Louisville Men’s Basketball 2020 NCAA Tournament Capsule

March 6, 2020 · Joel Welser
 

Louisville Cardinals

ACC (24-7, 15-5)

 
Louisville entered the 2019-2020 campaign as one of the favorites to reach the Final Four. For the most part the Cardinals have lived up to those expectations. There was a losing run in December and another during conference play in February, but overall the Cardinals have played very well and should still be considered a team that could reach the Final Four and possibly win the whole thing.
 
Big Wins: 12/3 Michigan (58-43), 1/18 at Duke (79-73), 2/8 Virginia (80-73)
Bad Losses: 12/10 vs Texas Tech (57-70), 2/12 at Georgia Tech (58-64), 2/15 at Clemson (62-77)
Coach: Chris Mack
 
Why They Can Surprise:
With solid defense and one of the best three-point shooting percentages in the country, Louisville can beat anybody on any given day. Not many teams can go to Cameron Indoor Stadium and beat Duke, but that is what the Cardinals did on January 18th. In that game Louisville hit 50 percent of their three-point attempts and nearly the same mark from the floor. And they allowed Duke to shoot just 37.1 percent from the floor and 24.0 percent from beyond the arc. Jordan Nwora and Ryan McMahon are the main three-point shooting threats on the team. Nwora hit 40.2 percent of his attempts from long range and easily led the team with 18.0 points per game. McMahon is a great sharpshooter off the bench and hits 43.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
 
Why They Can Disappoint:
Louisville has a deep team and quite a few scoring options, but there has not been a consistent scoring threat after Nwora. Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton and Malik Williams are all solid frontcourt scorers. Sutton is the most dynamic of the bunch since the 6-5 senior can shoot the ball and attack the basket effectively. Nwora is going to do a lot for this team, but he will need some help on the offensive side of the floor. If Louisville has to rely too much on Nwora, the opposition will have an easy time containing him and making somebody else beat them.
 
Probable Starters:
David Johnson, Freshman, Guard, 6.3 ppg, 2.8 apg
Lamarr Kimble, Senior, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 2.7 apg
Jordan Nwora, Junior, Forward, 18.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg
Dwayne Sutton, Senior, Forward, 9.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg
Malik Williams, Junior, Forward, 8.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg
 
Key Role Players:
Steven Enoch, Senior, Center, 9.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg
Ryan McMahon, Senior, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 1.8 apg
Darius Perry, Junior, Guard, 5.2 ppg, 2.5 apg
Samuell Williamson, Freshman, Guard, 4.4 ppg
 
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 74.1 (99th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 63.7 (33, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.3 (91, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 38.9 (13, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.2 (72, 3)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.6 (17, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 73.1 (101, 6)
Rebound Margin: 6.3 (24, 2)
Assists Per Game: 14.0 (101, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.2 (87, 6)
 
Recent Postseason Appearances:
 
2019 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Minnesota
2018 NIT First Round win over Northern Kentucky
2018 NIT Second Round win over Middle Tennessee State
2018 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Mississippi State
2017 NCAA Round of 64 win over Jacksonville State
2017 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Michigan
2015 NCAA Round of 64 win over UC Irvine
2015 NCAA Round of 32 win over Northern Iowa
2015 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over North Carolina State
2015 NCAA Regional Final loss to Michigan State
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Manhattan
2014 NCAA Round of 32 win over Saint Louis
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Kentucky
2013 NCAA Round of 64 win over North Carolina A&T
2013 NCAA Round of 32 win over Colorado State
2013 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Oregon
2013 NCAA Regional Final win over Duke
2013 NCAA National Semifinal win over Wichita State
2013 NCAA National Final win over Michigan
2012 NCAA Round of 64 win over Davidson
2012 NCAA Round of 32 win over New Mexico
2012 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Michigan State
2012 NCAA Regional Final win over Florida
2012 NCAA National Semifinal loss to Kentucky
2011 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Morehead State
2010 NCAA Round of 64 loss to California
2009 NCAA Round of 64 win over Morehead State
2009 NCAA Round of 32 win over Siena
2009 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Arizona
2009 NCAA Regional Final loss to Michigan State
2008 NCAA Round of 64 win over Boise State
2008 NCAA Round of 32 win over Oklahoma
2008 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Tennessee
2008 NCAA Regional Final loss to Kansas
2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Stanford
2007 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Texas A&M
 
*all team stats through 3/8