Louisville vs. Virginia preview: Cards look for Senior Day win over second-ranked Cavaliers

NO. 16 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (23-7, 11-6) vs. NO. 2 VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (28-1, 16-1)

Game Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Dick Vitale (analyst), and Allison Williams (reporter)

Officials: Mike Eades, Roger Ayers, and Tim Clougherty

Favorite: Virginia by 2.5 

All-Time Series: Virginia leads 6-3

Last Meeting: Virginia won 52-47 on Feb. 7 in Charlottesville

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Video:

About Virginia:

With one game still to play, second-ranked Virginia has already locked up its second consecutive outright ACC regular season title. A win over Louisville on Saturday would give the Cavaliers 17 conference victories, a number never before seen in the ACC. The Hoos are unbeaten this season away from home, where they've already won a school-record 11 true road games, and are 13-0 overall.

Leading the nation in scoring defense at 49.9 points per game, Virginia has held six teams under 40 points this year, and three below 30 (tying a record in the three-point era). The Cavaliers are also among the nation's top ten in field goal percentage defense (.353, 2nd in the nation), rebound margin (+8.7, sixth), scoring margin (+15.8, sixth) and assists-to-turnovers ratio (1.44, 10th).

All-ACC candidate Malcolm Brogdon leads UVA in scoring at 13.6 points per game. He scored 15 points in the first win over Louisville despite shooting just 3 of 13 from the field. Second-leading scorer Justin Anderson (13.4 ppg) has been sidelined since suffering a broken finger in the game against the Cards, and will be out again on Saturday after undergoing an appendectomy earlier this week. UVA's third player averaging double figures is junior forward Anthony Gill (11.7 ppg), who is also the team's leading rebounder at 6.8 rpg. He came off the bench to score 10 points and grab 8 boards against U of L last month.

Notable

--Today's Senior Day game has been deemed a "Red Out," which means all fans attending are encouraged to wear red.

--Senior Wayne Blackshear and junior Montrezl Harrell will be honored during a pregame ceremony beginning at 6:10 p.m. and then again after the game.

--Louisville has won 21 consecutive same-season rematches at home.

--U of L has won 12 of its 13 Senior Day games in the Rick Pitino era. Its lone loss came against South Florida in 2012.

--Virginia's 28-1 start is the best in school history.

--Louisville is 47-14 in the month of February over the last 8 seasons.

--Virginia is the first ACC school besides Duke or North Carolina to earn back-to-back outright ACC regular-season titles since NC State in 1973-74.

--The Cavaliers are also the first ACC school to record 16 or more league wins in back-to-back seasons.

--Louisville has a 25-5 record during the month of March over the last four years.

--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).

--Virginia has won its last five games by 10 points or more. For the season, 10 of the Cavaliers' 16 ACC wins have come by double digits.

--A win by Virginia on Saturday would make them the first team since 1998-2000 Duke to have fewer than three total losses in consecutive ACC seasons.

--Louisville is 21-2 all-time in March home games under Rick Pitino.

--Virginia has held its opponents scoreless for five or more minutes 25 times this season. Its season long was 12:06 in the first game against Louisville.

--Louisville's 1975 Final Four and 1980 national championship teams will be honored during a halftime ceremony.

--U of L is 160-9 over the last 14 seasons under Coach Rick Pitino when scoring 80 or more points (20-1 last season, 11-1 in 2012-13).

--Wayne Blackshear needs 48 points to become Louisville's 67th all-time 1,000-point scorer.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Virginia 56, Louisville 53