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Virginia Basketball: Keys for Cavaliers to triumph at Louisville

By Neil Adler

BLACKSBURG, VA - FEBRUARY 18: University of Virginia Cavaliers bench celebrates during the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Cassell Coliseum on February 18, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Rakes/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA - FEBRUARY 18: University of Virginia Cavaliers bench celebrates during the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Cassell Coliseum on February 18, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Rakes/Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 11: Ty Jerome #11 and Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers reacts during the closing seconds of their win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 11: Ty Jerome #11 and Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers reacts during the closing seconds of their win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

The Virginia basketball squad hits the road on Saturday afternoon for an important top-20 tilt against a struggling Louisville crew.

The Atlantic Coast Conference regular season is starting to inch closer to completion, but there’s a whole lot at stake before the league tournament and the Big Dance get underway. No. 3 Virginia (23-2, 11-2) on Saturday afternoon will take a trip to No. 18 Louisville (18-9, 9-5), in an enticing affair at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cavaliers, which have captured three-consecutive contests, are in a tie for first place along with No. 1 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina in the ACC standings. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are reeling just a tad, with losses in three of their past four match-ups, including a 20-point setback to unranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday evening. Louisville, at this juncture, is tied with No. 20 Virginia Tech for sixth in the conference race.

UVA, with a NCAA NET rating of No. 2, is an impressive 8-1 when traveling to its foes’ turf. The Cavaliers are currently projected as a No. 1 seed in March Madness, and they are certainly in the running for the No. 1 overall seed. The Cardinals, 13-3 at home, are No. 17 in the NCAA NET system, and Louisville is hovering near the five-line for the field of 68.

Despite the fact that the Cardinals are hosting this encounter, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that Virginia is an extremely large favorite, with a 74.7 percent chance to prevail. Personally, I do believe that the Cavaliers will win versus Louisville, and here is a trio of critical components for UVA to secure such an outcome.

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