The Cards will host the Cats on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.  Both teams score the ball effectively with Kentucky having the slight statistical advantage.  Both teams also get to the foul line at a high rate as well but UK might have the slight advantage in that department again because Kentucky fouls at a lesser rate than Louisville.

These are slight advantages for Kentucky, but it is important to take into account that while UK has played some great opponents thus far in 2018-19 the Cats SOS currently ranked 229th according to KenPom.  For Louisville the Cards have also played a very tough early schedule, but UofL’s SOS is just 84th.

Clear advantage for Louisville:  Defense.

Clear advantage for Kentucky: Rebounding.

Kentucky is perhaps the best rebounding team in the country and Louisville has shown dramatic improvement since the season began in understanding the pack line defense of Chris Mack.

Here is the team breakdown statistically:

Louisville Kentucky
Strength of Schedule (Ken Pom) 84th 229th
PPG 80.2 (41st) 84.2 (12th)
Avg Scoring Margin 11.8 (35th) 13.7 (27th)
Field Goal % 45.5% (123rd) 49.3% (16th)
Effective FG% 53.1% (101st) 54.9% (43rd)
2-pt FG % 52.6% (121st) 54.9% (59th)
3-pt FG % 35.8% (104th) 36.6% (77th)
FT % 77.2% (13th) 74.8 (43rd)
Team Fouls Per Game 18.3 (158th) 16.1 (29th)
Opp Team Fouls Per Game 22.2 (15th) 22.0 (19th)
FT Attempted Per Game 28.2 (6th) 27.8 (8th)
Opp FT Attempted Per Game 18.3 (114th) 15.2 (23rd)
Opp Shooting % 41.3% (76th) 42.7% (120th)
Opp Effective FG% 47.5% (73rd) 50.0 (156th)
Opp 2-pt FG % 44.8% (32nd) 45.0$ (41st)
Opp 3-Pt FG % 34.9% (216th) 38.9% (325th)
Rebound Rate 54.9 (22nd) 59.5% (1st)
Assists Per Game 13.1 (178th) 14.9 (74th)
Turnovers Per Game 12.4 (81st) 14.6 (248th)
Blocks Per Game 3.8 (104th) 5.7 (11th)
Steals Per Game 5.2 (275th) 6.3 (156th)
Opp Turnovers Per Game 11.9 (290th) 15.1 (66th)
Opp Blocks Per Game 3.2 (149th) 2.4 (39th)
Opp Steals Per Game 5.2 (50th) 5.9 (128th)
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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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