Louisville basketball has its second and final preseason exhibition game tonight, with the Cardinals making their home debut. Louisville will take on Mercyhurst in an exhibition game at KFC Yum! Center, and the game will tip off at 7 p.m. local time.
Louisville basketball vs. Mercyhurst: how to watch, injuries, more for preseason matchup
The Cardinals will look to finish the preseason 2-0 after defeating Kansas on the road in a thrilling 89-83 win. Hopefully tonight's game isn’t as close as the top-25 matchup, and hopefully Louisville fans get to see a few players in action they didn’t see against Kansas.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding Louisville right now, and with the season just days away, we wanted to make bold predictions for tonight's game. So, here are three bold predictions for Louisville’s final exhibition game.
Flory Bidunga finishes with a double-double
In the Cardinals' win over Kansas, Flory Bidunga finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds. We think the 5-star transfer will bounce back and show the country and Cards Nation why he was ranked the No. 1 overall transfer with a dominant performance in front of Louisville fans.
Our bold prediction is for Bidunga to finish with a double-double, and more specifically, we think he scores 14 points or more. We think the Kansas transfer will put on a dominant show tonight in his home debut, and Cardinals fans will quickly see why he was the top transfer in the portal.
Boyuan Zhang makes 3+ 3-pointers
Our second bold prediction is that the Cardinals' 4-star freshman makes his debut and catches fire quickly. Boyuan Zhang didn’t play in the Cardinals' exhibition win over Kansas, but we think tonight will be a blowout win, so Zhang will get quality minutes and make the most of it.
Zhang is one of the Cardinals' sharpest 3-point shooters, a 4-star freshman and a pure 3-point specialist from beyond the arc. On3 Sports Jamie Shaw called Zhang a “sniper” and a “real shooter”, and made it clear Zhang has the skill to knock down 3-pointers from well beyond the arc. Louisville fans didn’t get to see that against Kansas, but we think they will tonight, as our bold prediction is that Zhang will make three-plus 3-pointers tonight.
De'Shayne Montgomery finishes with 15+ points
De'Shayne Montgomery is quickly emerging as the Cardinals' X-factor off the bench, as the Dayton transfer is an elite two-way player who can force turnovers and score at a high level. In the Cardinals exhibition game over the summer, Montgomery led all scorers with 20 points, and we think he'll do something similar tonight.
We think he will score 15+ tonight, including at least two made three-pointers. Montgomery can attack the rim or play fast in transition, but the 6-foot-4 guard can also shoot the rock from beyond the arc at a high level. In tonight's Cardinals win, we think Montgomery will be one of Louisville’s top scorers for the second time.
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