Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Duke Blue Devils

The Cardinals return to action after a week off for a rematch with the Blue Devils in their final true road game of the season.

Louisville Cardinals (8-19, 3-13 ACC) at No. 8 Duke Blue Devils (21-6, 12-4 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Duke -22.0
- All-Time Series: Duke leads 14-9
- Last Meeting: Duke won 83-69 on Jan. 23, 2023 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Skyy Clark (6-3, 205, So.)
• 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.)

Duke

• G Jared McCain (6-2, 180, Sr.)
• G Jeremy Roach (6-3, 197, Fr.)
• G Caleb Foster (6-5, 197, Fr.)
• F Mark Mitchell (6-9, 232, So.)
• 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

• Last time out: Louisville suffered their third double-digit loss in a row, falling 72-50 at home against Notre Dame.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: With the game tied at 12, the Fighting Irish reeled off a 15-2 run that began at 13:24 and elapsed 5:57 of game time to take a 27-14 lead. The Cards responded with an 11-4 run to close the half and cut the Notre Dame advantage to 31-25 at the break.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: After the Cards came within nine at 53-44 with 8:42 left in the game, the Irish went on a 16-3 run that elapsed 4:38, increasing their lead to 69-47 and effectively putting the game away.
• UofL shot 19 of 56 (33.9%) from the field, 4 of 17 (23.5%) from 3-point range and 8 of 16 (50.0%) from the free-throw line.
• Skyy Clark led the effort with 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists in his return to action after missing two games due to a broken rib. He made 7 of his 8 shots, including all four attempts from outside the arc in 31 minutes of play.
• Brandon Huntley-Hatfield recorded 16 points, six rebounds and an assist, marking his 10th outing of the year with 15+ points. The forward added two blocks and a steal in 32 minutes of play.
• Tre White totaled eight points, four rebounds and two assists in his 34 minutes.
• 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).
• UofL assistant coach Nolan Smith, a former Duke star player and staffer, was a consensus first-team All-American and the 21st overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2011. He helped lead the Blue Devils to the 2010 national championship and three consecutive ACC titles (2009-11). He later spent six years on staff with the Blue Devils as they claimed the 2015 national title.
• Sophomore guard Skyy Clark has missed three of the last six games due to a hip pointer and most recently a broken rib. In the three games he’s played during that span, he’s averaged 17.3 points per game while shooting 57% from the field, 56% from 3-point range (9 of 16) and going 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.
• Over the last 18 games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 15.2 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 58.8% from the field (107 of 182) with six double-doubles. He had two double-doubles in the first 68 games of his career.
• Guard Ty-Laur Johnson’s 96 assists are the eighth-most ever by a Louisville freshman. 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.

Duke

• Last time out: A back-and-forth affair on Saturday afternoon ended in defeat, 83-79, for No. 8 Duke at Wake Forest. The Blue Devils finished with four in double-figures, led by Kyle Filipowski, who scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds with a team-best five assists.
• Duke is the only team to rank among the top four ACC statistical leaders in both scoring offense (2nd/80.4 points per game) and scoring defense (4th/67.7 points allowed per game).
• The Blue Devils lead the ACC in scoring margin (+12.7), field goal percentage (.483), 3-point field goal percentage (.382) and assists (15.4 per game).
• Kyle Filipowski (right) led the Blue Devils with 17 points in Duke’s most recent outing, a 83-79 defeat at Wake Forest. The sophomore also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• Among ACC leaders, Kyle Filipowski ranks eighth in scoring (16.9 ppg), sixth in rebounding (8.3 rpg), tied for third in blocked shots (1.7 bpg) and eighth in field goal percentage (.499).
• Jared McCain set a Duke freshman record with eight 3-pointers, scoring 35 total points to help pace Duke in a 76-67 victory at Florida State on Feb. 17.
• McCain’s 35 points matched the Duke freshman scoring record and are the sixth most points scored by a freshman in ACC history. He has scored 15+ points in three of his last four games.
• Former Duke All-American and assistant coach Nolan Smith is in his second year on the staff at Louisville. Smith’s father, the late Derek Smith, won a national championship with the Cardinals as a player in 1980.
• Nolan Smith was the ACC Player of the Year for the Blue Devils in 2011 and returned to his alma mater in 2016, spending two seasons as the team’s special assistant before his promotion to director of basketball operations & player development in March 2018.
• After averaging 7.6 points per outing in the first eight games of the season, Jared McCain has reached the 20-point mark in seven of the last 19 games, averaging a team-high 16.1 points per contest during that stretch.
• Sophomore center Kyle Filipowski is on pace to improve in nearly all statistical categories, including already surpassing his freshman totals in blocks and assists. Filipowski has tallied 76 assists (56 in 2022-23) and has already blocked 45 shots, after swatting a total of 26 attempts during his freshman year. The 7-footer has tallied double-doubles in eight of Duke’s last 22 games, moving his career total to 24 double-doubles in 62 games played.
• In his last 13 outings, forward Mark Mitchell is averaging 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds with three double-doubles. On Jan. 6 at Notre Dame, Mitchell amassed 23 points and 14 rebounds - both career highs.
• Duke has outscored its opponents by an average of 12.7 points per contest, which tops the ACC and ranks 15th nationally. The Blue Devils have tickled the twine to the tune of 38.2% (227-594) on 3-pointers as the top-shooting ACC team from long distance, ranking 11th nationally. Duke has converted on 48.3% (765-1585) overall to lead the ACC in field goal percentage and rank 24th in the nation.
• Duke has connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,216 straight games, the second-longest streak nationally.
• 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 Tre White: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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