NCAA Basketball: Louisville, Washington teams who are hot in February

NCAA Basketball: Louisville, Washington and others who are hot in February

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: A general view of the court with March Madness signage is seen prior to the start of the game between the OklahomaSooners and the Rhode Island Rams in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

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LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 26: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals reacts after a dunk against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on January 26, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 66-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Louisville Cardinals (17-6, 8-2)

While Virginia, Duke, and North Carolina seem to be getting the national headlines out of the ACC, Chris Mack left Xavier for Louisville and quietly has the Cardinals ranked No. 16 in the country with a 17-6 record, and their 8-2 conference record has them just a half game behind those other three teams.

Since losing back-to-back games to Tennessee and Marquette in the NIT Season Tip-Off in November, the Cardinals have gone 14-4, including 8-2 in their last 10, with wins over ranked North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Virginia Tech, with two of those wins coming on the road.

In those 10 league games, leading scorer Jordan Nwora is averaging nearly 18 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest and those eight ACC wins haven’t been particularly close, Louisville’s average margin of victory in that time is nearly 17 points per game. While the three teams ranked in the top 10 are the teams that are in the national spotlight, Louisville is quietly racking up wins and keeping pace with the top three and if a team ranked No. 16 in the country can be considered under-the-radar at this point in the season, the role is fitting the Cardinals just fine.

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