Go Cards.
Louisville Cardinals (16-8, 6-5) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-12, 4-6)
Game Time: 7:01 p.m.
Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.
Television: ESPN2
Announcers: Doug Sherman (play-by-play) and Cory Alexander (analyst)
Officials: Roger Ayers, Les Jones, Ted Valentine
About Georgia Tech:
Georgia Tech (11-12, 4-6 ACC) has lost five of its last six games, including an 80-72 loss in overtime at Boston College in its last outing. Big man Ben Lammers led six Georgia Tech players in double figures with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Georgia Tech is 22nd nationally in scoring defense (64.5 ppg) and 20th in blocked shots (6.0). The Jackets started the ACC 3-1 for the first time since 2003-04, including home victories over then No. 15 Miami and No. 25 Notre Dame. Senior guard Tadric Jackson reached 1,000 career points two games ago against Syracuse.
Josh Pastner’s team plays at the third slowest pace of any team in the ACC, and the 310th-slowest pace in all of Division-I. Only nine teams in the country get a fewer percentage of their points from the three-point shot.
Notable:
—Louisville hasn’t lost four consecutive games since a four-game losing streak that stretched from Feb. 12-Feb. 25 in 2004.
—U of L hasn’t lost three consecutive home games since Denny Crum’s final season in 2000-01.
—Louisville is second in the nation in blocked shots (6.7 bpg) and ranks 21st in field goal percentage defense (.400) and 44th in 3-point defense (.319).
—Anas Mahmoud is sixth in the nation in blocked shots (3.17) and Ray Spalding is 17th in offensive rebounds (3.42).
—A Georgia Tech would be the 200th of Josh Pastner’s career. His current overall coaching record is 199-100.
—Louisville is 3-2 all-time in games against Georgia Tech head coach Josh Paster. Pastner went 2-2 against the Cardinals when he was at Memphis.
—Georgia Tech’s Ben Lammers ranks 25th nationally according to KenPom in percentage of available minutes played (90.9), and No. 1 among centers.
—Louisville has held six of its 11 ACC opponents to 40 percent or below shooting from the field, but U of L’s last three opponents have shot a collective 48.5 percent from the field.
—The Cardinals have collected nine or more steals in six conference games.
—Louisville and Georgia Tech played the first college basketball ever inside the Georgia Dome. The game was played in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a college game in the state of Georgia at the time (28,885). The Jackets won the game on a halfcourt buzzer-beater by James Forrest.
—Louisville has a 41-10 record in its conference home games over the last six years (.804), including an 8-1 record last year. The Cardinals have the third-most conference home wins in its four years in the ACC with 26.
—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 a 57-20 record during the month of February over the last 10 years (.740), winning 23 of its last 33 in that month (5-2 last year).
Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 73, Georgia Tech 63
