Louisville vs. Indiana preview: Cards look for fourth straight win over Hoosiers

Louisville Cardinals (5-2) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (5-4, 1-1)

Game Time: 2:05 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analyst)

Officials: Ted Valentine, Mike Eades, Terry Wymer

Favorite: Louisville by 10.5

Series: Indiana leads 10-8

Last Meeting: Louisville won 77-62 on Dec. 31, 2016 in Indianapolis

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Indiana:

Indiana is off to a 5-4 start in its first season under head coach Archie Miller, including a 1-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers are coming off a 77-64 win over Iowa on Monday.

Indiana ranks 65th nationally in field goal percentage (.481), 42nd in blocked shots per game (5.1) and 57th in fewest turnovers per game (11.9). Junior forward Juwan Morgan is the Hoosiers’ leading scorer (13.8 ppg) and rebounder (6.3 ppg). Both IU and Louisville fell to a common opponent in Seton Hall (Indiana lost 84-68 on Nov. 15; UofL lost 79-77 on Dec. 3).

The Hoosiers leads the all-time series with Louisville 10-8, but the Cardinals have won the last three meetings between the regional rivals.

Notable:

—Louisville has won three straight in this series, all by 15 points or more and by a total of 54 points.

—Louisville leads the nation in blocked shots (8.4 bpg) and ranks eighth in field goal percentage defense (.366) and 16th in free-throw percentage (.785).

—Louisville has a 32-6 record during the month of December over the last six years, winning 20 of its last 25 in that month.

—Indiana is 3-4 in games against U of L played in Louisville. The Hoosiers haven’t beaten the Cardinals in the Derby City in 1959.

—Bob Knight sucks.

—Indiana senior guard Josh Newkirk faced the Cardinals twice while at Pittsburgh in 2014-15, totaling five points and three assists (1-7 FG, 3-4 FT) in an 80-68 Louisville win at Pitt, and seven points and two assists in a starting role (3-7 FG, 1-2 FT) as U of L won 69-56 at home.

—Three players will be making their third appearance in the Louisville-Indiana series. For Louisville, Anas Mahmoud and Quentin Snider both saw minutes for the Cardinals last season and in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden in 2014. IU senior Robert Johnson started in each of the last 2 meetings against the Cardinals.

—Louisville has a 13-6 record all-time in games played on Dec. 9, winning its last two on that date.

—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).

—Louisville has won 59 of its last 61 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum Center. The Cardinals’ loss to Seton Hall last Sunday snapped a 22-game winning streak in such situations.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 80, Indiana 69