The Louisville Cardinals journey to Bloomington on Saturday to take on the Indiana Hoosiers as both teams are on the outside looking in for the Top-25, but a big win cold buoy either team to the bottom of the list if things go right.
Indiana comes into play with just a pair of losses, both coming on the road—one against Arkansas and the other against Duke. Can the Hoosiers maintain their undefeated homer record in this one against a Louisville team that’s already upset a top-ranked Michigan State team?
With the basketballs schedule rolling towards the conference play, this game between Louisville and Indiana is a good measuring stick for both programs as they were preseason bubble teams that have shown well overall in their first month of action on the hardwood.
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Louisville Cardinals vs. Indiana Hoosiers
Date and Time: Saturday, December 8, 2018, 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
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Cardinals vs. Hoosiers TV Coverage: FOX
Louisville took losses to Tennessee and Marquette a couple weeks ago in Brooklyn during the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, but have since won three straight games, including an upset against Michigan State.
Against the Spartans, the Cardinals shot just 39.6-percent from the floor, but sank 10 of 29 from three-point range and tallied 30 points from the free-throw line to walk away with the victory. That game was at home, which—of course—helped, but it was still an important win.
Still, the team struggled to shoot well outside of some great work from beyond the arc by Ryan McMahon off the bench. He scored 24 in the game, including 12 from the free throw line as he drew a number of fouls and capitalized on the chances.
After the win to Michigan State, the Cardinals also beat Seton Hall and Central Arkansas to improve to 6-2 on the year.
Overall, shooting accuracy is a problem for Louisville. The team’s averaging 84 PPG, but needs a bit more consistency on its shots.
Inside the paint, Louisville has a strong collection of players including Jordan Nwora, Steven Enoch, V.J. King and Dwyane Sutton. Nwora is the team’s scoring leader with 17.0 PPG and is the only Cardinal with more than 9.9 PPG through eight games.
Enoch, King and Sutton all provide good rebounding and some offense though none have been prolific blockers early, leaving Malik Williams as the best defender inside.
In the backcourt, McMahon is the leading scorer with 9 PPG, a number propped up by his 24 point outburst against Michigan State. Christen Cunningham and Darius Perry, meanwhile, are seeing the most playing time. Cunningham can set up his teammates for shots, but isn’t a good shooter himself while Perry is a much better shot, sinking 62.2-percent of his shots from the floor and 44.4-percent from three, but only has 8.6 PPG. He had just two points in 16 minutes against Michigan State.
On the other side of this matchup, the Hoosiers enter play at 7-2 and beat the same Marquette team that toppled Louisville earlier this year, winning in commanding fashion against the Golden Eagles, 96-7 back on November 14. Since then, the team’s gone 4-2 with losses to Arkansas and Duke, both coming on the road. The team’s yet to lose at home—or on a neutral floor.
In general, Indiana is averaging fewer PPG than Louisville at 79, but the team’s shown the ability to rack up the points as they did against Marquette. The Hoosiers are also better shooters from the floor than the Cardinals with a 51.7-percent mark as a team.
Juwan Morgan is one of the best shooters on the team. He’s averaging 15.6 points and has 8.4 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.2 BPG to go with it. He’s a great all-around player inside. He can even sink shots from the perimeter when needed.
He’s joined in the frontcourt by Justin Smith, Evan Fitzner and De’Ron Davis, the latter two provided a bit more size and defense inside.
On the outside, this team is stacked with talent and has a clear advantage over Louisville. Romeo Langford has 17.9 PPG to lead the team and has provided a number of rebounds, blocks and steals to boot.
Aljami Durham, meanwhile, provides a solid shot from outside and Rob Phinisee is an excellent contributor, too, leading the team in assists.
Live Betting
The Hoosiers’ superior shooting team should overcome the Cardinals, particularly with them playing at home, but we’ve already seen Louisville come up big against tough competition so it’s hard to count them out.
Watch how the Cardinals are able to do early shooting the ball, particularly outside. If their players can get hot, look for them to surprise in this one. In the end, they’ll likely need some help with Indiana ushering them to the foul line—as Michigan State did—to get the win. But, a dominating performance inside while shutting down Morgan with Nwora, Enoch, King and company is possible, too.
Keep a close watch on the first half to see how this all plays out and be sure to take advantage of all the live betting opportunities at BookMaker.eu throughout the contest.
Key Player
Look for a big game from Romeo Langford on the outside for the Hoosiers. Morgan is the leader of this team and senior forward should have a big game, too, but the Cardinals have options to compete with him inside, Langford is much better than the options Louisville has on the perimeter.
The freshman guard has been great from Game 1 and leads the team in scoring. He’s also provide solid rebounding for a guard, a number of assists and even has nine blocks on the year. He’s able to move around and gives Indiana a great deal of flexibility.
He’s also been consistent, scoring at least a dozen points in all nine games, including butting up 20 or more four times. He’s even got a double-double coming in the loss to Arkansas when he scored 22 points and nabbed 10 rebounds.
Langford is a star on the outside to compliment Morgan inside and someone that the Cardinals are ill-equipped to handle.
Cardinals vs. Hoosiers Live Betting
The Cardinals are averaging more PPG, but it’s the Hoosiers who’ve proven themselves the superior shooting team. Look for this to be a close game against two bubble teams, but ultimately, look for Indiana to come away victorious.
The home court advantage will play here as the Hoosiers have yet to lose at home and the Cardinals’ premiere win over Michigan State came at home. It also came when they were given a ton of free throws. Look for Indiana to do a better job than the Spartans did about limiting the fouls and staying out of trouble that way.
The Hoosiers also beat a mutual opponent in Marquette that handed the Cardinals a loss. On paper, Indiana looks to have more talent and that’s especially true outside where the Hoosiers ultimately win this matchup.
Be sure to check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for this weekend’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Indiana 79, Louisville 74
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