IU basketball returns to action Saturday afternoon against Louisville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Cardinals are 7-1 and No. 13 in KenPom.
Saturday’s game tips off at 2:15 PM ET on CBS:
For the second straight season, Indiana and Louisville will meet in non-conference play. Last season, the Cardinals easily defeated the Hoosiers, 89-61, in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Louisville next played Darian DeVries-led West Virginia in their second game in the Bahamas, winning 79-70 in overtime before falling to Oklahoma a day later. Tucker DeVries struggled in that game, finishing just 3-for-9 from the field before fouling out 32 minutes into the game.
Indiana leads the all-time series between the two programs, 12-10.
MEET THE CARDINALS
Louisville is looking to build on a 27-8 season last season that ended in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Creighton, 89-75, at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
The Cardinals have retooled their roster after graduating all-guard Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards, Reyne Smith and Noah Waterman. Big man James Scott, a starter, transferred to Ole Miss.
The heavy offense is led by a trio of newcomers: Ryan Conwell, Mikel Brown Jr. and Isaac McKneely.
Conwell, an Indianapolis native in his fourth school in four seasons, leads the team in scoring with 19.5 points per game, shooting 46.4 percent on 2s and 41.9 percent on 3s. He is a career 84.3 percent free throw shooter and knows how to use his size, athleticism and physicality to get to the line. Conwell has made 44 free throws in eight games.
Brown Jr., a five-star recruit, is a projected top-five pick in next June’s NBA draft. The Orlando native has excellent size for a 6-foot-1 point guard and his athleticism makes him difficult to keep out of the lane. Brown is shooting 59 percent on 2s, 81.5 percent on free throws and has a 34.7 percent assist rate, which ranks in the top 50 nationally.
McKneely joined from Virginia and provides floor space to complement Conwell and Brown Jr. McKneely has made 61 of his 72 field goal attempts from beyond the three-point line. He shoots 41 percent from distance and is a career 42.1 percent 3-point shooter. He made 101 3s for the Cavaliers last season.
Hadley is the only holdover from last season in the starting lineup. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he is a hard-working player who does many of the little things that contribute to winning. In 24.4 minutes per game, Hadley is averaging 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals.
German big man Sananda Fru, who stands 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, starts at the five and gives the Cardinals a post scorer, an elite offensive rebounder and some rim protection. The 22-year-old has been declared a junior by the NCAA, has professional experience and shoots 76.2 percent on 2s. He ranks 21st nationally in offensive rebounding percentage and has 10 blocked shots.
The Cardinals can go 10 deep with their rotation with guards Adrian Wooley and Kobe Rodgers and frontcourt prospects Khani Rooths, Aly Khalifa and Kasean Pryor.
The 6-foot-4 Wooley is a transfer portal acquisition from Kennesaw State, a solid defender who struggled with his perimeter shot early this season. After shooting 41.4 percent on 3s last season, he is just 8-for-25 from distance this season. He is a solid 17-for-19 from the free throw line, and it may only be a matter of time before the perimeter shots start falling.
Kobe Rodgers, a 6-foot-1 guard, redshirted last season after transferring from Charleston and is averaging 4.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals in 14.9 minutes per game as a reserve. He is a quality backup who would spend more time on most other programs.
Khani Rooths originally signed with Michigan out of high school, but reopened his recruitment after the 2024 coaching change in Ann Arbor. After an up-and-down freshman season, the 6-foot-10 Rooths have earned two starts this season and are shooting 78.3 percent on 2s in eight games. He scored 36 points in the team’s first two games, but hasn’t scored in double figures since.
Khalifa, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound senior, is an excellent passing big man who sat out last season due to injury after previous stints at BYU and Charlotte. Khalifa has 26 assists in 103 minutes of game action.
Pryor, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior, has missed three games due to injuries and played just five minutes in Louisville’s most recent game at Arkansas. He averages 2.6 points in eight minutes per game.
PACE-FREE PREVIEW
All statistics have been updated during Thursday’s matches.
The teams have identical 7-1 records with a loss in their most recent outing. There’s a lot to like about the KenPom profile for the Cardinals.
Louisville plays an up-tempo style – 47th in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom – and has the fourth-best offense in the country. The Cardinals are aggressive on the offensive glass, rebounding 36.8 percent of their missed shots. Additionally, Louisville only turns over 14 percent of its possessions and shoots a solid 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 61.4 percent from 2-point range.
Defensively, Louisville ranks in the top 40 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, is very good on the defensive glass and allows opponents just 41.9 percent on 2s.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The KenPom projection has Louisville leading by four, with just a 36 percent chance of an IU win. The Bart Torvik projection favors Louisville by two points, with a 41 percent chance of a Hoosiers win.
Indiana already has experience at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this season in an exhibition game against Baylor, but this will be by far the most talented team the Hoosiers have faced yet. The Hoosiers need to be connected defensively, with a clear emphasis on limiting second-chance opportunities against a Louisville team that will crash the boards.
Offensively, Minnesota showed that taking DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson out of flow offensively can produce disastrous results for Indiana. It could be even more difficult for both players to get a clean look Saturday against a Louisville team that is faster, bigger and more athletic around the rim.
Currently a top-10 team in the national polls — although Wednesday’s loss to Arkansas will likely change that — Louisville presents a tough test and is the favorite coming into Saturday afternoon despite a crowd that will favor the Hoosiers.
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