With both schools coming off their first loss of the season, sixth-ranked Louisville and No. 22 Indiana will face a challenge getting back to their winning ways when they square off Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.
The Cardinals (7-1) and Hoosiers (7-1) played their first true road games on Wednesday. Louisville could not overcome a slow start in an 89-80 setback at No. 25 Arkansas in the ACC/SEC Challenge, while Indiana went cold in the second half of its Big Ten opener in a 73-64 loss to Minnesota.
Saturday’s game will feature a contrast of styles as the Cardinals come in with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 125.2 points per 100 possessions, according to KenPom.com. The Hoosiers have an adjusted defensive efficiency of 96.5 points per 100 possessions.
For Louisville, the key will be to get off to a better start. In the two games away from the Yum Center this season, the Cardinals have struggled in the first half.
In a game against Cincinnati played off campus at Cincinnati’s Heritage Bank Center on Nov. 21, the Cardinals shot just 25.9% from the field in the first half. Wednesday in Arkansas, Louisville made just a third of its shots and struggled behind the 3-point arc (3 of 20) as the Razorbacks led 47-29 at halftime.
Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey said his team could not keep the Razorbacks off the free-throw line (27 of 35) or the glass, where Arkansas enjoyed a 46-36 edge.
“We have a very quick turnaround,” Kelsey said after the loss. “We have a very talented, well-coached Indiana team in two days. We have to get home and have two great days of preparation. Luckily, we can get back out there quickly and get a chance to redeem ourselves, because we need to.”
The neutral-site game will be a homecoming for Louisville senior Ryan Conwell, who averages a team-best 19.5 points per game and is hitting 41.9% of his 3-point shots.
Much of the offense moves through the Cardinals’ backcourt as freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. (17.6 ppg) and senior guard Isaac McKneely (12.1) rank second and third, respectively, in scoring.
The Hoosiers entered Wednesday allowing opponents to shoot just 36.2% from the field. However, the Golden Gophers shot 48.9% (23 of 47) on Wednesday, the best a team has performed against Indiana this season.
“Defensively, we’ve been pretty good all year,” first-year Hoosiers coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “I thought we just gave up a lot of clean opportunities for them tonight, some layups and some open threes. Then offensively, we just kind of let their physicality kind of walk us down a little bit.”
Similar to Louisville, Indiana’s scoring starts with the team’s backcourt, primarily three senior guards. Tucker DeVries averages 16.8 points per game and hits 42.0% (29 of 69) of his 3-pointers. Lamar Wilkerson averages 16.5 ppg and connects on 40.4% (23 of 57) of his 3-pointers, while Tayton Conerway adds 12.6 ppg.
It is the third straight season that Louisville and Indiana will face each other in a neutral setting. Last season, the Cardinals enjoyed their biggest win in the rivalry, rocking the Hoosiers 89-61 in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas.
