No. 16 Louisville's defense could cause trouble for stagnant Stanford

Louisville will wrap up its California road trip on Friday, looking to start 2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play as the No. 16 Cardinals square off against the Stanford Cardinal.

The Cardinals (11-2, 1-0 ACC) are coming off one of their better victories of the season, a 90-70 win over Cal that snapped the host Bears' nine-game winning streak. All five starters scored in double figures for Louisville, which has won four of its last five.

While much has been made about Louisville's offense, an up-tempo style that emphasizes 3-pointers, the Cardinals can also play defense, too. They showed that Tuesday by holding Cal to a season-low 33.9% shooting and outrebounding their hosts 50-31.

Louisville is holding opponents to 38.2% shooting this season, which ranks 19th in Division I, and its 42.6 rebounds per game are 14th-most in the country.

"Playing with physicality and toughness is always going to be a big priority with us," Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said after Tuesday's win.

Kelsey's team features six players who are scoring 10 or more points a game. Ryan Conwell leads the Cardinals, as the senior guard averages a team-best 19.7 points per game. He scored 26 against Cal.

The Cardinals have been without freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (16.6 ppg) for the last three games because of a back injury. Adrian Wooley (10.0 ppg) has started in Brown's place and netted a season-high 21 on Tuesday.

Brown was a late scratch vs. Cal, and Kelsey declined to comment about his guard's status after the game.

Stanford (11-3, 0-1) also played Tuesday, but coach Kyle Smith's team struggled monumentally in a 47-40 home loss to Notre Dame that ended a four-game winning streak.

According to Sports Reference, the 40 points were the fewest Stanford has scored in a game since Cal held them to 39 in a contest on Feb. 26, 2022. Notre Dame limited the Cardinal to just 23.2% shooting (13 of 56) , the team's worst performance since making just 22.2% against Southern California on Jan. 20, 2011.

Poor outside shooting contributed to a lot of Stanford's woes. The Cardinal made just 4 of 30 3-pointers (13.3%), their worst night beyond the arc since Florida State held them to 11.5% (3 of 26) on Nov. 25, 2022.

Smith told reporters afterward that he felt his team pressed on offense.

"They (the Fighting Irish) got to dictate the tempo, dictate the terms, and on our court, that's disappointing," the Stanford coach said.

Ebuka Okorie leads the Cardinal, averaging 21.5 points per game, but the freshman guard is coming off the worst game in his young career. He scored a season-low seven points as Notre Dame held him to 3-for-14 shooting (21.4%). Chisom Okpara posted a team-high 13 points but also managed to make just 3 of his 14 shots.

Where Stanford may have its best chance for an upset is if it can force Louisville to foul. Stanford has gone to the free-throw line 373 times, the most of any ACC school. Louisville committed 25 fouls, matching its season worst, in Tuesday's win. Conwell had three first-half fouls, limiting him to just 11 minutes in the first half.

The Cardinals and Cardinal have played four times, with Louisville winning all four. Friday's game will be the first time the two teams have played at Stanford.

--Field Level Media