Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Pitt Panthers

The Cardinals will stay on the road for a rematch with the Panthers.

Louisville Cardinals (8-17, 3-11 ACC) at Pitt Panthers (16-8, 7-6 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, February 17 at 6:30 p.m. EST
- Location: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Pitt -13.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 21-10
- Last Meeting: Pitt won 83-70 on Jan. 6, 2024 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Ty-Laur Johnson (6-0, 160, Fr.)
• G Tre White (6-7, 205, So.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 200, R-So.)
• F Kaleb Glenn (6-6, 205, Fr.)
• F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Jr.)

Pitt

• G Jaland Lowe (6-3, 170, Fr.)
• G Carlton Carrington (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• F Zack Austin (6-7, 210, R-Jr.)
• F Blake Hinson (6-8, 230, Sr.)
• C Federiko Federiko (6-11, 225, Jr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Last time out: Louisville blew an eight-point halftime lead and had second half defensive collapse, falling 89-77 at Boston College.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: UofL scored nine straight points over two minutes to take a 24-16 lead with just under 11 minutes left. Boston College tied it up twice, but never regained the lead as Louisville pushed its advantage to as high as 10, closing out the half on a 15-7 run.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Boston College flipped the script in the second half, using a 20-1 run between 15:35 to 10:34 to go from down six to up 13. Louisville would get within six, but never closer.
• UofL shot 30 of 64 (46.9%) from the field, 5 of 15 (33.3%) from 3-point range and 12 of 19 (63.2%) from the free-throw line.
• Louisville had two 20-point scorers for the second time this month. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Tre White both had 21 points. Huntley-Hatfield had 29 and Ty-Laur Johnson had 27 against Florida State on Feb. 3.
• The Cardinals out-rebounded the Eagles 35-28, including a 20-12 mark in the first half.
• Louisville scored 16 second chance points against Boston College’s four.
• After getting out-rebounded in eight straight games by a total of 53 boards, Louisville has won the rebounding battle in five of the last six games and has out-rebounded its opponents by a combined 52 over those six outings.
• With guard Skyy Clark (rib) and forward Danilo Jovanovich (lower leg) sidelined Tuesday at Boston College, the Cardinals had nine total players available, including seven on scholarship.
• Louisville had six players reach double figures scoring against Georgia Tech on Feb. 10. It was the first time the Cardinals have accomplished the feat since Feb. 5, 2020, against Wake Forest.
• Over the last 16 games, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 60.3% from the field (94 of 156) with six double-doubles. He had two double-doubles in the first 68 games of his career.
• Guard Ty-Laur Johnson is one of four Louisville freshmen since 1992 to record at least 90 assists in a season, joining current team Video Coordinator Reece Gaines (1999-00), DeJuan Wheat (1993-94) and Jason Osborne (1993-94), the father of senior forward JJ Traynor. Over the last four outings, Johnson is averaging 15.0 points, 7.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
• UofL is one of two teams in the nation, along with New Mexico, with five different players who have scored at least 26 points in a game this season – Huntley-Hatfield (29), Tre White (29), Clark (29), Johnson (27) and Mike James (26).

Pitt

• Pitt leads the ACC in three-point fi eld goals (9.33 3pg.) and have made 10 or more threes in a game 12 times, including six times in ACC play. Louisville enters Saturday’s contest ranked last in the league in three-point percentage defense (.352) and second to last in three-point field goals allowed (8.16 3pg.).
• Blake Hinson is 12 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau at Pitt. He has scored 988 points in just 60 games (16.5 ppg.) and is set to reach 1,000 points in the fourth fewest games in program history, behind only Don Hennon (44), Billy Knight (45), and Brian Shorter (50).
• Ishmael Leggett has emerged as one of the top sixth men in the ACC averaging 13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game off the bench over the past seven contests. He has 17 double figure scoring games for the season.
• Jaland Lowe has eight double-figure scoring games and is averaging 11.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in ACC play. He has scored 10 or more points in seven of the past eight games.
• Blake Hinson has scored in double figures in 21 games and topped the 20-point mark 10 times. He ranks among the ACC leaders in scoring (5th - 18.3 ppg.), three-pointers (1st - 82), and three-point percentage (5th - .412).
• Jaland Lowe is averaging 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, while going 14-of-33 (.424) from three-point range, since joining the starting lineup 10 games ago. He has scored in double figures seven times in that stretch and played 30+ minutes in each of the past nine games.
• Carlton Carrington has scored in double figures 18 times with five or more assists on 11 occasions. He ranks second among ACC freshmen in scoring (13.4 ppg.), rebounds (5.3 rpg.), and assists (4.3 apg.), and third in three-point field goals per game (1.8 3pg.).
• Blake Hinson has made at least one three-pointer in 57 of 60 games as a Panther and is now 179-of-455 (.393) from three-point range in his career at Pitt. He ranks ninth in career threes (179), while his 82 threes this season ranks seventh in the Pitt record books.
• Ishmael Leggett leads the Panthers in rebounding (5.5 rpg.) and steals (31), while ranking third in scoring (12.2 ppg.) and assists (52). He has scored in double figures 17 times including six of the past seven games off the bench.
• Zack Austin is two made threes shy of becoming the 14th player in the NCAA since 1994-95 to register 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 blocks, and 150 threes in a career. He enters Saturday with 1,056 points, 519 rebounds, 166 blocks, and 148 three-point field goals.
• Federiko Federiko is averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game over the past seven contests. He has recorded two or more blocked shots in each of the past five games.
• Carlton Carrington is one of 17 players in the NCAA and the only freshman averaging at least 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.
• Pitt is averaging 19.1 points per game off the bench over the past seven games. The Panthers have an 134-87 edge in bench scoring in that stretch with Ishmael Leggett providing much of the scoring pop with 13.4 points per game off the bench in that stretch.
• Pitt is shooting 38.1 percent (37-of-97) from three-point range, while holding the opposition to 28.8 percent (21-of-73) shooting from beyond the arc during its current four-game win streak.
• The Panthers are 12-0 on the season when posting a better fi eld goal percentage than its opponent. Pitt is shooting 46.7 percent from the fi eld, including 37.3 percent from three-point range in its wins, compared to 36 percent and 29 percent shooting splits from the fi eld and three-point range in losses.
• Pitt is 14-2 when winning the rebounding battle. The Panthers rank among the ACC leaders in offensive rebounds (3rd - 11.96 orpg.), rebounds (2nd - 38.29 rpg.), rebound margin (2nd - +5.08), defensive rebound percentage (1st - .763), and offensive rebound percentage (2nd - .323).
• The Panthers are 64-12 under Jeff Capel, including an 13-1 mark this season, when leading at the half. • Pitt is up to 52nd in the NET rankings with four Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins.

(Photo of Mike James: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter