Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. UTEP Miners

The Cardinals host the Miners before facing Kentucky this weekend.

Louisville's J'Vonne Hadley (1) shoots against Duke during their game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 8, 2024. / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

UTEP Miners (6-2, 0-0 C-USA) at Louisville Cardinals (5-4, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network Extra
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -13.0
- All-Time Series: First Meeting
- Last Meeting: First Meeting

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
• G Reyne Smith (6-2, 190, Sr.)
• G J'Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
• F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6th)
• C James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)

UTEP

• G Devon Barnes (6-1, 175, Jr.)
• G David Terrell (6-4, 185, So.)
• G Corey Camper (6-5, 180, Sr.)
• F Otis Frazier (6-6, 210, Sr.)
• F Kevin Kalu (6-9, 235, Sr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Senior guard Chucky Hepburn was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 2 and was one of five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week after his stellar performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
• Louisville could play six ranked teams before January 2.
• Louisville’s 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis was Louisville’s first win over a ranked team since beating No. 19/20 Virginia Tech 73-71 on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s the highest ranked opponent the Cards have beat since beating No. 3 Duke 79-73 on Jan. 18, 2020.
• In the win over Indiana, UofL’s Chucky Hepburn logged 16 points, 10 assists and seven steals. He’s the first DI player with at least those marks since Markquis Nowell of Kansas State did it against West Virginia with 23 points on Dec. 31, 2022.
• All four of Louisville’s losses are to teams now in the top 20 in the AP Poll: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 19 Ole Miss.
• As of Dec. 10, Louisville is seventh in the country in three point attempts per game (31.6) and 38th in turnovers forced per game (15.56). Chucky Hepburn is second in the country in steals per game at 3.22, and fourth in total steals with 29. Reyne Smith is 20th in the country in 3-pointers per game at 3.44.
• Against Winthrop on Nov. 22, Louisville logged 10 blocks, including seven in the first half. Sophomore James Scott blocked five on his own. The 10 total, seven in a half and Scott’s five were all the first time those feats happened for the Cardinals since March 7, 2018 against Florida State.
• Fifth-year senior forward Kasean Pryor tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
• Junior guard Koren Johnson tore his labrum and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
• Louisville has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The roster in total has made 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their previous schools, playing in 20 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.
• Head coach Pat Kelsey has won 11 total conference championships across his 266-126 career record, including four NCAA Tournament bids. Kelsey has recorded winning seasons in 11 of his 12 complete seasons as a head coach.
• UofL has a 256-82 record (.757) against non-conference opponents over the last 24 seasons (includes postseason), including a 186-27 record in home regular season non-conference games. The Cardinals are 110-18 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 15 seasons.
• Louisville took its second trip to the Bahamas to compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis Nov. 27-29. The Cardinals opened the trip with a resounding 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana. Against Indiana, Louisville’s 23 assists were its most since having 23 in a 90-66 win against Syracuse on Feb. 19, 2020. It’s 15 steals were the most since logging 15 in a 77-54 win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 8, 2018. Next, UofL beat West Virginia 79-70 in its first overtime game of the season. It was UofL’s largest margin of victory in an overtime game since beating North Carolina 78-68 on Jan. 31, 2015, and the biggest overtime win away from home since beating West Virginia 82-71 in double overtime on March 8, 2007, in the Big East Tournament. Louisville eventually fell in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship 69-64 against undefeated Oklahoma.
• Louisville’s 48-point season-opening victory over Morehead State on Nov. 4 was Louisville’s largest margin of victory since a 104-54 win vs. Southern on Nov. 13, 2018, and largest in a season opener since a 92-38 win vs. South Alabama on Nov. 18, 2001.
• Louisville’s 48 first-half points against Bellarmine on Nov. 19 were the most since leading Eastern Kentucky 50-32 at halftime on Dec. 14, 2019.
• In its season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 4, the Cardinals held the Eagles to a 23.1% clip from the floor. It’s the lowest field goal percentage of any Louisville opponent since Nov. 13, 2015 when the Cards held Samford to 21.0%.
• Chucky Hepburn was named ACC Player of the Week on Monday, Dec. 2 after his dominant performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. It’s Louisville’s first Player of the Week accolade since Feb. 20, 2023. Over the three contests, Hepburn averaged 20 points per game, shooting 62.5% from the field, netting 20 of 32 attempts. He added a 77.8% clip from the charity stripe and totaled 16 assists against just nine turnovers.
• In his Louisville debut, fifth-year senior Kasean Pryor logged a doubledouble of 18 points and 12 rebounds against Morehead State on Nov. 4. He is one of seven Cardinals since 1965 to produce a double-double in their first time on the court in a Louisville uniform
• The Cardinals are one of the more experienced teams in the country this season. Between the 17-man roster, the average amount of years in college basketball is 3.0 years with just two underclassmen on the roster.
• Louisville has just two underclassmen in freshman Khani Rooths and sophomore James Scott. Louisville is one of just 11 schools in DI that has two or fewer underclassmen on their roster, and the only Power Four school in that list.

UTEP

• The UTEP men’s basketball team (6-2) will put its three-game winning streak on the line when it
  plays at perennial ACC power Louisville (5-4) inside the KFC Yum! Center (22,090) at 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET Wednesday.
• The Miners are coming off an 88-72 vanquishing of top-100 NET program Seattle U on Dec. 7. The short-handed Cardinals, who have eight scholarship players currently healthy, sustained their third consecutive loss in the form of a 76-65 setback against No. 9 Duke on Dec. 8.
• The Miners are 1-1 on the road, having fallen at Utah Valley, 89-60, in the second game of the year on Nov. 9 before toppling UC Santa Barbara, 79-76, inside the Thunderdome on Nov. 20. The win against the Gauchos dropped them to 42-4 in nonconference games at home since the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
• The contest at the UofL is the third and final nonconference road tilt on the docket for the Miners. Following the game, UTEP will have seven straight inside the Don Haskins Center. That includes the first three league contests, something that hasn’t occurred since the 1991-92 campaign when the Orange and Blue were members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
• UTEP leads the nation in turnovers forced per game (20.3) and steals per game (12.1) while Louisville is 38th (15.6) and 99th (8.0), respectively. The Cardinals attempt 31.6 triples per game (first ACC/seventh NCAA), but they are 331st in the country in 3-point percentage (28.2). The Miners are 19th nationally at knocking down treys (39.7 percent), with NCAA leader Ahamad Bynum (63.3 percent) playing a huge role. UTEP does attempt just 19.5 triples per game (311th NCAA).
• UTEP, which knocked off then Pac-12 member Cal, 75-72 last year, in a neutral-site contest thanks to a Tae Hardy buzzer beater in the SoCal Classic on Nov. 20, 2023, will be taking aim at its second victory against a power conference program under Joe Golding. The Miners will also be searching for their first road win against a p5 member since dispatching then Pac-12 program Arizona State, 76-63, in Tempe, Ariz., on Dec. 16, 2020.
• UTEP roared past defending CBI champion Seattle U, 88-72, to notch its third straight victory on Dec. 7. Otis Frazier III stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, a team-high five assists and four rebounds to lead the charge
• UTEP uncorked a 24-2 run to turn a 6-5 edge into a whopping 30-7 advantage. The Miners made 9-13 (69.2 percent) of their shots from the floor during the stretch. At the other end of the floor, Seattle U was just 1-10 (10.0 percent). The Redhawks also had six turnovers during the surge.
• UTEP’s pressure defense is paying dividends once again in 2024-25, with the Orange and Blue leading the nation in both steals per game (12.1) and turnovers forced per contest (20.3). The Miners have been relatively consistent throughout the contest, with foes committing 11.3 tpg in the first half and 9.0 tpg in the second half. UTEP topped the nation in both categories last season.
• The Miners’ first three Division I opponents all shot better than 50 percent from the floor, but UTEP has made that trend a thing of the past since that point. The past three DI foes have made a combined 38.6 percent (54-140). The result has been a scoring defense of 58.0, a huge improvement (28.7) from the 78.7 ppga vs. UTEP’s first three DI foes. The Miners’ 65.4 scoring defense is second in CUSA and 52nd nationally.
• There have been four lead changes total through eight games on the season, with three of those coming during the first half of the Miners’ eventual 70-44 win vs. Long Beach State on Nov. 26. The only other was last time out when UTEP vaulted ahead after trailing Seattle U, 3-0, in an 88-72 triumph. There have also been just a trio of ties this year (one each at UCSB, San Jose State, Long Beach State).
• UTEP’s top-four scorers (Otis Frazier III, 13.6 ppg-14th CUSA, Corey Camper Jr., 12.9 ppg-17th CUSA, Ahamad Bynum-12.1 ppg-19th CUSA and Devon Barnes-10.4 ppg-tied 24th CUSA) have made it difficult for the opposition to key on just any one play.
• Part of the reason for the balanced offensive attack has been UTEP making the extra pass. The Miners have recorded an assist on 56.3 percent (117-208) of their field goals. Otis Frazier III (3.5 apg-ninth CUSA) and Corey Camper Jr. (3.1 apg-11th CUSA) are both dishing out better than 3.0 helpers per contest. It’s still early, but the last time that UTEP had multiple players finish the year doing so was in 2015-16 (Dominic Artis, 5.2 apg and Lee Moore, 3.5 apg)
• UTEP heads into the matchup at Louisville with 4.0 blocks per game, putting it just outside the top 100 nationally (104th). The Miners have blocked at least five shots four times. They had six total such shots contests with at least five rejections during the entire 2023-24 season.
• After failing to reach double figures in offensive boards in any of the first five games (averaged 7.0 during the stretch), the Miners have come up with a total of 34 (11.3 avg) the past three tilts. UTEP has 10+ offensive rebounds in each of those contests, including a season-high 13 against Long Beach State (Nov. 26). It even had 10 last time out vs. Seattle U despite shooting 56.1 percent, its best effort vs. a DI opponent on the year.
• UTEP has produced 45 games with at least 10 steals under head coach Joe Golding, including doing so five of the eight contests this year. The Miners had 16 vs. Long Beach State (Nov. 26), the most vs. a DI nonconference foe since they piled up 18 vs. in a 93-56 romp of Norfolk State at the Haskins Center on Dec. 28, 2008. To put the 44 tilts with 10+ thefts into perspective, consider that the Miners amassed 48 such contests in the previous 14 seasons combined prior to Golding’s arrival. Given UTEP’s ability to pressure the ball and come away with steals thus far in 2024-25, it is not a surprise to see that the Miners are leading the country at 12.1 steals per contest.
• Four different Miners are filling up at least 50.0 percent from the floor (min. 15 FGA), with Kevin Kalu leading the way at 65.4 percent (17-26). Derick Hamilton (17-29, 58.6 percent), Ahamad Bynum (29-51, 56.9 percent) and David Terrell Jr. (19-34, 56.9 percent) round out the list.
• The Miners sit second in CUSA and 19th in the nation from 3-point range at 39.7 percent (62 156). UTEP has connected on at least seven treys five times this year, including in three straight contests for the first time since the final three contests of the 2022-23 campaign. NCAA 3-point percentage leader Ahamad Bynum leads the way at a staggering 63.3 percent (19-30). Devon Barnes (12-32) and Trey Horton III (10-33) also have 10+ makes from beyond-the-arc.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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