Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Virginia Cavaliers

The Cardinals head back on the road to face the Cavaliers.

Dec 28, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Chucky Hepburn (24) dribbles the ball against Eastern Kentucky Colonels guard George Kimble III (3) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville won 78-76. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Louisville Cardinals (9-5, 2-1 ACC) at Virginia Cavaliers (8-5, 1-1 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, January 4 at 4:00 p.m. EST
- Location: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -2.0
- All-Time Series: Virginia leads 24-5
- Last Meeting: Virginia won 69-52 on Jan. 27, 2024 (Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
• G J'Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
• G/F Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5th)
• F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6th)
• C James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)

Virginia

• G Dai Dai Ames (6-1, 190, So.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Jr.)
• G Andrew Rohde (6-6, 200, Jr.)
• F Elijah Saunders (6-8, 240, Jr.)
• F Jacob Cofie (6-10, 232, Fr.)

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

• Current redshirt center Aly Khalifa is up against his former head coach for the second time now this season. Virginia’s Ron Sanchez coached Khalifa at Charlotte for two seasons before he played for current Kentucky head coach Mark Pope at BYU.
• Louisville’s five losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 24 Ole Miss. As of Jan. 2, those teams are a combined 59-6.
• Against North Carolina on Jan. 1, Chucky Hepburn made 16 free throws, tying the program record for free throws made in a single game.
• Louisville played five ranked opponents before the New Year. The Cardinals have the 13th best strength of schedule according to KenPom as of Jan. 2.
• As of Jan.2, Louisville is eighth in the country in 3-point attempts per game (32.0), 39th in free throw attempts per game (23.7) and 50th in free throws made per game (16.9)
• As of Jan. 2, Chucky Hepburn is 12th in the country in steals per game at 2.57 and sixth in total steals with 36. Reyne Smith is second in the country total 3-point attempts (128), sixth in total 3-pointers made (48) and 14th in 3-pointers per game at 3.43.
• Sophomore forward James Scott is ninth in the country in dunks as of Jan. 2 with 27 on the year, according to Bart Torvik. He leads the ACC in that category.
• Senior guard Reyne Smith was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 23 for his 27-point performance at Florida State. It was just the third time in the program’s 11 years in the ACC that Louisville has had multiple ACC Player of the Week awards as Chucky Hepburn also earned that title on Dec. 2.
• Against Florida State on Dec. 21, Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. both logged eight assists apiece; it was the first Louisville game to have two Cardinals log at least eight assists each in the same game since Peyton Siva and Gorgui Deng both had eight against Syracuse in the 2013 Big East Tournament championship game.
• 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.

Virginia

• Elijah Saunders tallied a career-high 22 points as Virginia overcame a 14-point deficit in a 70-67 win over NC State on Dec. 31 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Saunders shot 7 of 9 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line for the second straight game.
• Isaac McKneely scored 14 points and Andrew Rohde chipped in 10 points and seven assists.
• NC State led 39-29, but UVA drilled seven of its first 10 3-pointers in the second stanza to secure its first league win.
• Jayden Taylor led the Wolfpack with 14 points.
• Virginia is 253-57 (.816), including a 7-1 mark in 2024-25, in19 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA went 15-2 at JPJ last season and is 37-4 in its last 41 home contests.
• UVA is 215-41 (.840) overall and 104-11 (.904) in nonconference action in its last 16 seasons at JPJ.
• UVA has an ACC-leading 97 wins in league home games over the past 11 seasons. Duke is second at 95.
• UVA has won 10+ home games for 15 straight seasons
• Ron Sanchez was named Dean and Markel Families Men’s Interim Head Basketball Coach on Oct. 18 after three-time National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett retired.
• Sanchez, who spent 10 seasons on Bennett’s staff at UVA in two different stints (2009-19 & 2023-24), posted a 72-78 record as head coach at Charlotte from 2018-23.
• Bennett, who is UVA’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach, posted a 364-136 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 433-169 career mark in 18 seasons overall.
• Virginia returns two starters (Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde) along with Blake Buchanan and Taine Murray from last season’s team that finished third in the ACC (13-7) and advanced to the NCAA First Four.
• In 2023-24, McKneely started 33 games and averaged 12.3 points and shot 44.5 percent from 3-point range, while Rohde started 27 games and averaged 4.3 points and 2.7 assists.
• Buchanan averaged 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 minutes per game, while Murray netted 3.3 points per game.
• Elijah Saunders and McKneely are tied for the team lead in scoring at 12.2 points per game.
• Saunders, who has led UVA in scoring in seven games, has averaged 18.3 points during his four-game double-figure scoring streak.
• McKneely ranks second in the ACC in 3-point percentage (44.7%) and 3-pointers made per game (2.92).
• Andrew Rohde (8.5 ppg, 3.2 apg) is shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from 3-point range after shooting 29.3 percent from the field and 25.7 percent from 3-point land last season.
• Jacob Cofie (8.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) leads the team in rebounding and has started the last three contests.
• Blake Buchanan (5.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Dai Dai Ames (7.3 ppg, 85% FTs), Taine Murray (4.5 ppg, 35.3% 3FG), TJ Power (2.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and Anthony Robinson round out the rotation.
• The Cavaliers have made six or more 3-pointers in each game, including a season-high 14 against Villanova.
• UVA is shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from 3-point range (30th nationally) and 72.8 percent from the free throw line, surpassing last season’s marks (42.8% FG, 35.8% 3FG, 63.7% FT).

(Photo of Chucky Hepburn: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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