The Louisville Cardinals are set to face off against the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. on Monday, and it promises to be a hard-fought battle between two strong teams. With the game airing on ESPN, fans will be eagerly watching as the Cardinals take the momentum on the road against Duke.
For senior guard El Ellis, the game will be a homecoming, as he is a native of Durham, N.C. It will also be a homecoming for UofL assistant coach Nolan Smith, a former Duke star player and staffer. Smith was a consensus first-team All-American and the 21st overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2011, leading the Blue Devils to the 2010 national championship and three consecutive ACC titles (2009-11). He later spent six years on staff with the Blue Devils as they claimed the 2015 national title.
Louisville’s Kenny Payne and Duke’s Jon Scheyer are two of three head coaches in the country to win national titles as a player and a coach (including as an assistant). The third is Austin Peay’s Nate James, a former Duke player and assistant.
As the Cards continue their eight-game stretch to end the regular season, they face a challenging series of games against teams in the top 80 of the NET Rankings. Their five opponents from Pitt to Duke have an average NET Ranking of 41.
Senior guard El Ellis has been a standout player in the last three games, averaging 27.3 points per game while shooting 57% from the field, 45% from 3, and 90% from the free-throw line. He has also shown significant improvement in his assist-to-turnover ratio, posting positive or even ratios in 15 of the last 18 games.
Junior forward JJ Traynor has also been a key player for Louisville, averaging 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in two games last week. In Saturday’s win over Clemson, he had a career-high 16 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks, making him just the fifth Cardinal since at least 2010 to post those numbers in a game.
Louisville has also shown significant improvement in terms of turnovers and 3-point shooting, with the team averaging 8.4 3-point makes per game in the last eight games after averaging just 5.9 made 3s across the first 19 games. The team has also had 13 or fewer turnovers in five of the last seven games.
On the free-throw front, Louisville has shot at least 20 free throws in 10 of the last 18 games. Against Clemson on Saturday, UofL made 26 of 28 free throws (92.9%), its third-best performance ever from the stripe on at least 25 attempts. Freshman forward Kamari Lands has also been a standout player, making 28 of 30 free throws across the last 18 games and shooting 93% or better from the stripe on at least 45 attempts.
Finally, sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield returned to the team against Virginia on Feb. 15 after missing the previous eight games with a foot injury. He leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game and is averaging 7.2 points per contest.
As Louisville faces off against Duke in a battle of strong teams, fans can expect an intense and hard-fought game that showcases the best of both teams.
