Stats don’t lie: Louisville basketball one of five teams capable of winning it all

Louisville

Adjusted offensive efficiency: 17

Adjusted defensive efficiency: 13

Among all of the teams on this list, Louisville basketball is probably the most likely to beat you at your game than any other team.

Great teams are good at setting the tone of games, but they are also good at taking what they are given and making the most out of it. That’s what the Cardinals bring.

Though Chris Mack’s squad has a Wooden Award finalist in Jordan Nwora, it has been a cast of role players for Louisville that have taken over and often won games for the Cardinals. Louisville is led up front by big man Steven Enoch, who averages 10 points and 6 rebounds on the season, and he makes way for versatile big Malik Williams, who often finishes out games for the Cards.

Senior Dwayne Sutton has become a utility man for the Cardinals, helping to win games in a number of ways by making plays away from the ball that ultimately affect the outcome of the game.

What has separated Louisville, however, over the course of the last month has been the emergence of a quartet of guards. The Cardinals start grad transfer Fresh Kimble and junior Darius Perry in the backcourt and rotate in redshirt senior sharpshooter Ryan McMahon and true freshman point guard David Johnson. It has become apparent since the start of conference play for the Cardinals that they don’t need great games from just one player, but instead a group effort night in and night out in order to take Louisville where it ultimately needs to go.

Still, Nwora could ultimately get the Cardinals there himself. He hung an ACC-high 37 points recently and is among the most efficient offensive players in the country.

If that isn’t enough, the Cardinals are stout on defense. They don’t turn the opponent over at a high rate, but they create a lot of empty possessions utilizing a combination of man and Mack’s version of a pack-line defense.

If there’s an area for the Cardinals to improve, it’s turning the ball over. The Cardinals must flip their negative turnover margin around in the final quarter of the season if they want to win the whole thing.