For coach Pat Kelsey and No. 19 Louisville, there’s something magical about the 2025 calendar.
Louisville was just 8-5 when 2024 finished, but since the start of the new year, the Cardinals are a robust 14-1 and have played their way into the thick of the ACC hunt. It’s quite a climb from two previous seasons under Kenny Payne, when the Cardinals went a combined 12-52, and they will look to continue the upward trajectory at home against Pitt on Saturday.
Louisville (22-6, 15-2 ACC) is riding an offense of four high-scoring guards through an impressive ACC run in Kelsey’s first season at the helm. Reyne Smith, Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn sport nearly identical conference scoring averages in league play (15.5, 15.5 and 15.4 points per game, respectively) while J’Vonne Hadley adds 13.9 points per game.
“We never really talk about the past,” Kelsey said of Louisville’s recent program stumbles and sudden improvement. “I mean, we respect our past … (but) we talk about us and the present and what we’re going to do in our next game.”
The Cardinals have won their last six games, most recently Tuesday’s 71-66 win at Virginia Tech. Those four high-scoring guards contributed 48 of Louisville’s 71 points and the Cardinals forced 22 turnovers to claim the road victory. Hepburn led the Cardinals’ effort with 15 points.
Pitt (16-12, 7-10) has not been the beneficiary of a 2025 hot streak, sitting at just 6-10 since the calendar changed. The Panthers find themselves well outside the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Despite a solid one-two scoring punch of guards Jaland Lowe (16.7 points) and Ishamel Leggett (16.5), the Panthers have lost six of their last eight games under coach Jeff Capel. With the ACC unlikely to surpass a handful of teams making the NCAA Tournament, Pitt’s ninth-place league record appears to spell doom.
Pitt was most recently in action on Tuesday, losing 73-67 at home to Georgia Tech. The Panthers shot just 36.8 percent, with Lowe and Leggett notching 45 points but shooting a combined 12 for 35 (34.3 percent). Pitt was also outrebounded 37-27 and saw Georgia Tech go 25 of 28 from the free-throw line.
“We’ve not been a good rebounding team all year and really since January, we’ve tried different things,” Capel said of his Panthers. “We’ll continue to try different things. … We’re in the point of the season where you can’t … put football pads on them and do old-school stuff. We have to have a will to go get the basketball.”
The teams previously met Jan. 11 in Pittsburgh, with Louisville squeaking out an 82-78 win. The four main Cardinal guards combined for 67 points, led by 25 points and seven 3-pointers from Smith, who ranks second in the country at 3.7 made 3-pointers per game.
Lowe and Leggett totaled 40 for Pitt in that game, but the Panthers were outrebounded 44-31 by Louisville.
–Field Level Media
