Louisville-Virginia preview: Cards and Cavs battle on ACC tournament’s second day

11) Louisville Cardinals (13-18, 6-14) vs. 6) Virginia Cavaliers (18-12, 12-8)

ACC Tournament Second Round

Game Time: (Approximately) 9:30 p.m.

Location: Barclays Center: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Television: ESPN2

Announcers: Dave O’Brien (play-by-play), Cory Alexander (analyst) and Andraya Carter (reporter)

Favorite: Virginia by 6

Series: Virginia leads, 19-5

Last Meeting: Virginia won 71-61 on March 5 in Louisville

Series History:

Possible Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Virginia:

Let’s be real. Not much has changed with the Cavaliers since the last time these two teams squared off four days ago. A run to the ACC title game might be enough to get them into the NCAA tournament field as an at-large, but they’re going to have to cut down the nets in Brooklyn to feel certain about their chances of having a happy Selection Sunday.

Per usual, Virginia leads the ACC in scoring defense (60.4 ppg, 12th in the nation). Leading scorer Jayden Gardner (15.5 ppg, 11th in ACC) is among the ACC leaders in rebounding (7.0, 11th in the ACC), field goal percentage (.511, fifth in the ACC) and free-throw percentage (.813, sixth in the ACC).

You know the way they play, you know about their dominance of the Cards; Once again, I don’t think we need to make this section any longer than it has to be.

Notable:

—A win over Virginia would give Louisville multiple wins in a single ACC tournament for the first time since joining the conference in 2014-15.

—The Cardinals are 3-5 all-time in the ACC tournament, and have never advanced past the quarterfinal round.

—A victory over Virginia would also give Mike Pegues more ACC tournament victories than all U of L head coaches before him. Rick Pitino went 0-2 in the event, David Padgett was 1-1, and Chris Mack was 1-2.

—Louisville is 3-0 in tournament games this season under Pegues.

—Virginia is 43-63 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 4-1 in Brooklyn. The Cavaliers won the tournament title at the Barclays Center in 2018.

—Virginia is the No. 6 seed for the ACC Tournament for the ninth time in school history and second under head coach Tony Bennett. UVA won the tournament title as the No. 6 seed in 1976. They are 6-7 all-time in ACC tournament play as the No. 6 seed.

—This is the first time Louisville has been a double-digit seed for a conference tournament since being the No. 11 seed for the 2006 Big East tournament.

—UVA has advanced to the ACC tournament semifinals in six of the last seven events.

—Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 12-8 all-time in ACC tournament games.

—Louisville and Virginia have met once in ACC tournament play, with the top-seeded Cavaliers pulling out a 75-58 victory over the ninth-seeded Cardinals in the quarterfinals of the 2018 edition of the event.

—Louisville is just 2-14 against Virginia since joining the ACC in 2014-15, and has dropped 13 of their last 14 contests to the Cavaliers.

—A win over Louisville would send Virginia to the ACC tournament quarterfinals for the 10th straight year.

—Louisville Assistant Coach/Director of Basketball Operations Taylor Barnette played basketball his freshman year at Virginia (2012-13) before finishing his collegiate career at Belmont (1,085 career points).

—Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 14-2 lifetime against Louisville.

—Virginia is 8-1 all-time in games played at the Barclays Center.

—Louisville is 3-4 all-time in games played at the Barclays Center.

—UVA ranks eighth nationally in turnovers per game (9.8), 11th in scoring defense (60.4 ppg), 20th in assist/turnover ratio (1.45) and 19th in personal fouls per game (13.9).

—UVA has held Louisville to 59 or fewer points in 11 of 16 contests since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014-15.

—Louisville has made it to at least the quarterfinals in nine of the last 10 conference tournaments it has participated in. The Cards were set to play Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the 2020 ACC tournament on the day the event was canceled.

—In college basketball history, a team has never lost its first conference tournament game and gone on to win the NCAA tournament.

—Louisville has won 13 of its last 18 conference tournament games and has won four of the last 11 conference tournaments it has competed in.

—Louisville has played 31 games and used 15 different starting lineups this season.

—Louisville is 2-1 in ACC tournament second round games, with their lone loss coming to Duke last season.

—Since the tournament expanded, Virginia is 1-0 in ACC tournament second round games.

—Louisville is 217-13 over the last 20 seasons and 14-1 over the last three when scoring 80 points or more. That lone defeat came in this year’s 90-83 overtime loss to North Carolina.

—Louisville is 166-7 over the past 20 seasons when shooting 50 percent or better from the field and 13-0 over the last three.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Since 2004, Louisville is 131-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

—Louisville has won 162 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

—Louisville has won 156 consecutive games when scoring at least 85 points in regulation.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Virginia 65, Louisville 60