Louisville Cardinals (0-0) vs. South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-0)
Game Time: 9 p.m.
Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.
Television: ACC Network
Announcers: Jay Alter (play-by-play) and Terrence Oglesby (analyst)
Officials: TBA
Favorite: Louisville by 35.5
Series: First Meeting
Projected Starting Lineups:
Louisville
- G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
- G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
- G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
- G/F J’Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
- F/C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)
South Carolina State
- G Jayden Johnson (6-1, 165, So.)
- G Florian Tenebay (6-6, 195, Sr.)
- G Colin McKenzie (6-6, 200, Sr.)
- F Chris Parker (6-6, 215, Jr.)
- F James Marrow (6-8, 210, Jr.)
Statistics:
Relevant Videos:
About South Carolina State:
South Carolina State is
coming off of a season in which it came just two points away from crashing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Bulldogs had ripped off 11 consecutive victories before a 66-65 loss to Norfolk State in the MEAC Tournament championship game ended their campaign.
Reigning MEAC Coach of the Year Erik Martin has done a remarkable job in his first three years in Orangeburg, taking the Bulldogs from five wins to 14 wins and then 20 wins a year ago. His next task will be producing the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in the history of the program.
That task was made tougher by the transfer of HBCU All-American Drayton Jones, who bolted for Butler after a breakout sophomore season. Jones was the defensive anchor of a team that won with defense in the traditionally offensive-minded MEAC. Martin will hope that a combination of key returnees and talented newcomers will be able to replicate that success.
Chief among the returners is preseason MEAC Player of the Year Jayden Johnson. The 6’1 Brooklyn native returns following a strong freshman campaign that earned him a slot on the MEAC All-Rookie team last year. He appeared in 32 games with 12 starts. Johnson shot 42 percent from the field and totaled 156 points, 69 rebounds, 73 assists, and 35 steals during his debut season. His best performance came in a non-conference matchup against Georgia, where he scored 16 points, going a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
It’s a little wild to see a preseason conference POY who averaged just 4.9 ppg the season prior, but that’s sort of the new reality in low major basketball. If you average much more than that, you’re heading somewhere else the next season. Case in point: In addition to Jones, five other players from last year’s South Carolina State team went portaling. Two others graduated, forcing Martin to bring in eight newcomers for this season.
Martin is banking hard on Chris Parker and Obie Bronston Jr., a pair of JUCO transfers with a reputation for getting buckets and being explosive. Another transfer, 6’10 Cameron Clark, is expected to help out on the interior despite getting minimal playing time as a freshman last season at Cal State Bakersfield.
SC State was picked to finish third in the MEAC in the league’s preseason media poll, and it’s a safe bet that Martin will have them near the top of the league standings once late February rolls around. It’s also a safe bet that the heavy roster turnover will lead to some disjointed basketball early on. The Bulldogs are one of the faster-paced teams on Louisville’s schedule, and likely won’t shy away from trying to run with the Cards. If U of L is hitting from the outside the way they did against Bucknell last week, they could put up a large number on night one.
Notable:
—Louisville has won 20 of its last 21 season-openers, and 29 of its last 32. The Cards had won 18 consecutive season-openers before a 2022 loss to Bellarmine.
—Louisville returns just a single starter and five Cardinals who have suited up in the Red and Black before. Overall, UofL returns 22.9% of its scoring (628 of 2,747 points), 31.2% of its rebounding (407 of 1,305), 18.3% of its assists (89 of 486) and 25.7% of its minutes (1,807 of 7,025) from the 2024-25 season.
—Louisville is coming off a debut season under head coach Pat Kelsey in which it improved from eight wins in 2023-24 to 25 wins in 2024-25, the largest turnaround in program history, improving by 19 wins. The Cards led the nation in win differential.
—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 2-0 in games against South Carolina State, facing the Bulldogs once as the head coach at Winthrop and once as the head coach at Charleston.
—Louisville is 12-0 all-time in games against MEAC opponents. The only one of those games to be decided by single-digits was a 90-81 win over Morgan State on Nov. 22, 2009 at Freedom Hall.
—South Carolina State’s last victory over a power conference opponent was a 60-50 triumph at Miami on Nov. 23, 2004. The Bulldogs nearly knocked off Xavier (71-68) last season.
—Louisville has a 258-84 record against non-conference opponents over the last 24 seasons (includes postseason).
—Louisville has a 188-27 record in home regular season non-conference games over the last 24 seasons. The Cardinals are 112-18 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 15 seasons.
—Inside the KFC Yum Center, Louisville has a 108-18 record in non-conference games.
—After going 59-0 in November home games from 1991 to 2021, Louisville has lost at least one November home game in each of the last four seasons.
—Before 2021, Louisville’s last November home loss had come in 1972.
—Pat Kelsey is the reigning ACC Coach of the Year and is one of 10 active DI head coaches that have earned a Coach of the Year honor in three or more DI conferences.
—Two Louisville players — freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. and senior guard Ryan Conwell — were named First Team preseason All-ACC.
—There are 14 players returning to DI this season that have made at least 175 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14.
—Louisville is 27-0 under Pat Kelsey when leading a game with 5 minutes to play.
—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.
—Louisville is 115-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.
—Louisville has won 164 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.
Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 94, South Carolina State 64
