Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

It's matchup between old Big East rivals in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

Nov 27, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; Indiana Hoosiers forward Luke Goode (10) and Louisville Cardinals forward Kasean Pryor (7) go for a loose ball during the first half at the Atlantis Resort. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-1, 0-0 Big 12)

- Tipoff: Thursday, November 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Imperial Arena in Nassau, The Bahamas
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -2.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville Leads 9-4
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 77-74 on Feb. 11, 2012 (WVU Coliseum - Morgantown, W. Va.)

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 Kasean Pryor (6-10, 225, 5th)
• F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6th)

West Virginia

• G Javon Small (6-3, 1909, Sr.)
• G Sencire Harris (6-4, 174, So.)
• G Toby Okani (6-8, 210, 5th)
• G/F Tucker DeVries (6-7, 220, Sr.)
• F Amari Hansberry (6-8, 240, So.)

Comparison

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

Additional Coverage

• Watch: Louisville HC Pat Kelsey, G Chucky Hepburn Preview Battle 4 Atlantis
• What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 89-61 Win vs. Indiana

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville has played in the Battle 4 Atlantis twice before and has a 7-2 on-court record in the in-season tournament. The Cardinals made it to the championship game in both 2012 and 2016, but fell to Duke 76-71 and Baylor 66-63, respectively, in those contests.
• Louisville’s 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana on Wednesday 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. He’s also now the first Cardinal since Terry Rozier (2014-15) to have multiple games of 6+ steals.
• 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.
• As of Nov. 26, Louisville is fifth in the country in three point attempts per game (34.0), fourth in turnovers forced per game (19.0) and 13th in the country in turnover margin (6.8).
• 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.
• 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.
• The 48-point 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 was selected ninth in the ACC Preseason Media Poll.
• The Cardinals received four votes in the preseason AP Poll released on October 14. That is the first time Louisville has received votes in a national poll since Nov. 29, 2021.
• Louisville has the chance to play seven ranked teams all before January 2, including two teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
• UofL has a 255-80 record (.761) against non-conference opponents over the last 24 seasons (includes postseason), including a 186-26 record in home regular season non-conference games. The Cardinals are 110-17 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 15 seasons.
• 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%.
• The Cardinals took a foreign tour trip to the Bahamas in late July/early August to compete in two exhibition games as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League. Louisville won the first exhibition game played in July in the program’s record, defeating the Bahamas Select team 111-59 on July 30, 2024. The Cardinals dished out 38 assists in the victory which would have been a program record in a regulation game. Louisville defeated the Calgary Dinos 111-71 on August 1 to finish off the trip.
• 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. The Cards have 12 players designated as seniors this season, tied with Western Kentucky for the most on any team in men’s DI college basketball.
• 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
• 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

West Virginia

• WVU is 45-16 in in-season tournaments since 2007.
• These are WVU's fi rst regular season games in the Bahamas. The Mountaineers did travel to the Bahamas in August 2015 and played three games against club teams.
• This is WVU's fourth trip outside the United States and Puerto Rico to play a regular season game. WVU played in Cancun in 2013 and 2019, and opened the season in Germany in the 2017 Armed Forces Classic.
• WVU defeated a Top 5 AP team for the second consecutive season. Last season, the Mountaineers downed No. 3 Kansas in Morgantown, 91-85.
• Prior to the overtime win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU had lost six straight overtime games.
• West Virginia is the only team in the country that has two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game from last season -- Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg).
• West Virginia is 202-55 against nonconference teams in regular season games in the last 21 seasons.
• The Mountaineers have posted a winning nonconference record in 31 of the last 32 seasons.
• WVU is 265-98 in its last 363 games against unranked teams, including winners of 148 of its last 180 at the WVU Coliseum.
• Darian DeVries, who led Drake to six consecutive 20-win seasons and has a career .733 winning percentage as a head coach, was named the 23rd head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University on March 24, 2024.
• DeVries has a record of 154-56 (.733) in seven seasons as a head coach, including a 59-16 (.785) mark in the last two-plus seasons.
• This past August, the men’s basketball team went to Italy for a 10-day tour and won all three of its games against international competition.
• West Virginia returns just 2.8 percent of its scoring from last season’s team (Ofri Naveh).
• The Mountaineers are led by a pair of transfers in Tucker DeVries (Drake) and Javon Small (Oklahoma State). Last season, DeVries was named an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention selection, while Small earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.
• In addition, Eduardo Andre (Fresno State), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), Sencire Harris (Illinois), Amani Hansberry (Illinois) and Jayden Stone (Detroit Mercy) will all see considerable action this season.
• WVU has a wealth of experience on its roster who have college basketball experience. Entering this season, they have combined to play 806 games, made 442 starts, scored 7,606 points, grabbed 3,304 rebounds and dished out 1,248 assists.
• Tucker DeVries was named to the 20-member Julius Erving Preseason Watch List, giving annually to the nation’s top small forward.
• Tucker DeVries was named to the preseason Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List.
• Tucker DeVries was named to the John R. Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watch List.
• Tucker DeVries has scored the most points (1,867) of any senior (four-year players only) entering this season. He ranks eighth overall for career scoring by returning players (including fi fth-year) and third in the Big 12 Conference.
• Tucker DeVries has scored the fifth-most points in college basketball since 2021-22. He’s one of 12 players who have scored 1,800 or more points since 2021-22.
• Tucker DeVries has recorded 97 games in double figures.
• Eduardo Andre played in his 100th career game against Robert Morris.
• Joseph Yesufu reached 700 points for his career against Robert Morris.
• Toby Okani needs 37 more points to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Tucker DeVries is 63 points shy of reaching 2,000 for his career.
• Darian DeVries is 71-2 when scoring 80 or more points in a game and 135-16 when scoring 70 or more.
• Darian DeVries is 110-21 when holding opponents to 69 points or less and 52-6 when holding opponents to 59 points or less.
• West Virginia was predicted 13th in the Preseason Big 12 Poll by the league’s head coaches.
• West Virginia has made at least one 3-point fi eld goal in 869 consecutive games.
• The Mountaineers have won 147 of their last 165 games when holding opponents to 69 points or less.
• WVU has won 158 of its last 179 and 214 of its last 242 games when holding opponents to less than 69 points.
• West Virginia is 10-2 all-time in games played on November 28.

(Photo of Kasean Pryor: Kevin Jairaj - Imagn Images)

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