# 1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 72nd 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 compiled a 32–7 record and brought Louisville basketball their second NCAA national championship when they defeated Duke, 72–69.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 22, 1985* | No. 9 | vs. Miami (OH) Preseason NIT | W 81–65 | 1–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nov 23, 1985* | No. 9 | vs. Tulsa Preseason NIT | W 80–74 | 2–0 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nov 24, 1985* | No. 9 | vs. No. 5 Kansas Preseason NIT | L 78–83 | 2–1 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Nov 25, 1985* | No. 9 | at No. 18 St. John's Preseason NIT | L 79–86 | 2–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Dec 7, 1985* | No. 16 | Purdue | W 77–58 | 3–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 10, 1985* | | Iona | W 88–75 | 4–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 14, 1985* | | Western Kentucky | W 73–70 | 5–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 18, 1985* | No. 16 | No. 17 Indiana | W 65–63 | 6–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 28, 1985* | No. 15 | at No. 13 Kentucky | L 64–69 | 6–3 | Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky |
| Jan 4, 1986* | | Wyoming | W 94–62 | 7–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 6, 1986* | | Eastern Kentucky | W 86–55 | 8–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 9, 1986 | | at No. 6 Memphis State | L 71–73 | 8–4 (0–1) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| Jan 13, 1986 | | at Southern Miss | W 59–54 | 9–4 (1–1) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
| Jan 15, 1986 | | at Florida State | W 85–64 | 10–4 (2–1) | Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 18, 1986* | | No. 4 Syracuse | W 83–73 | 11–4 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 20, 1986 | | Cincinnati | L 82–84 | 11–5 (2–2) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 25, 1986* | | at No. 7 Kansas | L 69–71 | 11–6 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Mar 1, 1986 | | No. 7 Memphis State | W 70–69 | 24–7 (10–2) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Metro Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1986* | | Cincinnati | W 86–65 | 25–7 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Mar 8, 1986* | | No. 10 Memphis State | W 88–79 | 26–7 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (15 W) Drexel First round | W 93–73 | 27–7 | Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah |
| Mar 15, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. No. 14 Bradley Second Round | W 82–68 | 28–7 | Dee Events Center Ogden, Utah |
| Mar 20, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (3 W) No. 8 North Carolina Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 94–79 | 29–7 | The Summit Houston, Texas |
| Mar 22, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (8 W) Auburn Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 84–76 | 30–7 | The Summit Houston, Texas |
| Mar 29, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (11 SE) LSU National semifinal – Final Four | W 88–77 | 31–7 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| Mar 31, 1986* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (1 E) No. 1 Duke National Championship Game | W 72–69 | 32–7 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||

## NCAA basketball tournament
### West region

| First round | First round | First round | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | | Regional Finals | Regional Finals | Regional Finals |
| 1 | St John's | 83 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Montana St | 74 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Montana St | 74 | 1 | St John's | 65 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Auburn | 81 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Auburn | 73 | 8 | Auburn | 81 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Arizona | 63 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Arizona | 63 | | | | 8 | Auburn | 70 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | UNLV | 63 | | | | |
| 5 | Maryland | 69 | | | | | | | 4 | UNLV | 63 | | | | |
| 12 | Pepperdine | 64 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Pepperdine | 64 | 5 | Maryland | 64 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | UNLV | 70 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | UNLV | 74 | 4 | UNLV | 70 | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Northeast Louisiana | 51 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Northeast Louisiana | 51 | | | | | | | | 8 | Auburn | 76 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 84 |
| 6 | UAB | 66 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 84 |
| 11 | Missouri | 64 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Missouri | 64 | 6 | UAB | 59 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | North Carolina | 77 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | North Carolina | 84 | 3 | North Carolina | 77 | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Utah | 72 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Utah | 72 | | | | 3 | North Carolina | 79 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 94 | | | | |
| 7 | Bradley | 83 | | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 94 | | | | |
| 10 | UTEP | 65 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | UTEP | 65 | 7 | Bradley | 68 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Louisville | 82 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Louisville | 93 | 2 | Louisville | 82 | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Drexel | 73 | | | | | | | | | | |

### Final Four

| National semifinals | National semifinals | National semifinals | National Championship Game | National Championship Game | National Championship Game |
| E1 | Duke | 71 | | | |
| M1 | Kansas | 67 | | | |
| M1 | Kansas | 67 | E1 | Duke | 69 |
| | | | W2 | Louisville | 72 |
| S11 | LSU | 77 | W2 | Louisville | 72 |
| W2 | Louisville | 88 | | | |

## Awards and honors

* Billy Thompson, first team All-Metro Conference
* Billy Thompson, AP honorable mention All-American
* Billy Thompson, NCAA All-Tournament team
* Billy Thompson, NCAA All-West regional
* Milt Wagner, first team All-Metro Conference
* Milt Wagner. AP honorable mention All-American
* Pervis Ellison, Final Four Most Outstanding Player
* Pervis Ellison, NCAA All-West regional
* Pervis Ellison, Metro Conference Freshman of the Year
* Pervis Ellison, second team All-Metro Conference
* Herbert Crook, NCAA All-West regional
* Tony Kimbro, Metro Conference All-Freshman team

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1986 | 1 | 19 | Billy Thompson | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1986 | 2 | 35 | Milt Wagner | Dallas Mavericks |
| 1986 | 6 | 118 | Jeff Hall | Indiana Pacers |
| 1988 | 3 | 61 | Herbert Crook | Indiana Pacers |
| 1989 | 1 | 1 | Pervis Ellison | Sacramento Kings |
| 1989 | 1 | 19 | Kenny Payne | Philadelphia 76ers |