The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head to KFC Yum! Center to take on the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals. The game starts at 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, Dec. 19 and will air on ESU and ES3.
The Cardinals easily got past Kennesaw State 94-57 on Wednesday. Damion Lee led all scorers on the team with 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting. The Hilltoppers are coming off a 79-70 win over Alabama A&M on Wednesday. Justin Johnson stood out for Western Kentucky, accumulating 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
Louisville is a considerable 22-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 137 points. While the Cardinals are 8-1 Straight Up (SU) so far, they’ve managed an Against The Spread (ATS) record of 5-0 so far. The Cardinals have one of the most prolific offenses in the entire nation, averaging 86.9 points per game. Louisville is known to control the offensive glass, where it racks up an impressive 15.4 offensive rebounds per game. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Louisville, which ranks 44th at 1.40. Turning to the defensive side, the Cardinals are the 43rd-best team in the country at taking the ball away from their opponents, averaging 8.2 steals per game.
On the other side, Western Kentucky has a SU record of 6-4 and an ATS record of 3-4.
Louisville and Western Kentucky will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Cardinals were winners, moving their SU record against Western Kentucky to 7-1 in their most recent head-to-head meetings. At 4-4, they are even ATS. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Louisville held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last five meetings. Western Kentucky never did so in those games.
Predictions: SU Winner – Lou, ATS Winner – Lou, O/U – Under
Notes
Louisville is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games.
Louisville is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Louisville is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Western Kentucky.
Louisville is one of the top-scoring teams in the nation, averaging 86.9 points per game (ranked 10th). Western Kentucky, on the other hand, allows 76.6 points per game (ranked 281st).
Louisville scores 89.4 points per home game (ranked 35th). Western Kentucky ranks a poor 282nd in points allowed on the road, allowing 81.5 points.
Louisville won its last game by a 37-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Western Kentucky is 2-1. Louisville is 8-0 in blowouts this season.
The Louisville Cardinals have the best defense in the country, giving up just 82.1 points per 100 possessions. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers rank 37th in offense, scoring 115.5 points in the same number of possessions.
The Louisville Cardinals have one of the best field goal percentages this season, ranking fifth in the nation with a FG% of 52.5%. When their opponents record a similar or higher FG%, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are winless with a 0-1 record.
The Louisville Cardinals rank higher based on their field goal percentage (fifth) than their effective field goal percentage (15th). The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (58th) than their field goal percentage (73rd).
Louisville ranks 85th in assists, registering 15.2 per game. Western Kentucky performs worse at 113th with 14.6 assists per game.
Louisville ranks 45th in blocks per game with 5.2 and Western Kentucky ranks 66th with 4.9 blocks per game.
Louisville is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to offensive rebounds, ranking ninth. Western Kentucky ranks 89th in defensive rebounds.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers make an average of 3.5 steals per game. When the Louisville Cardinals give up 3 or more steals, they are a formidable 7-1.
