Louisville will close out a disappointing season when it travels to No. 13 Virginia on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals notched a win over Clemson in mid-February, but they have lost three games since then. Virginia snapped a two-game losing streak with a 64-57 win against Clemson on Tuesday.
Louisville will be excited to get across the finish line at this point, as it has gone through one of the worst seasons in ACC history. The Cardinals have lost 17 of their 19 conference games, with their lone wins coming against Georgia Tech and Clemson, which both happened to come last month. They have lost three straight games since beating Clemson, falling to Duke, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech by double digits. One of their only bright spots this year has been the play of senior guard El Ellis, who is the second-leading scorer in the ACC. He scored 28 points in the win against Clemson and is averaging 17.8 points overall.
“Everyone comes with baggage. In this fight and this world, understand that they're not alone. I'm not just the therapist, but I'm actually a person to them.” – @RoyceJonesLLPC
Mental Health Matters#GoCards pi c.twitter.com/lpdtR5sdDM
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) March 3, 2023
The Cardinals have been among the worst shooting teams in the country this year, ranked No. 290 of 363 teams in effective field goal percentage (48.2). They have been even worse when it comes to turning the ball over, sitting at No. 352 in turnover rate. This is going to be a challenging matchup for them, as Virginia ranks No. 28 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Ellis is the only double-digit scorer for Louisville, as freshman guard Mike James is adding 9.7 points and junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers is scoring 9.1 points. Sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who began his career at Tennessee, is averaging 6.7 points and 5.5 boards.
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!