Virginia Cavaliers (14-5) vs. Louisville Cardinals (6-13)
January 27, 2024 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Louisville Cardinals +7.5 ; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Virginia Cavaliers and the Louisville Cardinals meet Saturday in college basketball action from KFC Yum! Center. Virginia is fresh off a Wednesday matchup versus NC State. In that one the 14-5 Cavaliers took an overtime win. As for Louisville, they’re riding a four-game losing streak at 6-13 overall after a loss to Duke on Tuesday. Let’s get into our Virginia vs. Louisville prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Virginia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers only lost one of their first 10 games this year, a 65-41 result versus Wisconsin. Virginia hit a sketchy 4-4 run in their next eight games though, with losses to Memphis, Notre Dame, NC State and Wake Forest alongside wins over Morgan State, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
In the NC State game on Wednesday, the Cavaliers were up 27-15 by halftime. Virginia ended up having to go to overtime in order to secure a 59-53 victory, though. Leading scorer Ryan Dunn managed a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks in the win.
Louisville Cardinals
Over on the Cardinals’ side, they haven’t had a great run this year—to put it mildly. Louisville has won just two of their last 12 games, taking losses to Virginia Tech, DePaul, Arkansas State, Kentucky, Virginia, Pittsburgh, NC State, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke otherwise in that time.
Back on Tuesday versus Duke, the Cardinals faced a tricky matchup. Louisville was down 45-34 going into the second half, then hit a 38-35 run the rest of the way for an 83-69 defeat. Tops in scoring was Brandon Huntley-Hatfield with 20 points, 11 rebounds and two assists.
ANDREW’S FREE VIRGINIA VS LOUISVILLE PREDICTION
I may take a stab on Louisville in this one. The Cardinals didn’t play horrifically versus a great Duke team in their last outing; the only really ugly stat was the 43-28 rebounding deficit (15-7 offensive)—but the 3-point shooting (29.4 percent) and free throw shooting (66.7 percent) weren’t great either.
The last time the Cardinals met up with Virginia was a 77-53 Cavaliers home win back on January 3. Louisville didn’t really get close at all in that one, and gave up 51.7 percent shooting overall. The Cardinals are going to need to get off to a much better start in this rematch, and with a bit of a home push I think they can eke into a cover if all goes well.
