# 1988–89 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

During the 1988–89 season, the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team scored 24 wins and 8 losses. They played in the Metro Conference and finished in the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Their player Pervis Ellison won several individual awards.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 18, 1988* | No. 4 | at Xavier | L 83–85 | 0–1 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 30, 1988* | No. 13 | at Vanderbilt | L 62–65 | 0–2 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| Dec 3, 1988* | No. 13 | vs. Indiana | W 101–79 | 1–2 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 6, 1988* | No. 15 | Murray State | W 83–51 | 2–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 8, 1988* | No. 15 | at Western Kentucky | W 81–69 | 3–2 | E.A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY |
| Dec 10, 1988* | No. 15 | Dayton | W 95–68 | 4–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 17, 1988* | No. 15 | Oklahoma State | W 92–90 | 5–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 21, 1988* | No. 14 | Eastern Kentucky | W 76–40 | 6–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 31, 1988* | No. 14 | Kentucky | W 97–75 | 7–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 4, 1989* | No. 13 | Virginia | W 74–71 | 8–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 7, 1989* | No. 13 | DePaul | W 81–67 | 9–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 9, 1989 | No. 13 | at Virginia Tech | W 82–73 | 10–2 (1–0) | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| Jan 11, 1989 | No. 9 | South Carolina | W 75–52 | 11–2 (2–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 15, 1989* | No. 9 | at No. 19 Georgia Tech | W 67–65 | 12–2 | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| Jan 22, 1989* | No. 4 | No. 10 UNLV | W 92–74 | 13–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 26, 1989 | No. 3 | at Southern Miss | W 95–76 | 14–2 (3–0) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 29, 1989* | No. 3 | No. 17 Ohio State | L 79–85 | 14–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Feb 1, 1989 | No. 7 | Virginia Tech | W 108–95 | 15–3 (4–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Feb 4, 1989 | No. 7 | at Memphis State | W 101–85 | 16–3 (5–0) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN |
| Feb 6, 1989 | No. 7 | No. 8 Florida State | L 78–81 | 16–4 (5–1) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Feb 8, 1989 | No. 4 | at Cincinnati | W 69–66 | 17–4 (6–1) | Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 12, 1989* | No. 4 | at UCLA | L 75–77 | 17–5 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb 16, 1989 | No. 10 | at No. 7 Florida State | W 78–77 | 18–5 (7–1) | Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, FL |
| Feb 20, 1989 | No. 10 | Memphis State | L 67–72 | 18–6 (7–2) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Feb 22, 1989 | No. 8 | Southern Miss | W 96–83 | 19–6 (8–2) | Freedom Hall Chicago, IL |
| Feb 25, 1989 | No. 8 | at South Carolina | L 73–77 | 19–7 (8–3) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| Mar 1, 1989 | No. 14 | Cincinnati | L 71–77 | 19–8 (8–4) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Mar 4, 1989* | No. 14 | at Notre Dame | W 87–77 | 20–8 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN |
| Metro Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 1989* | No. 16 | vs. Memphis State Semifinal | W 71–70 | 21–8 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| Mar 11, 1989* | No. 16 | vs. No. 14 Florida State Championship | W 87–80 | 22–8 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 1989* | (4 MW) No. 12 | vs. (13 MW) Arkansas–Little Rock First round | W 76–71 | 23–8 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 18, 1989* | (4 MW) No. 12 | vs. (5 MW) Arkansas Second round | W 93–84 | 24–8 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 24, 1988* | (4 MW) No. 12 | vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Illinois Regional semifinal | L 69–83 | 24–9 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (33,560) Minneapolis, MN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in EST. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP Poll | 4 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
| Coaches Poll | 10 | — | 16 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 13 |

## Awards and honors

* Pervis Ellison : Metro Conference tournament Most Outstanding Player
Individual All-America teams
* Pervis Ellison : 1989 Consensus All-America first team
* Pervis Ellison : First team All-American by NABC and USBWA
* Pervis Ellison : Second team All-American by Associated Press and UPI

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 1 | Pervis Ellison | Sacramento Kings |
| 1 | 19 | Kenny Payne | Philadelphia 76ers |