Go Cards.
Photo by Stephen Furst/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Louisville Cardinals (7-5, 1-1) vs. Eastern Kentucky Colonels (6-6, 0-0)
Game Time: Noon
Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.
Television: The CW
Announcers: Eavan Lepier (play-by-play) and Seth Davis (analyst)
Officials: Bert Smith, Tony Henderson, Clare Aubry
Favorite: Louisville by 18.5
Series: Louisville leads, 53-22
Last Meeting: Louisville won 99-67 on Dec. 14, 2019 in Louisville
About Eastern Kentucky:
Fresh off its first conference regular season championship since 1979, Eastern Kentucky is off to a bit of an uneven start under seventh-year head coach A.W. Hamilton. The Colonels are 6-6, but the closest thing they have to a victory you can hang your hat on is a road win over 7-6 ETSU back in the first week of the season.
The Colonels, who were upset in the first round of last year’s Atlantic Sun tournament, are led by the two-pronged attack of veteran Devontae Blanton and newcomer George Kimble.
Blanton, now in his fifth season at EKU, currently leads the team in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (6.1 rpg) and assists (3.8 apg). Blanton isn’t a great outside shooter and he’s undersized around the rim at 6’6, but he is incredibly strong and has a terrific feel for the game once he gets into the lane. On most nights, the Colonels will go as he goes.
Kimble is the less polished of the two players, but I think he’s the more naturally gifted. He still gets out of control from time to time, but he’s doing a better job taking care of the ball than he was at the beginning of the season. The 6’2 sophomore has never seen a shot he didn’t like, and he will be launching early and often inside the Yum Center on Saturday afternoon.
EKU is playing a touch slower than Hamilton’s teams of the past have, but their overall DNA is the same. They want to get up and down, and they want to shoot a ton of threes. Like Louisville, they’re one of the leaders in the country in three-point fga per fgs, but unfortunately not one of the leaders in the country in made threes. The Colonels are hitting from beyond the arc at a 31.9 percent clip, 235th-best in D-I.
Defensively is where Eastern Kentucky has struggled the most this season. The battle cry for the Colonels when their opponents have the ball this season seems to be to gamble with reckless abandon. EKU is 28th in the country in steal percentage and 66th in forcing turnovers, but when they don’t come up with a takeaway, they are giving up an insane amount of high percentage shots right around the rim or from the perimeter. They also have the odd profile of being a terrific offensive rebounding team and a horrendous defensive rebounding team.
If Louisville takes care of the basketball, it should have a third straight impressive performance on offense. It would be another good afternoon to make open shots.
Notable:
—Louisville has won 15 consecutive games against Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels haven’t defeated the Cardinals since Dec. 4, 1963. That game was the first game ever played inside EKU’s McBrayer Arena.
—This will be Louisville’s first home game since Dec. 11. The Cardinals are 4-3 inside the KFC Yum Center so far this season.
—EKU ranks fourth in the NCAA in offensive rebounds with 15.83 per game.
—Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish second in the preseason Atlantic Sun media poll.
—The Louisville-EKU series is the longest of any team on the Cardinals’ schedule this year with 75 games between the programs.
—Louisville is 40-4 all-time in home games against Eastern Kentucky.
—EKU is 0-2 against ACC opponents this season, losing to Clemson and Pittsburgh. The Colonels led against both those teams at one point in the second half.
—Saturday’s game will mark the final non-conference contest of Louisville’s 2024-25 regular season schedule.
—Louisville has a 257-83 record against non-conference opponents over the last 23 seasons (includes postseason).
—Louisville has a 187-27 record in home regular season non-conference games over the last 23 seasons. The Cardinals are 111-18 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 14 seasons.
—Inside the KFC Yum Center, Louisville has a 107-18 record in non-conference games.
—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 130-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.
—Louisville is 115-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.
—Louisville has won 163 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.
Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 86, Eastern Kentucky 69
