BLACKSBURG – After playing three teams in a row for the second time this season, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team will face a new foe in No. 11/10 Louisville on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Hokies (15-13, 6-11 ACC) and Cardinals (23-6, 14-4) are both teams coming off losses earlier this week.
The last time these two faced off, the Cardinals came into Blacksburg last February and won 72-64. Tech on Sunday will be trying to accomplish something that hasn't happened since 1991, a win for the Hokies. The Cards own the all-time series 34-8, dating back to 1979.
This will be Mike Young's first game versus UofL, but his third against Chris Mack. They are 1-1 versus each other when they were at Wofford & Xavier. Mack won a triple OT thriller the first time in 2010, while Young won 56-55 last time (2012).
The matchup will be broadcast on ACC Network, with Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Jordan Cornette (analyst) and Katie George (sideline) on the call, while Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst) will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Properties.
GAME INFORMATION
Sun. | 6 p.m. ET at No. 11/10 Louisville | Stats | Watch | Radio | Notes
The last time out, Tech couldn't get it going offensively in the first half with just 11 points, but erased a 15-point halftime deficit in the second half, taking the lead momentarily but would fall at home off a [RV/RV] Virginia (20-7, 12-5) 3-pointer with two ticks left to lose by three points, 56-53.
Committing just seven turnovers against the No. 1 scoring defense in the land this Wednesday, including only two in the second half, the Hokies rank No. 1 in miscues a game (9.6). Tech is one of only two schools (Memphis) to boast four freshmen that average over 8.0 points per game, with Landers Nolley II (16.6), Tyrece Radford (10.3), Nahiem Alleyne (9.1) and Jalen Cone (8.0).
SCOUTING No. 11/10 LOUISVILLE
• The Cardinals are coming off a 15-point loss at No. 6/6 Florida State (24-4, 14-3) this past Monday, 82-67, snapping their two-game winning streak. UofL had three scorers in double figures and was up eight at the half (40-32), but went 1 of 12 from downtown in the second half and allowed 50 second-half points in the setback.
• Chris Mack enters his second season in Louisville, following a nine-year stretch as the head coach of Xavier where he went 215-97 and led the Musketeers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances. In his first year with the Cards, Mack guided UofL to a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tourney and beat four AP Top 25 teams along the way to a 20-14 record.
• Louisville is paced by preseason ACC Player of the Year Jordan Nwora, who is averaging the second-most points per game in the league with 17.9 and 7.4 rebounds a game. Scoring in a variety of ways, he's made 70 3s and 100 free throws this season.
• One of the better defensive teams in the land, the Cards rank 18th nationally and second in the conference with allowing just 38.9 percent of its opponents' shots to go in. UofL ranks third in points allowed per game (64.3) in the ACC.
