Louisville basketball will make its 2025 ACC Tournament debut against the No. 7 Stanford Cardinals tonight at 7:00 p.m. local time.
Stanford just beat Cal last night in a close 78-73 battle. The Cardinals were led by guard Maxime Raynaud, who scored 23 points in 38 minutes. Stanford's forward Jaylen Blakes added 21 points, and Chisom Okpara added 12 points off the bench.
These two teams just saw each other to end their regular season six days ago on March 8. Louisville basketball secured a 20-point victory, 68-48. The Cardinal's dynamic guard duo of Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn each scored 16 points, and J'Vonne Hadley added 11 points himself in the win.
3 massive X-factors prove Louisville basketball will defeat Stanford
Louisville basketball enters this quarterfinal showdown on a nine-game win streak and with all the momentum on its side. Stanford will come off a tough back-to-back and be tired, as the Cardinals are well-rested.
Pat Kelsey will look to secure his 12th conference tournament title, and the journey starts tonight. Here are three massive X-factors that prove Louisville basketball is unstoppable against Stanford in tonight's ACC Tournament quarterfinal showdown.
Pat Kelsey insane conference tournament stat
Pat Kelsey is on a six-game win streak in conference tournaments and has secured two titles in consecutive years. The Cardinals' head coach coached previously at Charleston for the previous three years and brought that program back from the dead.
Pat Kelsey is known for rejuvenating programs, and he did just that with Louisville. The Cardinals secured a double bye and will face Stanford, and if history means anything, Lousiville should dominate this game.
Kelsey also has some oddly similar results from previous years. Last year, Charleston entered the conference tournament on a nine-game win streak, just like this Cardinals team. The year prior, the Cougars ended the season by beating Stony Brook by 20-plus points and then played Stony Brook again in Charleston's first tournament game, again just like this Cardinals team with Stanford.
These similarities seem to be a Pat Kelsey effect; more than that, it was just a coincidence. So, Kelsey's history shows that the Cardinals will defeat Stanford this round by double digits.
The Cardinals got much needed rest
Louisville got a much-needed five days off and became as healthy as possible. The Cardinals are already short-handed and are still waiting to see if Reyne Smith is available for tonight's game.
The Cardinals secured a huge win streak to end the season, and while they have all the momentum, it is needed for Kelsey's squad to get healthy. On the other side, Stanford had a nail-biter of a win against Cal and had to play all their rotation players 20 minutes or more in last night's win. Their two stars, Maxime Raynaud and Jaylen Blakes, logged insane minutes and could be a little fatigued from the back-to-back games. Raynaud put in 38 minutes, and Blake earned 37 minutes himself. That means Blakes sat for three minutes of game time, and Raynaud said only two minutes.
The Cardinals' offense will have to play smart basketball and use this to their advantage. They should try to attack these two players, make them use their legs, force tough shots, and out-hustle the tired Stanford Cardinal squad.
Louisville basketball lockdown defense
Chucky Hepburn, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, leads Louisville's defense. In their last matchup, the Cardinals held Stanford to their lowest points of the season. Stanford scored just 18 points in the first half and 48 total, making it its worst outing of the season.
This isn't a surprise, as Chucky Hepburn was able to contain Stanford's leading scorer, Maxime Raynaud, to just 17 points and shot just 6/13 from the field.
The Cardinals forced seven turnovers, and Hepburn snagged four of those steals. He averaged 2.4 steals a game, which led the ACC. Louisville held Stanford to an abysmal shooting night, as the Cardinal shot just 30.4% from the field, 26.9% from downtown, and 53.8% from the charity stripe.
Lousiville basketball will look to secure their 10th straight win tonight at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN 2.