# 2019–20 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Chris Mack.
The Cardinals finished the season 24–7, and 15–5 in ACC play. The team was scheduled to play Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA tournament was also cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2018–19 season with a record of 20–14, 10–8 in ACC play, finishing in a tie for 6th place. They defeated Notre Dame in the second round of the ACC tournament before losing to North Carolina in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed, where they lost in the first round to Minnesota.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Akoy Agau | 0 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Graduate Student | South Sudan | Graduated |
| Christen Cunningham | 1 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Graduate Student | Georgetown, KY | Graduated |
| Jo Griffin | 3 | G | 6'1" | 200 | Sophomore | La Grange, KY | Walk-on; Transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Khwan Fore | 4 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Graduate Student | Huntsville, AL | Graduated |
| Wyatt Battalie | 10 | G/F | 6'4" | 195 | Freshman | Pikeville, KY | Walk-on; transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Jacob Redding | 12 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Sophomore | Fort Wayne, IN | Walk-on; Transferred to North Greenville |
| V. J. King | 13 | G/F | 6'6" | 215 | Junior | Cleveland, OH | Play professionally |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Lamarr Kimble | 0 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Graduate Student | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred from Saint Joseph's. Will be eligible to play immediately since Kimble graduated from Saint Joseph's. |
| Keith Oddo | 1 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Graduate Student | Roanoke, VA | Transferred from Richmond. Will be eligible to play immediately since Oddo graduated from Richmond. |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Samuell Williamson SF | Rockwall, TX | Rockwall High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Sep 17, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Aidan Igiehon PF | Dublin, Ireland | Lawrence Woodmere Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Oct 19, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| David Johnson PG | Louisville, KY | Trinity High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 22, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Josh Nickelberry SG | Fayetteville, NC | Northwood Temple Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 31, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Jae'Lyn Withers PF | Cleveland Heights, OH | Cleveland Heights High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Sep 9, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Quinn Slazinski PF | Houston, TX | Huntington Prep | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 27, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Louisville Commitments". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN- Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2020 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2020 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| D'Andre Davis SF | Indianapolis, IN | Lawrence Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 20, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| J.J. Traynor PF | Bardstown, KY | Bardstown High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Oct 30, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Louisville Commitments". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN- Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 29, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCNX | No. 5 | Bellarmine | W 75–65 | – | 28 – Nwora | 13 – Sutton | 5 – Nwora | KFC Yum! Center (15,009) Louisville, KY |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019 6:30 pm, ACCN | No. 5 | at Miami (FL) | W 87–74 | 1–0 (1–0) | 23 – Nwora | 12 – Tied | 4 – Perry | Watsco Center (7,576) Coral Gables, FL |
| November 10, 2019* 2:00 pm, ACCRSN | No. 5 | Youngstown State Global Sports Shootout | W 78–55 | 2–0 | 21 – Nwora | 14 – Enoch | 12 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (14,761) Louisville, KY |
| November 13, 2019* 8:00 pm, ACCN | No. 4 | Indiana State | W 91–62 | 3–0 | 21 – Nwora | 10 – Tied | 4 – Williamson | KFC Yum! Center (14,808) Louisville, KY |
| November 17, 2019* 5:00 pm, ACCN | No. 4 | North Carolina Central Global Sports Shootout | W 87–58 | 4–0 | 17 – Nwora | 7 – Igiehon | 7 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (14,874) Louisville, KY |
| November 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCN | No. 2 | USC Upstate Global Sports Shootout | W 76–50 | 5–0 | 28 – Nwora | 15 – Sutton | 9 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (14,410) Louisville, KY |
| November 24, 2019* 6:00 pm, ACCN | No. 2 | Akron Global Sports Shootout | W 82–76 | 6–0 | 18 – Nwora | 14 – Sutton | 3 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (14,889) Louisville, KY |
| November 29, 2019* 5:00 pm, CBSSN on Facebook | No. 2 | vs. Western Kentucky | W 71–54 | 7–0 | 25 – Nwora | 9 – Williams | 4 – Kimble | Bridgestone Arena (12,863) Nashville, TN |
| December 3, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | No. 4 Michigan ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 58–43 | 8–0 | 22 – Nwora | 12 – Nwora | 3 – Kimble | KFC Yum! Center (21,674) Louisville, KY |
| December 6, 2019 9:00 pm, ACCN | No. 1 | Pittsburgh | W 64–46 | 9–0 (2–0) | 19 – Nwora | 11 – Williams | 5 – Sutton | KFC Yum! Center (17,249) Louisville, KY |
| December 10, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | vs. Texas Tech Jimmy V Classic | L 57–70 | 9–1 | 14 – Nwora | 9 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| December 14, 2019* 12:00 pm, ACCN | No. 1 | Eastern Kentucky | W 99–67 | 10–1 | 26 – Nwora | 7 – Tied | 6 – McMahon | KFC Yum! Center (16,185) Louisville, KY |
| December 18, 2019* 8:30 pm, ACCN | No. 3 | Miami (OH) | W 70–46 | 11–1 | 20 – Nwora | 15 – Sutton | 5 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (15,444) Louisville, KY |
| December 28, 2019* 3:45 pm, CBS | No. 3 | at No. 19 Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass | L 70–78 $^{OT}$ | 11–2 | 18 – Enoch | 10 – Sutton | 4 – Tied | Rupp Arena (20,437) Lexington, KY |
| January 4, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | No. 18 Florida State | L 65–78 | 11–3 (2–1) | 32 – Nwora | 10 – Nwora | 4 – Sutton | KFC Yum! Center (17,786) Louisville, KY |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | Miami (FL) | W 74–58 | 12–3 (3–1) | 19 – Nwora | 13 – Sutton | 4 – Nwora | KFC Yum! Center (14,980) Louisville, KY |
| January 11, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 13 | at Notre Dame | W 67–64 | 13–3 (4–1) | 20 – Nwora | 14 – Sutton | 4 – Kimble | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,404) South Bend, IN |
| January 14, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCN | No. 11 | at Pittsburgh | W 73–68 $^{OT}$ | 14–3 (5–1) | 14 – Nwora | 9 – Sutton | 6 – Kimble | Petersen Events Center (9,221) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 18, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | at No. 3 Duke ESPN College GameDay | W 79–73 | 15–3 (6–1) | 19 – Johnson | 8 – Nwora | 7 – Johnson | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| January 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | No. 6 | Georgia Tech | W 68–64 | 16–3 (7–1) | 13 – Williams | 7 – Nwora | 3 – Kimble | KFC Yum! Center (15,001) Louisville, KY |
| January 25, 2020 2:00 pm, ACCRSN | No. 6 | Clemson | W 80–62 | 17–3 (8–1) | 19 – Perry | 11 – Sutton | 6 – Johnson | KFC Yum! Center (17,654) Louisville, KY |
| January 29, 2020 9:00 pm, ACCN | No. 6 | at Boston College | W 86–69 | 18–3 (9–1) | 37 – Nwora | 13 – Williams | 6 – Johnson | Conte Forum (5,771) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| February 1, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at NC State | W 77–57 | 19–3 (10–1) | 23 – McMahon | 9 – Nwora | 5 – Kimble | PNC Arena (18,197) Raleigh, NC |
| February 5, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5 | Wake Forest | W 86–76 | 20–3 (11–1) | 21 – Nwora | 11 – Sutton | 4 – Sutton | KFC Yum! Center (15,270) Louisville, KY |
| February 8, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | Virginia | W 80–73 | 21–3 (12–1) | 22 – Nwora | 7 – Nwora | 5 – Johnson | KFC Yum! Center (19,250) Louisville, KY |
| February 12, 2020 8:00 pm, ACCN | No. 5 | at Georgia Tech | L 58–64 | 21–4 (12–2) | 16 – Tied | 10 – Sutton | 2 – 3 tied | McCamish Pavilion (5,801) Atlanta, GA |
| February 15, 2020 4:00 pm, ACCN | No. 5 | at Clemson | L 62–77 | 21–5 (12–3) | 18 – Sutton | 7 – Sutton | 8 – Johnson | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,146) Clemson, SC |
| February 19, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | Syracuse | W 90–66 | 22–5 (13–3) | 19 – Nwora | 13 – Williams | 7 – Johnson | KFC Yum! Center (16,428) Louisville, KY |
| February 22, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | North Carolina | W 72–55 | 23–5 (14–3) | 18 – Nwora | 11 – Nwora | 5 – Johnson | KFC Yum! Center (21,079) Louisville, KY |
| February 24, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | at No. 6 Florida State | L 67–82 | 23–6 (14–4) | 14 – McMahon | 8 – Nwora | 4 – Johnson | Donald L. Tucker Center (11,500) Tallahassee, FL |
| March 1, 2020 6:00 pm, ACCN | No. 11 | Virginia Tech | W 68–52 | 24–6 (15–4) | 20 – Nwora | 12 – Nwora | 6 – Johnson | KFC Yum! Center (18,104) Louisville, KY |
| March 7, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | at No. 22 Virginia | L 54–57 | 24–7 (15–5) | 18 – Nwora | 11 – Nwora | 6 – Kimble | John Paul Jones Arena (14,629) Charlottesville, VA |
| ACC tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN | (3) No. 15 | vs. (6) Syracuse Quarterfinals | ACC Tournament Cancelled | ACC Tournament Cancelled | ACC Tournament Cancelled | ACC Tournament Cancelled | ACC Tournament Cancelled | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 5 | 4 (1) | 2 (8) | 2 (7) | 1 (48) | 1 (55) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 7 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 14 |
| Coaches | 5 | 5 | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 (25) | 1 (28) | 5 | 4 (2) | 8 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 13 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings