Louisville vs. Saint Louis preview: Unbeaten Cards and Billikens battle in Brooklyn

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (4-0) vs. SAINT LOUIS BILLIKENS (4-0)

Game Time: 8:00 p.m.

Location: Barclays Center: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Television: American Sports Network/WAVE-3

Announcers: Dave Armstrong (play-by-play) and Tim Scarborough (analyst)

Favorite: Louisville by 15

All-Time Series: Louisville leads 46-20

Last Meeting: Louisville won 66-51 on March 22, 2014 in the NCAA Tournament round of 32.

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Video:

About Saint Louis:

Saint Louis returns four starters from last season's team including 6-6 sophomore forward Milik Yarbrough, a 2015 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team selection. Senior guard Ash Yacoubou (15.8 ppg) leads four Billikens averaging double figures in scoring. Yacoubou, who has two double-doubles so far this season, also leads SLU in rebounding at 8.0 rpg, the fourth-best mark in the A-10.

As a team, SLU is shooting 47.0 percent from the floor (102-of-217), but just 31.0 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Billikens yield only 61.2 points per game and are allowing opponents to hit just 36.8 percent of their shots, both of which rank third in the A-10.

Saint Louis has beaten its three Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational foes by an average of 13 points, while Louisville has defeated the same three opponents by an average of 35.7 points. This will be the first game away from home for both teams this season.

Notable

--A win over Saint Louis in the final game of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational will give Louisville its 28th all-time regular season tournament title. Both teams have won their first three games in the event.

--Louisville has won 10 consecutive games in the month of November, and has won 38 straight home games in the month. Over the last four seasons, the Cards are 34-3 in November.

--Louisville enters this game ranking second nationally in field goal percentage defense (.292).

--Saint Louis is 3-2 all-time in games played at the Barclays Center. The Billikens won the 2013 Atlantic-10 Tournament inside the building.

--Louisville and Saint Louis were previously conference mates in three different leagues. The teams were in the Missouri Valley 1964-75 and were founding members of the Metro Conference, existing together in that league from 1975-1982. They reunited when both joined Conference USA and were together from 1995-2005.

--Louisville has started 4-0 for the seventh consecutive season.

--The Cards have opened with an 11-1 record each of the last three seasons.

--U of L has opened a season with four wins by 24 points or more for the first time in program history.

--Louisville enters Saturday ranked No. 2 in the Sagarin rankings and No. 8 in the RPI. The Cards are also No. 15 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings.

--Louisville's 127 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville and Wichita State are the only schools in the nation to win 30 games in three of the last four seasons, including a school-record 35 victories amassed by Louisville's 2012-13 NCAA Championship team.

--With just nine turnovers against St. Francis, Louisville has committed nine or fewer turnovers in seven of its last eight games dating back to last season.

--Louisville is 31-6 in neutral site games over the last four years.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 72, Saint Louis 62