# 1978–79 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 65th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum. The team played home games at Freedom Hall.
The team completed a 24–8 record and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1979 NCAA Tournament.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 24, 1978* | No. 4 | vs. Penn State Sea Wolf Classic | W 89–58 | 1–0 | Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska |
| Nov 25, 1978* | No. 4 | vs. Lamar Sea Wolf Classic | W 90–68 | 2–0 | Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska |
| Nov 26, 1978* | No. 4 | vs. No. 12 NC State Sea Wolf Classic | L 66–72 | 2–1 | Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska |
| Dec 2, 1978* | No. 5 | Tennessee | W 82–61 | 3–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 6, 1978* | No. 7 | No. 6 Michigan | W 86–84 | 4–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 9, 1978* | No. 7 | Idaho | W 101–54 | 5–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 12, 1978* | No. 4 | at Ohio State | L 69–85 | 5–2 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Dec 16, 1978* | No. 4 | West Virginia | W 106–60 | 6–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 23, 1978* | No. 12 | Providence | W 88–70 | 7–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 28, 1978* | No. 10 | Wisconsin Louisville Holiday Classic | W 70–53 | 8–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 29, 1978* | No. 10 | Mississippi State Louisville Holiday Classic | L 73–80 | 8–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 4, 1979* | No. 16 | Chattanooga | W 94–70 | 9–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 6, 1979* | No. 16 | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 73–60 | 10–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 8, 1979* | No. 16 | Marshall | W 112–64 | 11–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 13, 1979* | No. 12 | at Maryland | W 99–84 | 12–3 | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Jan 16, 1979* | No. 7 | at Dayton | W 77–76 | 13–3 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Jan 18, 1979 | No. 7 | at Cincinnati Rivalry | W 82–77 | 14–3 (1–0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 20, 1979 | No. 7 | at Florida State | W 67–65 | 15–3 (2–0) | Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 24, 1979 | No. 5 | Saint Louis | W 80–65 | 16–3 (3–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 28, 1979 | No. 5 | Virginia Tech | W 82–72 | 17–3 (4–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 31, 1979 | No. 6 | Florida State | W 84–71 | 18–3 (5–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 3, 1979 | No. 6 | Cincinnati Rivalry | W 88–85 | 19–3 (6–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 5, 1979 | No. 6 | Memphis State Rivalry | W 103–82 | 20–3 (7–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 8, 1979 | No. 5 | at Tulane | W 77–66 | 21–3 (8–0) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Feb 10, 1979* | No. 5 | at No. 9 Marquette | L 55–71 | 21–4 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Feb 15, 1979 | No. 9 | at Saint Louis | W 78–62 | 22–4 (9–0) | St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 17, 1979* | No. 9 | at Memphis State Rivalry | L 53–60 | 22–5 (9–1) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| Feb 18, 1979* | No. 9 | at No. 5 Duke | L 72–88 | 22–6 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Feb 24, 1979 | No. 13 | Tulane | W 95–71 | 23–6 (10–1) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Metro Conference Tournament ||||||
| Mar 2, 1979* | (1) No. 13 | vs. (4) Virginia Tech Metro Tournament Semifinal | L 68–72 | 23–7 | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 1979* | (3 MW) No. 18 | vs. (6 MW) South Alabama Second round | W 69–66 | 24–7 | Moody Coliseum University Park, Texas |
| Mar 15, 1979* | (3 MW) No. 13 | vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Arkansas Regional semifinal | L 62–73 | 24–8 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1980 | 1 | 2 | Darrell Griffith | Utah Jazz |
| 1982 | 2 | 35 | Derek Smith | Golden State Warriors |
| 1983 | 2 | 36 | Scooter McCray | Seattle SuperSonics |