Louisville basketball: Cards set to host Miami (OH) in final game before UK

In the final tune-up before Battle of the Bluegrass, third-ranked Louisville basketball tasked with taming the RedHawks of Miami University on Wednesday night. 

They are no longer the number one overall team in the college basketball polls, but that may be a relief for Louisville basketball at this point. The top spot in the polls has proven to be an absolute jinx thus far this season, and it’s not been kind to anyone yet. After falling to Texas Tech on Tuesday night, the Cards returned home with a major bounce-back victory on Saturday afternoon. Chris Mack’s team overpowered the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in a 99-67 win.

In the massive win, Louisville played one of their best offensive games of the season and they also did their job in all other areas of the game. The Cards eventually wore out EKU’s offense and EKU’s defense proved no match for the surging offensive attack that was led by Jordan Nwora and Steven Enoch. Louisville gets to play one more non-conference game at the KFC! Yum Center and they’d like for the game to be one free of stress.

Louisville fell to the third overall spot in the new AP Top 25 poll, sitting behind Kansas and Gonzaga. Coach Mack has been telling his team that rankings do not matter, and that stance doesn’t change with the new polls. The Cards are in the final stages of preparation for the biggest game of the regular season, against Kentucky in Rupp, and Wednesday night will certainly be helpful for the team. They’re set to host the Miami University RedHawks, from Ohio, in a late-night matchup.

As they spend the next few days preparing for this overmatched opponent, the Cards should not be overlooking anybody and they’ll still need to play a quality basketball game. While it’s always good to get dominating wins over opponents to build confidence, it’s not going to be good if Louisville plays a bad game and struggles or even loses to Miami, especially with Kentucky right around the corner.

After starting the season 4-1, the RedHawks are enduring a tough recent stretch, dropping four of their last five games. However, they will be coming into town riding a one-game winning streak. With a 5-5 record, Miami (OH) does not have a single win that comes across as one of importance or quality. They’ve defeated teams like Alabama A&M, Drake, and Mississippi Valley State. They’ve also dropped games to Evansville, Northern Kentucky, Wright State (twice), and South Alabama.

The RedHawks only have two players who are scoring in double-figures so far this season, with juniors Nike Sibande and Dalonte Brown leading the team in the scoring department. They still have other guys who are capable of getting into the double-digit points column, like Bam Bowman, Mekhi Lairy, Dae Dae Grant, and Isaiah Coleman-Lands.

The RedHawks have given significant minutes up to about 12 players in games, but they usually don’t go further than 9 or 10 deep depending on the flow of the game. I’m not sure how they’ll approach bench usage against Louisville. According to KenPom, Miami of Ohio is the 223rd best team in the nation, which definitely indicates that this team isn’t capable of matching the Cards on paper. Pomeroy ranks them as the 159th best team in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency, as well as being the 306th best in terms of adjusted defensive efficiency. They have a very slim shot at making the NCAA Tournament this season, especially in a loaded conference like the MAC.

Just like their standing in the AP Poll, the Cardinals sit at third in Pomeroy’s rankings, albeit behind Ohio State and Duke. Coach Mack’s team is ranked as the 11th-best team in adjusted offensive efficiency and they have the third-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation. Despite clearly looking overpowering, Louisville should not be overlooking their opponent, and they should use this game wisely. We’ve already seen top teams get shocked on their home floor, and the Cards don’t want to join that group. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Who: #3 Louisville Cardinals vs. Miami RedHawks (OH)

Where: KFC! Yum Center (Louisville, Kentucky)

When: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, December 18th

Tickets: As low as $6 per StubHub.com.

Previous Meeting and Series: Louisville routed Miami (OH) 80-39 in the last meeting between the two programs on November 18th, 2012. The Cardinals have an all-time 4-0 record against the RedHawks.

How To Watch: ACC Network.

• Spectrum: 524 and 937
• DirecTV: 612
• YoutubeTV, Hulu Live, SlingTV

How To Listen: WHAS 840 AM.

Projected Starters:

Louisville:

G, Darius Perry, #2, Jr.

6-2, 195 Pounds

5.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists

G, Ryan McMahon, #30, Sr.

6-0, 180 Pounds

9.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists

F, Jordan Nwora, #33, Jr.

6-7, 225 Pounds

21.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists

F, Dwayne Sutton, #24, Sr.

6-5, 215 Pounds

9.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists

C, Steven Enoch, #23, Sr. 

6-10, 260 Pounds

11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists

Miami (OH):

G, Mekhi Lairy, #2, So.

5-8, 140 Pounds

8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists

G, Nike Sibande, #1, Jr.

6-4, 185 Pounds

14.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists

G, Milos Jovic, #15, Jr.

6-4, 195 Pounds

5.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists

F, Dalonte Brown, #13, Jr.

6-7, 201 Pounds

13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.9 assists

F, Bam Bowman, #14, Sr.

6-8, 267 Pounds

9.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists

Players to watch:

G Ryan McMahon, Louisville

One of the beloved experienced seniors, Ryan McMahon has provided the Cardinals with some terrific play on both ends of the floor thus far this season. He had an incredible start to the season but he’s been getting more attention from opposing defenses and he’s been struggling lately. In the past six games, he hasn’t been very efficient, shooting 28.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. He’s still averaged nearly two three-pointers made per game during this stretch, but it’s taken him more attempts to get there.

The good thing for the Sarasota native is that he’s not allowed his recent offensive funk to affect his play on the defensive end of the court, as some players may. He’s actually strung together a few of the best defensive games of his career in recent weeks, and the Cards would love if he could keep it up. They’d also love if he would get more looks from three and connect on them, but Coach Mack will remain confident in McMahon. Like many sharpshooters, McMahon is just enduring a slump and he’ll soon have a game that makes us forget he was even struggling in the first place.

F Bam Bowman, Miami (OH)

The only player on the RedHawks roster that hails from the great state of Kentucky, Bowman is a senior forward from Bowling Green. He’s one of the bigger guys on the team, standing in at 6-8 and weighing in at 267 pounds. He’s used his size to be one of the most impactful players on his team since his first season. As he leads Miami (OH) into the Yum! Center on Wednesday night, Bowman is coming off of an impressive individual accolade. He was recently named as the MAC East Co-Player of the Week for his performance against Mississippi Valley State on Sunday.

Bowman hasn’t played in all of the RedHawks games this season due to injuries, but they’re certainly glad he’s back for their toughest game of the year. Coming off a 20 point performance on Sunday, Bowman will be the guy tasked with battling the Louisville bigs in the paint. That matchup alone will not be easy for Bowman. Bowman is very capable of scoring inside but he hasn’t faced a player like Steven Enoch or Malik Williams. He’s a great rebounder as well, but the Cards will try to take away some of his board opportunities.

C Steven Enoch, Louisville

One of the most consistently debated players amongst Cardinals fans, Steven Enoch silences a lot of doubters with a dominant performance on Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. He scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while only misfiring on one shot. Enoch will look to replicate or even improve upon that performance on Wednesday against the RedHawks. The senior center is quietly having a stellar start to the season despite splitting minutes with fellow center Malik Williams.

Playing just over 22 minutes on a nightly basis, Enoch is averaging nearly 12 points and over 7 rebounds per game. He’s an improving defender and has been consistently able to alter opponents’ shot attempts inside the paint.

Enoch is consistently overshadowed in terms of production due to Jordan Nwora being the great scorer that he is, but he’s been the consistent number two option for Louisville this year. With a size advantage against the RedHawks, I wouldn’t be surprised if Enoch put together yet another dominating performance.