No. 22 Indiana men’s basketball (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) is set to take on No. 6 Louisville (7-1, 0-0 ACC) on Saturday in Indianapolis in the first of two major matchups for the Hoosiers in the city.
The Hoosiers are coming off of their first loss of the season, a pretty ugly one all things considered. Indiana fell on the road to a Minnesota team that was coming off of three straight losses, only two of which came against high-major programs. The win wasn’t enough to drag the sub-100 KenPom Golden Gophers
back into the realm of double digits and will weigh on Indiana like an anchor throughout the season.
The Cardinals, like the Hoosiers, are likewise coming off of their first loss. Unlike the Hoosiers, the Cards lost to a team that’s pretty good. Louisville made the trip down to Fayetteville and got got by old menace John Calipari, now leading the Arkansas Razorbacks. Beating Kentucky but losing to Cal has to feel a bit weird, but hey! Could be worse! Quite a bit!
Indiana Hoosiers vs Louisville Cardinals
- Game Time/Date: 2:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 6
- Game Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
- TV Channel: CBS
- Streaming: YouTubeTV/FuboTV
- KenPom Spread: Cards by 6
Predictions
Louisville’s offense is a more extreme version of what Indiana runs in that the Cards are even faster and take significantly more 3s. Like, significantly more. Just two teams in all of men’s college basketball rank higher in 3PA/FGA. That’s a wild stat, but it’s how they play.
This Louisville team could, and did, bury a 3-point deficient Indiana team last season. The Hoosiers aren’t built to run like the Cards, but they can get 3s in the air and that can help keep pace. This game could come down to which team gets cold first.
But I think Louisville is just better. The score could get weird with all the variance, but I think the Cards take this.
