Virginia Cavaliers (10-3) vs Louisville Cardinals (5-7)
2024-01-03 19:00:00 EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Virginia Cavaliers -14 -- Over/Under: 128.5
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The Louisville Cardinals and the Virginia Cavaliers meet in college basketball action from the John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday night. Can Louisville pick up their first conference win of the year? Or will Virginia send Louisville packing empty-handed? Let’s dive in and find out with our Louisville vs. Virginia Prediction.
Louisville Team Preview
The Louisville Cardinals come into this one looking to bounce back from a 95-76 loss to Kentucky last time out. Skyy Clark leads the Cardinals in scoring with 15.8 PPG along with 2.8 RPG and 2.7 APG while Tre White has 12.7 PPG with 6.1 RPG and Mike James has 12.3 PPG with 6.2 RPG as well. JJ Traynor has 10.1 PPG with 4.6 RPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Louisville so far this season while Ty-Laur Johnson has 8.3 PPG with a team-high 3.5 APG to lead Louisville in assists and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has 9.8 PPG along with 9.3 RPG to lead the Cardinals in rebounding this season. As a team, Louisville is averaging 74.6 PPG on 41.9% shooting from the field, 28.9% from three and 73.5% from the foul line this season. Louisville will face Pitt and Miami after this one.
Virginia Team Preview
The Virginia Cavaliers come into this one looking to rebound from a 76-54 loss at the hands of Notre Dame last time out. Reece Beekman leads the Cavaliers in scoring with 13.1 PPG as well as 5.5 APG to lead the Cavaliers in the assist department on the year. Isaac McKneely has 10.8 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Virginia so far this season while Ryan Dunn has 9.3 PPG with a team-high 6.7 RPG to lead the Cavaliers on the glass up to this point in the year. As a team, Virginia is averaging 65.8 PPG on 45% shooting from the field, 35.7% from three and 64.6% from the foul line this season. Virginia is 10-3 in the ACC standings.
Louisville vs. Virginia Prediction
I’m going to take a shot on Louisville here. Virginia’s slow style of play doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a high-scoring affair with a lot of opportunities to score and cover large numbers like these, and Louisville’s already shown this season that they can be competitive against upper-tier teams like Texas. I just think this is a closer game than this line would indicate, and I’m having trust issues with Louisville after that performance against Notre Dame. Give me Louisville and the points.
