Louisville Basketball: 2020-21 keys for Cardinals to beat Kentucky Wildcats

Louisville needs to make a couple more three-pointers than Kentucky

Fair warning to everyone; don’t expect a ton of great perimeter shooting from either team in this game. Both rank near the bottom in terms of both attempts and makes, as that is neither set of guards’ strong suits.

For Louisville, they’ve made just 31 total three-pointers, led by Jones and Johnson making seven each. For Johnson, in particular, it’s a positive that he’s made 7/21 (33%), which is a vast improvement from his freshman campaign. Kentucky makes only four a game, shooting 24% from deep as a team.

Outside of Creighton grad transfer Davion Mintz, the rest of the roster has been dreadful from deep. That includes both Terrence Clarke and BJ Boston, a pair of five-star freshmen that have been unexpectedly bad from deep.

For the Cardinals’ sake, they’ll be hoping that the Wildcats continue struggling from deep. They can still score in a variety of ways, including constant slashing and inside play. Louisville has to work a little harder for their offense so getting into a shootout may not be in their best scenario.

Among the rotation players for Louisville, only a few are expected to take multiple deep balls in this game. It would be great if Johnson can hit a couple or one of the role players. Kentucky has given up a lot of three-pointers so far this season and very well will allow the Cardinals to take a lot of attempts. It’ll be up to the home team to make it.