LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky fans are in a rush to look at NCAA Tournament bracket projections. Louisville fans have other things to do. Indiana fans have lost some of the gusto they had last week.
The show goes on. It’s a big week on the local college basketball scene.
Louisville faces its most winnable game Wednesday before welcoming Russ Smith back to the KFC Yum! Center to retire his uniform No. 2 on Saturday.
Kentucky faces road games against the two teams ahead of the Wildcats in the Southeastern Conference standings.
Indiana confronts its losing streaks on the road as well as against Purdue and Michigan.
Here we go:
Louisville
The Week Ahead: A pair of home games: lowly Boston College Wednesday night and Notre Dame Saturday afternoon.
Just The Facts: The Cardinals are 10-7 overall, 4-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, tied with Virginia and Wake Forest for sixth place. Louisville has not lost four straight games since Feb. 25, 2004, back in the days of Conference USA.
Computer Check: NCAA NET Ranking 111; Ken Pomeroy No. 101; Bart Torvik No. 108 and Jeff Sagarin Predictor No. 92.
Best Win (according to NCAA NET): Beat No. 48 Mississippi State, 72-58, on neutral court.
Worst Loss (NET): Lost to No. 186 Pittsburgh, 65-53, Saturday at Pitt.
Trends: By losing five of their last nine, the Cards have plunged from No. 39 to No. 101 in KenPom. They rank No. 158 nationally in offensive efficiency, which is 13th in the ACC. The Cards have five players — Malik Williams, Jae’Lyn Withers, Samuell Williamson, Jarrod West and Dre Davis — who are shooting less than 29% from distance. As a group, the five are 41 for 168, 24.4%.
Good News: Louisville is 7-1 against Boston College and 3-0 at the KFC Yum! Center. BC won its first road game at Clemson on Saturday. The Eagles’ new head coach is Earl Grant.
Bad News: Boston College is ranked No. 132 in KenPom, and the Cards have lost five games to teams with sub-100 KenPom rankings.
Tournament Outlook: The Cards are 11 spots past the cutline at BracketMatrix and not in the discussion with Joe Lunardi at ESPN.com.
Kentucky
The Week Ahead: The most challenging week of the season: road game at Texas A&M, which is 15-2, on Wednesday, followed by a trip to No. 2 Auburn on Saturday.
Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe celebrates his Rupp Arena-record 28 rebounds after a victory over WKU.
Just the Facts: The Wildcats are 14-3 overall, 4-1 in the SEC, trailing only the teams they play this week.
Computer Check: Wildcats are No. 11 in NCAA Net; No. 4 in Ken Pomeroy; No. 10 in Bart Torvik and No. 10 in Sagarin Predictor.
Best Win (according to NCAA NET): Wildcats defeated No. 13 Tennessee, 107-79, at Rupp Arena.
Worst Loss (NET): UK lost to No. 74 Notre Dame, 66-62, in South Bend.
Trends: The Wildcats have juiced their offense into the fourth-most efficient in the nation, behind Gonzaga, Purdue and Iowa. All 14 Kentucky victories have been by at least a dozen point. TyTy Washington (41.1%) and Kellan Grady (46.2%) are both shooting better than 40% from distance.
Good News: Oscar Tshiebwe ranks first, ahead of E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois and Drew Timme of Gonzaga, in Ken Pomeroy’s player of the year metrics.
Bad News: Nothing to see here this week.
Tournament Outlook: The Wildcats are a 6-seed at BracketMatrix but a 4-seed with Joe Lunardi at ESPN.
Indiana
The Week Ahead: Show Me Week for Hoosiers. They’re at Nebraska on Monday night before returning to Bloomington to host Purdue on Thursday night and Michigan on Sunday.
Just the Facts: The Hoosiers are 12-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten. IU has lost eight consecutive road games, four this season.
Computer Check: The Hoosiers are No. 34 in the NCAA NET; No. 26 in Ken Pomeroy; No. 19 in Bart Torvik and No. 25 in Sagarin Predictor.
Best Win (according to NCAA NET): Hoosiers beat No. 25 Ohio State, 67-51, in Bloomington.
Worst Loss (NET): IU lost to No. 106 Syracuse, 112-110, in double overtime at Syracuse.
Trends: After three straight single turnover games, the Hoosiers beat themselves at Iowa last week with 23 turnover. IU’s last road win was in double overtime against Northwestern last Feb. 10. At No. 11, the Hoosiers have maintained their spot as one of the nation’s most efficient defensive teams.
Good News: Only Arizona ranks ahead of Indiana in defending two-point field goal attempts. The Hoosiers’ defensive field goal percentage is 40.3%.
Bad News: IU faces its eight-game road losing streak with Nebraska on Monday night, its nine-game losing streak against Purdue Thursday and its eight-game losing streak against Michigan Sunday.
Tournament Outlook: The Hoosiers are an 8-seed at BracketMatrix and with Lunardi at ESPN.
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