 215, Sr.)
• G Landers Nolley II (6-7, 220, R-Sr.)
• F Viktor Lakhin (6-11, 240, R-So.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Bearcats, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Cincinnati

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville has participated in the Maui Invitational three times before in 1989, 2000 and 2004. The Cardinals are 5-6 all-time in the event and 21-13 overall in the state of Hawaii.
• Louisville and Cincinnati were conference mates for many years in the Missouri Valley Conference, Metro Conference, Conference USA, Big East Conference and American Athletic Conference. Their last meeting was a 58-57 UofL road win on Feb. 22, 2014, after which Louisville departed for the ACC.
• With games against Arkansas and Texas Tech, Louisville played back-to-back AP Top 25 opponents for the first time since the 2019-20 season, when it faced No. 19 Kentucky on Dec. 28 and No. 18 Florida State on Jan. 4. UofL has won 45 of its last 103 games against AP ranked opponents. The Cardinals are 62-71 against Top 25 teams over the last 12-plus years.
• Louisville was the first team since at least 1980 to lose its first three games of the season by one point each, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Including last year’s 51-50 loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament, the Cardinals were the first team to lose four straight games overall by one point since Stetson in 1981-82.
• According to Ken Pomeroy, the Cardinals rank 352nd in the country in turnover percentage (26.2%). They’ve committed at least 18 turnovers in each of their last four games, but have also forced 16 turnovers in each of the last two outings.
• Per Ken Pomeroy, Louisville is 339th in the country in Division I experience with an average of 0.89 years.
• Last game: After falling 80-54 to No. 9 Arkansas in their Maui Invitational opener, Louisville followed that up with a 70-38 loss to No. 21 Texas Tech. It was their lowest scoring output since falling 62-34 at Xavier on Jan. 7, 1948, and they are the first ACC team to start 0-5 since Virginia in 1960-61.
  
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: After Louisville started the scoring with a Jae’Lyn Withers 3-pointer, Texas Tech rattled off 11 straight points to open up the lead. The Red Raiders also ended the half of a 17-2 run with a 12-0 burst to end the half.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Texas Tech opened the half with 13 unanswered points to extend their lead, making it a 25-0 run across both halves. With less than seven minutes left in the game, Louisville responded with an 11-0 run that began with two free throws by Mike James.
• UofL shot 11 of 49 (22.4%) from the field, 3 of 18 (16.7%) from 3-point range and 13 of 21 (61.9%) from the free-throw line.
• El Ellis led the team in scoring with seven, shooting 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-6 behind the arc. o Playing for 32 minutes, Ellis recorded his fifth straight start.
• Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had a career-high four steals along with three points through 22 minutes of play. o Huntley-Hatfield added three rebounds in his fifth straight start.
• Jae'Lyn Withers played 25 minutes and led the team in rebounds with five and points with seven. Withers shot 3-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 behind the arc.
• J.J. Traynor filled up the stat sheet recording six points, three rebounds, one block, and one steal through 25 minutes. o Traynor shot 2-of-8 from the field, 1-of-4 from three-point range, and 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
• Devin Ree scored his first career points with two free throws in the second half. Ree played two minutes in his second game of the season.

Cincinnati

• Cincinnati is led by second-year head coach Wes Mille, who came over as the all-time winningest head coach in UNC-Greensboro's history. UC went 18-15 in year one under Miller.
• The Bearcats, despite being 3-3 for the season and 0-2 in this year's Maui Invitational, have four players averaging double figures. Landers Nolley II leads the charge with 15.2 points per game, followed by David DeJulius' 13.8, Jeremiah Davenport's 11.0 then Viktor Lakhin's 10.8.
• Notable from 98-55 win vs. Chaminade in season opener:
• The Bearcats' 54 points were the most scored in the first half since 2018 when they put up 59 against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
• Cincinnati had just one half of 50-plus points last year: the first against Alabama A&M on Nov. 18.
• Viktor Lahkin earned his first-career start after 29 reserve appearances last season.
• Notable from 69-58 win vs. Cleveland state in game two:
• Lakhin's double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) was his second, with the other coming against Bryant last year, while also serving as career-highs in both.
• Lakhin's three blocks were a career-high. He had two twice early last season against Georgia and No. 12 Arkansas.
• David DeJulius' team-high 18 points marked his second game in a row pacing the team, and it was his 31st double-figure scoring game for UC in his third year.
• Cincinnati is 12-5 under when getting more free-throw attempts than the opponent, going 17-for-22 against Cleveland State's 7-for-9.
• Landers Nolley II (16 points) scored in double-figures for second time in as many games this season.
• Notable from 87-69 win vs. Eastern Kentucky in game three:
• DeJulius' 22 points marked his fourth 20-point outing out of his last six dating back to last year, in addition to his 12th as a Bearcat. He now has 948 points in his college career.
• Jeremiah Davenport matched his season-high of 14 points in the first half alone, ending with 19.
• Ody Oguama's 12 rebounds matched a career-high last set against Miami (Fla.) when he was at Wake Forest (Jan. 30, 2021).
• Nolley II went 7-for-8 at the line to improve to 14-for-16 overall (87.5 percent).
• Rob Phinisee's seven rebounds were one off a career-high.
• Notable from 64-51 loss at Northern Kentucky in game four:
• Lakhin and DeJulius lead the Bearcats with nine points each. Lakhin also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
• Cincinnati went into the locker room up 40-36, but continued to feel the effects of playing on the road, going 0-5 in the first five minutes of the second half as NKU went on a 9-0 run.
• Cincinnati would score only 11 points in the second half, shooting just 4-for-29 after halftime
• Notable from 101-93 loss vs. Arizona in game five:
• Lakhin's 17 points were a career-high (in just 19 minutes), as well as his 6 field goals, 10 attempts, 5 free-throw makes and 8 attempts.
• Mika Adams-Woods (11 points) has scored in double-figures in three of five games.
• Landers Nolley II's nine treys were the most by a Bearcat since Deonta Vaughn against Coastal Carolina in 2007.
• Cincinnati's 93 points were its most in a defeat since the well-known quadruple-overtime game against UConn in the 2016 AAC Tournament, as well as its most in a regulation loss since Feb. 13, 1988 against Virginia Tech.
• Notable from 81-53 loss vs. Ohio State in game six:
• Following an 8-2 start that featured two Davenport 3-pointers, Ohio State took a 17-16 lead at 10:30 it would stretch to 38-27 at the break. OSU's 23-15 rebounding edge was the main catalyst. Lahkin was 4-for-4 over the first period for a team-high eight points.

(Photo of El Ellis: Brian Spurlock - KemperLesnik)

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