Louisville basketball: Cards add another big name to MTE
By Brett Siegel
The Louisville basketball bubble just got a lot more intriguing.
With the college basketball season tipping off in just weeks, Louisville Basketball was able to fill the final spot in their multi-team event that is expected to begin on November 25.
Seton Hall joining the ‘Louisville Bubble’ event stems from their departure from the field in the Charleston Classic tournament and cancellation of the Wooden Legacy event that was supposed to take place in Orlando.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was the first to break the news about Seton Hall joining the Louisville MTE Thursday afternoon:
Sources: Seton Hall is expected to join Louisville's MTE at the KFC Yum Center. Pirates would match up with the Cardinals in one of the games.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 29, 2020
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Louisville’s MTE will now consist of Louisville, Seton Hall, Western Kentucky, Duquesne, Winthrop, UNC-Greensboro, Southern Illinois, Prairie View A&M and Arkansas Little Rock.
The Cards will be one of Seton Hall’s two opponents in the KFC Yum! Center and could poise to be a challenge for Chris Mack and his young squad. After finishing 21-9 (13-5 Big East) a season ago and finishing T-1 in the Big East regular season, Kevin Willard and his staff retain just two starters from last season, but also landed one of the nation’s top transfers in G Bryce Aiken from Harvard.
The senior transfer aims to be a huge impact player for Seton Hall this upcoming season as he averaged 16.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and shot 40.6% from the floor in three seasons with Harvard. Senior F Sandro Mamukelashvili also returns for the Pirates after averaging 11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and shooting 54% from the floor a season ago. Kevin Willard’s squads are always very balanced teams, both on offense and defense, and were last season as well as they were ranked 29th and 25th in adjusted offense and adjusted defense on KenPom.
Last time Louisville faced off against former assistant Kevin Willard and his Seton Hall Pirates, the Cards were victorious in a 70-65 battle on December 1, 2018. The only current Louisville Cardinal player on that team was senior captain Malik Williams.
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Louisville Basketball is 13-6 all-time against the Seton Hall Pirates with an average win margin of 6.6 points. The Cards are set to take on Seton Hall in their second game of the season on November 27.