Louisville Cardinals (8-1) vs. Memphis Tigers (4-4)
Game Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.
Television: ESPN
Announcers: Wes Durham (play-by-play) and Cory Alexander(analysis)
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Officials: TBA
Favorite: Louisville by 15.5
Series: Louisville leads, 54-36
Last Meeting: Louisville won 81-72 on Dec. 16, 2017 at the Gotham Classic in Brooklyn, NY
Series History:
Projected Starting Lineups:
Louisville
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G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
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G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
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G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
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F J’Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, Sr.)
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C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)
Memphis
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G Dug McDaniel (5-11, 170, Sr.)
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G Quante Berry (6-4, 185, Jr.)
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G Zach Davis (6-7, 205, Sr.)
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F William Whorton (6-8, 210, So.)
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C Simon Majok (7-1, 220, Fr.)
Statistics:
Relevant Videos:
Memphis State’s Season to Date:
About Memphis:
It’s year eight of the Penny Hardaway era at Memphis, and Tiger fans are growing restless with a program that has tasted victory in the NCAA Tournament just once under the direction of the former NBA superstar. The team’s start in 2025-26 hasn’t helped matters.
Memphis opened the season 1-4 with understandable losses to Ole Miss, Purdue and Wake Forest (at the buzzer), and an embarrassing 14-point home loss to UNLV and former head coach Josh Pastner. Since then, the Tigers have steadied the ship a bit. They beat both New Orleans and Southern Illinois by 16 before playing easily their best game of the season in a 78-71 home win over Baylor last Saturday.
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The Tigers are one of the many teams in college basketball this season that seem to have a handful of talented pieces that all seem to be going in different directions far too often. When everyone is on the same page and things are clicking, they have the combination of size, talent and athleticism to give just about anyone in the country a game. When they aren’t, well, it’s difficult to watch basketball.
MSU has been led so far this season by 5’11 point guard Dug McDaniel, a two-year starter at Michigan before transferring to Kansas State and running the point for Jerome Tang last season. McDaniel is a super entertaining player to watch if you don’t have any skin in the game. He is a terrific passer who probably (read: definitely) takes too many risks, a mindset which has resulted in averages of 6.4 assists and 3.1 turnovers per game. He’s a good, not great outside shooter who can get hot from time-to-time, but he’s more dangerous moving towards the basket with the ball in his hands.
Defensively, McDaniel is a gambler. He averages just under 2 steals per game and will look to swipe at the ball in any and all situations. He can certainly play, but he’s going to be giving up at least four inches to any Louisville guard that he’s going up against.
No other Memphis player is averaging double figures in scoring at the moment, but South Carolina transfer guard Zach Davis (9.1 ppg/5.4 rpg) is coming off perhaps the best performance of his college career, a 23-point, 13-rebound explosion in the win over Baylor. At 6’7, Davis is listed as a guard but plays more like a forward for Hardaway. His offensive game is similar to J’Vonne Hadley’s in that he’ll take the outside shot if he’s left open, but is just as comfortable posting up or backing down a defender if he feels like he’s got an advantage.
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Sincere Parker (9.0 ppg) was arguably the top performer on Will Wade’s McNeese State team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. He’s struggled a little bit with the adjustment to the higher level, and seems unsure of how to handle being surrounded by players that are every bit as talented as he is. He hasn’t shot better than 50.0 percent from the field in a game since opening night, but is still one of the team’s most reliable on-ball defenders.
For my money, the best player on this team is Western Kentucky transfer Julius Thedford, but Penny Hardaway seems to disagree. Thedford, who’s shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three while getting just 17 minutes of court time per game, hyperextended his knee last week and missed last Saturday’s game against Baylor. There’s been no official word on his status against Louisville, but if the 6’4 sophomore who grew up in Memphis is able to go, it’ll be a nice boost for the Tigers.
Louisville fans likely remember the name Aaron Bradshaw, the former teammate of DJ Wagner who was heavily recruited by the Cards three summers ago. After unproductive seasons at Kentucky and then Ohio State, the 7’1 big man is now trying to jump start his career at Memphis, but is off to another fairly slow start. He’s coming off of back-to-back impressive performances, though, a 17-point game against Baylor and a 14-point effort against Southern Illinois. Bradshaw has a soft touch around the rim, but he isn’t an overly physical presence. He has just one blocked shot on the year and enters the weekend averaging just 2.4 rebounds per game. Sananda Fru, Aly Khalifa and company can’t treat him with kid gloves.
Offensively, Memphis has shot the ball pretty poorly at all three levels. They rank 214th or worse in the country, in two-point shooting, three-point shooting and free-throw shooting. The Tigers are also turning the ball over on 18.5 percent of their offensive possessions, good for 232nd in D-I. The one thing they do exceptionally well is hit the offensive glass. They’re rebounding 37.5 percent of their own missed shots, a dangerous number for a Louisville team that gave up 18 offensive boards in their only loss of the season.
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Defensively, the numbers mostly like what the Tigers have doing. Watching them a few times this year, however, there’s something that stands out. In halfcourt situations, Memphis will defend really well for 10-15 seconds …. and then will just sort of lose its mind. Players start gambling for no reason, guys double when there’s no reason to double, and they end up giving up a good look late in the shot clock. U of L’s patience, should they display it, will be rewarded in this game. Keep screening, keep cutting, keep the defense in motion, and you’re likely going to get a good look either at the rim or behind the three-point line.
Expect a street fight in this one. Memphis certainly saw what Arkansas did against this Cardinal team and will without doubt try to imitate elements of that game plan. They will be physical as hell, and force Louisville to punch back early and often.
Mikel Brown Jr. needs to push the pace when at all possible. It’s been feeling for a couple of weeks now like he has a major performance coming, and this has all the makings of the moment if he lets it come to him.
Notable:
—Louisville and Memphis will be playing for the 91st time on Saturday. Cincinnati (101 meetings) is the only team the Cardinals have played more times.
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—Saturday’s meeting comes exactly 28,100 days after the first-ever matchup between the programs
on Jan. 6, 1949, a 72-53 Louisville win in Memphis.
—Louisville is 31-12 all-time in home games against Memphis.
—The last seven games in this series have all been decided by single digits.
—Memphis is 0-1 in true road games so far this season.
—Pat Kelsey has never coached a game against Memphis.
—Penny Hardaway never faced Louisville during his playing days at Memphis, and has never coached a game against the Cardinals either.
—Memphis has grabbed at least nine offensive rebounds in 22-straight games, the second longest active streak in Division I (trailing only St. John’s at 23).
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—Louisville has hit the 100-point mark four times in a season for the first time since 1989-90.
—Under Penny Hardaway, Memphis is 15-20 in games against teams ranked in the AP top 25. They are 4-8 in true road games against ranked teams.
—Memphis has held opponents to an average of 29.5 first-half points on 37.8% shooting over its last three games.
—Louisville has a 266-85 record against non-conference opponents over the last 24 seasons (includes postseason).
—Louisville is 34-0 under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
—Louisville has a 194-27 record in home regular season non-conference games over the last 24 seasons. The Cardinals are 118-18 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 15 seasons.
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—Inside the KFC Yum Center, Louisville has a 114-18 record in non-conference games.
—Louisville will hold a jersey retirement ceremony at halftime for the late Junior Bridgeman’s No. 10.
—Louisville will also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 1975 Final Four team during Saturday’s game.
—Memphis has trotted out six different starting lineups this season in eight games.
—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.
—Louisville is 120-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.
—Louisville has won 167 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.
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Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 86, Memphis 73
