Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Duke Blue Devils

The Cardinals return home to face the Blue Devils, who are one of the top teams in the ACC.

No. 7 Duke Blue Devils (13-4, 4-2 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (6-12, 1-6 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, January 23 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Duke -14.0
- All-Time Series: Duke leads 13-9
- Last Meeting: Duke won 79-62 on Feb. 20, 2023 (Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Skyy Clark (6-3, 205, So.)
• G Hercy Miller (6-3, 175, Jr.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 200, R-So.)
• F Danilo Jovanovich (6-8, 220, So.)
• F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Jr.)

Duke

• G Jaylen Blakes (6-2, 180, Sr.)
• G Jared McCain (6-3, 197, Fr.)
• G Tyrese Proctor (6-5, 183, So.)
• G Caleb Foster (6-5, 197, Fr.)
• C Kyle Filipowski (7-0, 248, So.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville is heading into the final game of four straight matchups against teams in the top five in the ACC standings. Those teams are a combined 21-6 in league play.
• Over the last five games, the Cardinals are 38-for-88 (43.2%) from 3-point range. Louisville has had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in six of the last eight games after only accomplishing the feat in two of the first 10 games.
• Louisville’s Kenny Payne and Duke’s Jon Scheyer – both coaching their alma mater – are the only two Division I head coaches in the country who have won national championships as a player and as a coach (both as assistants).
• In the last five games, redshirt sophomore Mike James is averaging 18.8 points per game, while shooting 54.2% from the field (32 of 59), 70.6% from 3-point range (12 of 17) and 81.8% from the free-throw line (18-22).
• Over the last nine games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 14.4 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 61.7% from the field (50 of 81). After registering two double-doubles in the first 68 games of his career, he has four in his last nine games.
• Freshman guard/forward Curtis Williams is averaging 10.8 points off the bench over the last eight games while making 20 of 46 3-pointers (43.5%). He was 5-for-18 from 3 (27.8%) over the first 10 games. After not reaching double figures in the first 10 games of his career, Williams has scored at least 11 points in five of the last eight.
• Last time out: Louisville couldn't slow down Wake Forest's barrage of three pointers, falling 90-65 in Winston-Salem.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: The Cardinals stayed close to the Demon Deacons before Wake Forest hit three consecutive 3-pointers in one minutes and 10 seconds to take a 28-16 lead. Louisville combated the run with six straight points, but 10 first-half 3’s from the Deacs kept the Cards at bay.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Wake Forest used a 16-7 run between 14:00 and 8:32 to extend its lead to 26 points, it’s largest lead of the game, at 78-52.
• UofL shot 27 of 59 (45.8%) from the field, 2 of 11 (18.2%) from 3-point range, and 9 of 11 (81.8%) from the free-throw line.
• Wake Forest made 18 of 35 3-pointers, the most attempted and made 3-pointers against the Cardinals all season. The 18 3’s are also the most 3’s made by an ACC team this season.
• Louisville outscored the Demon Deacons 36-18 in the paint.

Duke

• No. 7 Duke dropped a conference matchup to Pittsburgh, 80-76, on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils’ first ACC home loss in the past two seasons.
• Duke connected on 11 3-pointers versus Pittsburgh, the third consecutive game the Blue Devils have made double-digit triples.
• Sophomore Kyle Filipowski has tallied double-doubles in six of Duke’s last 12 games, moving his career total to 22 double-doubles in 53 games played. So far this season, the Westtown, New York, native has upped his shooting average compared to his freshman campaign. The 7-footer is averaging 18.2 points per game while shooting 51.6% from the field, up from 44.1% during the 2022-23 season.
• Through 17 games, Duke has been one of the best teams in the country at limiting turnovers. Duke ranks ninth nationally in fewest turnovers (9.3 per game) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.76).
• After averaging 7.6 points per outing in the first eight games of the season, Jared McCain has reached the 20-point mark in four of the last nine games, shooting 52-of-103 (50.5%) from the field, 24-of-57 (42.1%) from beyond the arc and 18-of-21 (85.7%) from the free-throw line to average 16.2 points per contest during that stretch. The freshman guard scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from long distance, to lead Duke to a 106-69 victory over Queens (Dec. 30).Duke has connected on at least one three-pointer in 1,206 straight games, the second-longest streak nationally. It has been more than 30 years since Duke was held without a three-point field goal -- Dec. 30, 1989, versus Hawai’i.
• » Senior guard Jeremy Roach became the 68th Blue Devil all-time to eclipse 1,000 career points in his Duke career, scoring 17 points against Arizona on Nov. 10. The Blue Devils are now solo third in NCAA Division I for most 1,000-point scorers in program history, ahead of Notre Dame and Villanova.
• Duke returns 60.4 points per game from last year’s roster, the most by a Duke team since the 2008-09 season, and brings back 77.9% of points scored in 2022-23 -- the most since the 2007-08 Duke team returned 81.3%.

(Photo of J.J. Traynor: Rob Kinnan - USA TODAY Sports)

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