Louisville at Georgia Tech preview

NO. 17 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (21-6, 9-5) At GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (12-15, 3-12)

Game Time: 7:01 p.m.

Location: McCamish Pavilion: Atlanta, Ga.

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Shane Battier (analyst).

Officials: Jamie Luckie, Michael Roberts, and Tim Cloughery

Favorite: Louisville by 6.5

All-Time Series: Louisville leads 15-13

Last Meeting: Louisville won 76-64 in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Video:

About Georgia Tech:

The Yellow Jackets have dropped three of their last four outings, falling 89-60 at North Carolina on Feb. 21 as Marcus Georges-Hunt led the team with 15 points.  Georges-Hunt, a junior forward, is Georgia Tech's top scorer and ranks 12th in the ACC (13.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 35 steals).

Half of Charles Mitchell's rebounds have come off the offensive glass (90 of 180 rebounds, 9.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg). Georgia Tech ranks 16th nationally in rebounding margin (+7.3) and is 12th in offensive rebounds per game (14.0). In nine of Georgia Tech's 12 conference losses, they have been within one or two possessions with under a minute to play in regulation.

Notable

--Despite losing two of its last three games, Louisville is 45-13 in the month of February over the last 8 seasons.

--Terry Rozier has averaged 21.0 ppg over Louisville's last seven road games.

--Louisville's 117 victories over the last four years are tied for the most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville is the only school in the nation with three straight 30 win seasons, including a school-record 35 victories amassed by Louisville's 2012-13 NCAA Championship team (30 in 2011- 12, 31 in 2013-14).

--Georgia Tech has defeated its three conference opponents by a total of 45 points, all in double digits and all wire-to-wire. However, 10 of its 12 conference losses have come by a total of 38 points (Virginia the exception, by 29). Tech has lost twice by one point, twice by two points, once by three, once by four, once by five, once by six and twice by seven. Two of those losses went to overtime.

--Louisville hasn't lost to a team with a sub-.500 record since Jan. 1, 2008.

--Georgia Tech ranks No. 30 in the nation in the adjusted defensive efficiency rating by Ken Pomeroy.

--This will be Louisville's first appearance on ESPN's "Big Monday" since it was a member of the Big East Conference.

--U of L has scored fewer than 70 points in six straight games for just the 4th time in 67 years. They haven't scored fewer than 70 points in seven straight games since 1948 (source).

--Wayne Blackshear needs 87 points to become Louisville's 67th all-time 1,000-point scorer.

--U of L is 159-9 over the last 14 seasons under Coach Rick Pitino when scoring 80 or more points (20-1 last season, 11-1 in 2012-13).

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 62, Georgia Tech 59