Louisville to honor Bridgeman, reignite Memphis rivalry in Saturday showdown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The banners already hang in the rafters. But Saturday afternoon, Louisville will pause to honor one man whose quiet excellence helped make them possible. And one team that helped gather the momentum.

The No. 10 jersey of Junior Bridgeman, the steady leader of Louisville’s rise to national prominence under Denny Crum, will be retired at halftime of the Cardinals’ game against longtime rival Memphis at the KFC Yum! Center (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

It’s a posthumous tribute to one of the most respected figures in program history, a player whose legacy has only grown in the decades since. Bridgeman died in March at age 71.

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Joining the celebration will be members of the 1975 Final Four team, back on campus to mark the 50th anniversary of their run to the NCAA semifinals. That team helped lay the foundation for what would become one of college basketball’s proudest programs.

On the court Saturday, the present is plenty compelling.

No. 11 Louisville (8-1) has won five of its last six games, including a physical victory over Indiana last weekend. The Cardinals are rounding into form behind Ryan Conwell (19.7 ppg) and freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (5.3 apg), with an offense that shares the ball (19.2 assists per game) and a defense that’s become tougher and more connected.

Across the floor, Memphis (4-4) brings a three-game win streak and a win over No. 18 Baylor that turned heads. The Tigers are powered by Dug McDaniel, a transfer point guard who averages nearly 14 points and over six assists, and who brings a downhill burst that will challenge Louisville’s transition defense.

“They’re probably the longest, most athletic team we’ve played,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said Friday. “They’re ferocious on the offensive glass — it’s an avalanche to the rim when the shot goes up.”

Memphis' physicality and relentlessness showed in that win over Baylor, when the Tigers racked up 21 second-chance points, 46 points in the paint, and 37 bench points.

Kelsey has pointed to offensive rebounding and foul trouble as the two biggest red flags from Louisville’s only loss (at Arkansas). And Memphis is built to press both pressure points. It’s a team that wants chaos, wants pace, and wants to wear opponents down.

But Louisville has shown poise in its biggest moments, and Kelsey’s group has been locked in late. The Cardinals are 35-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.

Saturday will test more than just X’s and O’s. It will test energy, emotion, and composure, the things that make rivalry games feel bigger, even if the series has been dormant since 2017. Louisville leads the all-time series 54-36, and while the rosters have changed, the tension hasn’t. Each of the last seven meetings before the recent break was decided by single digits.

“I'm very well aware of of how big of a rivalry it is, and it's really cool to reignite that rivalry once again,” Kelsey said.

The coach ended his news conference Friday with an energetic plea for fans to fill the arena.

“I know it's going to be absolutely frigid out,” he said. “If you're thinking in any way, shape or form, like, ‘Ah, it's cold out, I'm just gonna watch it by my fire, no no, no, no. We need you get out of your comfort zone, because we're getting out ours, because we're playing a really good team.”

The stage is set, for Bridgeman, for the 1975 team, and for a new Louisville team hoping to add its own page to the lengthy rivalry history.