Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Pitt

Take a look at how the Cardinals stack up against the Panthers for their Saturday matchup, and who the statistical models favor:

Jan 7, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard J'Vonne Hadley (1) shoots against Clemson Tigers center Viktor Lakhin (0) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Clemson 74-64. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville (11-5, 4-1 ACC) is set to face Pitt (12-3, 3-1 ACC) on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 12:00 p.m. EST at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Here's how the Cardinals stack up against the Panthers:

*Mobile users can scroll left and right on the tables below*

Rankings

	Pitt	Louisville
AP/USAT	RV/RV	NR/NR
SOS	35th	7th
SOR	23rd	36th
BPI	34th	50th
NET	20th	39th
RPI	12th	19th
KenPom	27th	37th
Torvik	34th	33rd
EvanMiya	32nd	34th

Team Leaders

	Pitt	Louisville
Points	Ishmael Leggett (16.8)	Chucky Hepburn (15.1)
Rebounds	Guillermo Diaz Graham (5.9)	J'Vonne Hadley (7.9)
Assists	Jaland Lowe (5.9)	Chucky Hepburn (5.6)
Steals	Jaland Lowe (1.9)	Chucky Hepburn (2.6)
Blocks	Zack Austin (1.5)	James Scott (0.9)

Scoring

	Pitt	Louisville
Points Per Game	81.6	77.6
Field Goal %	48.3%	43.2%
FGM/FGA Per Game	28.7/59.4	25.9/59.9
Three Point %	35.5%	29.8%
3PTM/3PTA Per Game	8.6/24.2	9.2/30.9
Free Throw %	77.3%	72.7%
FTM/FTA Per Game	15.7/20.3	16.6/22.9

Rebounding

	Pitt	Louisville
Rebounds Per Game	35.9	38.3
Off. Reb. Per Game	10.1	12.7
Def. Reb. Per Game	25.8	25.6
Rebound Margin	2.7	4.7

Defense

	Pitt	Louisville
Opp. Points Per Game	68.9	69.8
Opp. FG%	41.8%	43.9%
Opp. 3PT%	31.5%	34.3%
Steals Per Game	7.2	7.0
Blocks Per Game	4.6	3.1
Turnovers Forced Per Game	12.4	13.8

Ball Handling

	Pitt	Louisville
Assists Per Game	14.4	13.4
Turnovers Per Game	10.3	11.7
Turnover Margin	2.1	2.1
Assist/Turnover Ratio	1.4	1.1

Predictions

- ESPN Prediction: Per ESPN's Basketball Power Index, Louisville has a 27.1 percent chance to win against Pitt. The Cardinals have a BPI rating of 10.9 (50th overall), whereas the Panthers have a BPI rating of 13.5 (34th overall).

- KenPom Prediction: Per KenPom.com, the Cardinals have a 32 percent chance to take down the Panthers, with a projected final score of 78-73 in favor of Pitt. Louisville has an adjusted efficiency margin of +17.44 (37th overall), whereas Pitt has an adjusted efficiency margin of +20.63 (27th overall).

- Torvik Prediction: Per BartTorvik.com, the Cards have a 36 percent chance to take down the Panthers, with a projected final score of 76-73 in favor of Pitt. Louisville has a "Barthag" of .8825 (33rd overall), whereas Pitt has a "Barthag" of .8822 (34th overall).

- Personal Prediction: Pitt 73, Louisville 72.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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