CARDINALS

TV info, story lines for Louisville-Virginia

Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino reacts to his teams play against UNC Wilmington during the second half of play at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. December 14, 2014.

U OF L AT VIRGINIA

Game time: 7 p.m. Site: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va. Line: N/A yet. Series: Virginia leads 5-3, but U of L won the last meeting, 72-56, in Charlottesville in 1990. Television: ESPN (Dave O'Brien, Dick Vitale, Doris Burke). Radio: WKRD-790.

PROJECTED STARTERS

VIRGINIA (20-1, 8-1 ACC)

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-London Perrantes 6-2 So. 2.1 5.7

G-Malcolm Brogdon 6-5 R-Jr. 3.6 13.6

G-Justin Anderson 6-6 Jr. 4.3 13.9

F-Anthony Gill 6-8 R-Jr. 6.5 11.0

F-Darion Atkins 6-8 Sr. 6.1 7.1

Key reserves - Mike Tobey, C, 7-0, Jr., 7.6 pts.; Marial Shayok, G, 6-5, Fr., 4.0; Evan Nolte, F, 6-8, Jr., 2.3; Isaiah Wilkins, F, 6-7, Fr., 2.3; Devon Hall, G, 6-5, R-Fr., 1.5.

LOUISVILLE (19-3, 7-2 ACC)

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Chris Jones 5-10 Sr. 4.1 13.7

G-Terry Rozier 6-1 So. 5.5 18.5

F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 Sr. 4.7 11.2

F-Montrezl Harrell 6-8 Jr. 9.2 15.4

C-Chinanu Onuaku 6-10 Fr. 4.9 3.3

Key reserves – Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-So., 3.3 pts.; Shaqquan Aaron, F, 6-7, Fr., 2.3; Anas Mahmoud, F, 7-0, Fr., 1.2; Anton Gill, G, 6-3, So., 2.8; Quentin Snider, G, 6-1, Fr., 1.9; Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Fr., 1.3.

STORY LINES

This is Louisville's last chance at a big-time road win before the NCAA tournament. Yes, the Cardinals have games at Syracuse, FSU and Georgia Tech coming up, but none of those teams are sure-fire tournament teams, let alone one of the top squads in the country. So, Saturday's game could give Louisville's tournament resume a huge boost. U of L already has a RPI top-10 win over North Carolina, and two solid wins against Indiana (on a neutral court) and Ohio State, but a road win against one of the top two or three teams in the nation would lift U of L into the conversation for one of the top eight slots in the tournament.

The road vs. home shooting stats got more fuel tossed on them this week with Louisville's hot streak at Miami. U of L is now shooting 8.3 percentage points better on the road than at the KFC Yum! Center. What's more, U of L's shooting 7.8 percentage points better from 3 and 6.4 percentage points from the free-throw line. On the flip side, Virginia's 21-1 in its past 22 ACC home games, and ACC opponents shoot just 37.7 percent at John Paul Jones Arena.

The most important stats to watch in Saturday's game are points in the paint and fast-break points. Only one team -- Duke -- has scored more than four fast-break points against Virginia. Only one team -- Duke -- has broken 35 points in the paint against Virginia. Those are both primary areas of focus for Louisville's offense: Paint touches and transition baskets. For Louisville to win on Saturday, it has to mimic Duke and get out and run. Duke showed no fear in running off rebounds and attacking Virginia before its "pack-line" defense had time to settle inside the arc.