Louisville vs. Bryant preview: The Gotham Classic continues

Louisville Cardinals (6-2) vs. Bryant Bulldogs (1-9)

Game Time: 7:01 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPNU

Announcers: Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (analyst)

Officials: James Luckie, Don Daily, Patrick Adams

Favorite: Louisville by 28

Series: First meeting

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Bryant:

Bryant enters Monday night’s game as losers of five consecutive games and owners of a 1-9 record. The Bulldogs lost at Memphis by a final of 90-72 over the weekend.

Sophomore guard Ikenna Ndugba has been Bryant’s top performer this season. Ndugba averages 13.5 points and 5.4 assists per game, and led the Bulldogs with a double-double performance of 17 points and 11 assists against Memphis. He also ranks 48th in the nation in both steals (2.38 per game) and assists (5.4 per game).

A year ago, Bryant went 12-20 overall but 9-9 in Northeast Conference play. They were beaten by Saint Francis (another U of L opponent this season) in the NEC tournament quarterfinals.

Notable:

—Louisville has a 15-3 record all-time in games played on Dec. 11, winning its last five on that date

—This is Louisville’s second game in the Gotham Classic, a five team round-robin tournament. The Cardinals are 1-0 in the event after beating Siena, while Bryant is 0-2 with losses to Memphis and Albany.

—Bryant will be Louisville's 316th different opponent in men's basketball. The Cards are 234-81 in first-time meetings, including 45-2 over the past 15 years.

—Louisville is second in the nation in blocked shots (8.0 bpg) and ranks 12th in field goal percentage defense (.369) and 21st in FT% (.779).

—Louisville is 8-0 all-time in home games against teams from the state of Rhode Island.

—Bryant freshman Charles Dudley is the son of 16-year NBA center Chris Dudley.

—Louisville’s Deng Adel and Bryant’s Bosko Kostur both hail from Melbourne, Australia, and they played together on junior teams while in Australia.

—In two games as a starter, Bryant redshirt freshman Brandon Carroll is averaging 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

—Louisville faced Bryant coach Tim O’Shea when he was the head coach at Ohio University, with the Cardinals prevailing 74-71 in the first game of the 2006 NABC Classic played in Louisville’s Freedom Hall on Dec. 8, 2006.

—Louisville has a 33-6 record during the month of December over the last six years, winning 21 of its last 26 in that month.

—Quentin Snider needs 136 points to become the Cardinals’ 68th career 1,000-point scorer.

—Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 15 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga).

—New toys will be collected and subsequently donated to Norton's Children's Hospital prior to tonight’s game. New toys for any age or gender will be collected at the entrance of the KFC Yum Center. A group of the toys will also be provided to the Home of the Innocents and Wesley House.

—Louisville has won 60 of its last 62 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum Center. The Cardinals’ loss to Seton Hall snapped a 22-game winning streak in such situations.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 90, Bryant 61