# 2018–19 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2018–19 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 first-year head coach Chris Mack who was hired on March 27, 2018, after it was announced interim coach David Padgett would not be retained. They finished the season 20–14, to finish in 7th place. In the ACC Tournament, they beat Notre Dame in the Second Round before losing to North Carolina in the Quarterfinals. They received a at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and received a 7th seed before losing to 10th seed Minnesota in the First Round.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2017–18 season with a record of 22–14, 9–9 in ACC play, finishing in a tie for 8th with Florida State, who they defeated in the second round of the ACC tournament before losing to Virginia in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the NIT, where they defeated Northern Kentucky in the first round and Middle Tennessee in the second round before being defeated in the quarterfinals by Mississippi State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Lance Thomas | 1 | F | 6'8" | 210 | Freshman | Norcross, Georgia | Transferred to Memphis |
| Quentin Snider | 4 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | Louisville, Kentucky | Graduated |
| Ray Spalding | 13 | F | 6'10" | 215 | Junior | Louisville, Kentucky | Declared for 2018 NBA draft |
| Anas Mahmoud | 14 | F | 7'0" | 215 | Senior | Cairo, Egypt | Graduated; declared for 2018 NBA draft |
| Deng Adel | 22 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Junior | Melbourne, Australia | Declared for 2018 NBA draft |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Akoy Agau | 0 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Graduate Student | South Sudan | SMU |
| Christen Cunningham | 1 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Graduate Student | Georgetown, KY | Samford University |
| Khwan Fore | 4 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Graduate Student | Huntsville, AL | Richmond |

### 2018 recruiting class

No recruits.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 28, 2018* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Bellarmine | W 71–60 | – | 17 – King | 9 – Nwora | 5 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (14,377) Louisville, KY |
| November 3, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Simmons (KY) | W 90–41 | – | 16 – Enoch | 8 – Williams | 4 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (14,588) Louisville, KY |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Nicholls State | W 85–72 | 1–0 | 15 – Enoch | 8 – Enoch | 2 – Sutton | KFC Yum! Center (15,355) Louisville, KY |
| November 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Southern NIT Season Tip-Off campus-site game | W 104–54 | 2–0 | 20 – Nwora | 7 – Tied | 6 – McMahon | KFC Yum! Center (14,939) Louisville, KY |
| November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Vermont NIT Season Tip-Off campus-site game | W 86–78 | 3–0 | 22 – Nwora | 5 – Nwora | 4 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (15,977) Louisville, KY |
| November 21, 2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 5 Tennessee NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals | L 81–92 | 3–1 | 23 – Nwora | 10 – Nwora | 8 – Perry | Barclays Center (4,981) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 23, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Marquette NIT Season Tip-Off | L 74–77 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | 16 – Cunningham | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| November 27, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN | | No. 9 Michigan State ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 82–78 $^{OT}$ | 4–2 | 24 – McMahon | 9 – Nwora | 5 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (15,477) Louisville, KY |
| December 1, 2018* 12:00 pm, FOX | | at Seton Hall | W 70–65 | 5–2 | 12 – Sutton | 9 – Sutton | 3 – Cunningham | Prudential Center (8,505) Newark, NJ |
| December 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Central Arkansas | W 86–41 | 6–2 | 21 – Nwora | 9 – Enoch | 5 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (14,920) Louisville, KY |
| December 8, 2018* 2:30 pm, FOX | | at Indiana | L 67–68 | 6–3 | 24 – Nwora | 14 – Nwora | 3 – Cunningham | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| December 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Lipscomb | W 72–68 | 7–3 | 22 – Nwora | 13 – Williams | 3 – Enoch | KFC Yum! Center (14,197) Louisville, KY |
| December 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Kent State | W 83–70 | 8–3 | 17 – Cunningham | 10 – Nwora | 4 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (15,117) Louisville, KY |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Robert Morris | W 74–59 | 9–3 | 19 – Nwora | 13 – Nwora | 4 – McMahon | KFC Yum! Center (16,249) Louisville, KY |
| December 29, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 16 Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass | L 58–71 | 9–4 | 20 – Cunningham | 9 – Enoch | 4 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (20,882) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Regular Season |||||||||
| January 6, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | Miami (FL) | W 90–73 | 10–4 (1–0) | 20 – Nwora | 11 – Williams | 9 – McMahon | KFC Yum! Center (15,050) Louisville, KY |
| January 9, 2019 8:00 pm, Raycom | | at Pittsburgh | L 86–89 $^{OT}$ | 10–5 (1–1) | 23 – Cunningham | 11 – Sutton | 5 – Cunningham | Petersen Events Center (6,290) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 12, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 12 North Carolina | W 83–62 | 11–5 (2–1) | 17 – Enoch | 11 – Enoch | 7 – Sutton | Dean Smith Center (21,243) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Boston College | W 80–70 | 12–5 (3–1) | 32 – Nwora | 10 – Nwora | 8 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (14,898) Louisville, KY |
| January 19, 2019 4:00 pm, Raycom | | at Georgia Tech | W 79–51 | 13–5 (4–1) | 25 – Nwora | 8 – Nwora | 11 – Cunningham | McCamish Pavilion (8,600) Atlanta, GA |
| January 24, 2019 8:00 pm, Raycom | No. 23 | No. 21 NC State | W 84–77 | 14–5 (5–1) | 17 – Cunningham | 6 – Nwora | 4 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (16,322) Louisville, KY |
| January 26, 2019 2:00 pm, Raycom | No. 23 | Pittsburgh | W 66–51 | 15–5 (6–1) | 17 – Nwora | 11 – Enoch | 7 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (16,929) Louisville, KY |
| January 30, 2019 8:00 pm, Raycom | No. 15 | at Wake Forest | W 82–54 | 16–5 (7–1) | 20 – Nwora | 10 – Sutton | 4 – Sutton | LJVM Coliseum (7,031) Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 15 | No. 9 North Carolina | L 69–79 | 16–6 (7–2) | 19 – Sutton | 8 – Sutton | 9 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (19,985) Louisville, KY |
| February 4, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | at No. 11 Virginia Tech | W 72–64 | 17–6 (8–2) | 17 – Tied | 9 – Sutton | 6 – Cunningham | Cassell Coliseum (9,275) Blacksburg, VA |
| February 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 16 | at No. 22 Florida State | L 75–80 $^{OT}$ | 17–7 (8–3) | 20 – Cunningham | 7 – Williams | 6 – Cunningham | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (11,675) Tallahassee, FL |
| February 12, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | No. 2 Duke | L 69–71 | 17–8 (8–4) | 23 – Nwora | 12 – Nwora | 12 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (22,046) Louisville, KY |
| February 16, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | Clemson | W 56–55 | 18–8 (9–4) | 18 – Cunningham | 7 – Williams | 5 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (16,043) Louisville, KY |
| February 20, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | at Syracuse | L 49–69 | 18–9 (9–5) | 11 – Nwora | 8 – Sutton | 3 – Cunningham | Carrier Dome (22,988) Syracuse, NY |
| February 23, 2019 12:00 pm, Raycom | No. 18 | No. 3 Virginia | L 52–64 | 18–10 (9–6) | 17 – Nwora | 11 – Sutton | 6 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (17,529) Louisville, KY |
| February 27, 2019 9:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at Boston College | L 59–66 | 18–11 (9–7) | 22 – Enoch | 12 – Nwora | 6 – Cunningham | Conte Forum (4,250) Chestnut Hill, MA. |
| March 3, 2019 1:30 pm, CBS | | Notre Dame | W 75–61 | 19–11 (10–7) | 20 – Nwora | 13 – Williams | 4 – Cunningham | KFC Yum! Center (16,911) Louisville, KY |
| March 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 2 Virginia | L 68–73 | 19–12 (10–8) | 19 – Nwora | 11 – Enoch | 3 – Fore | John Paul Jones Arena (14,629) Charlottesville, VA |
| ACC Tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (7) | vs. (15) Notre Dame Second Round | W 75–53 | 20–12 | 24 – Nwora | 10 – Sutton | 5 – McMahon | Spectrum Center (11,884) Charlotte, NC |
| March 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | (7) | vs. (2) No. 3 North Carolina Quarterfinals | L 70–83 | 20–13 | 14 – Sutton | 13 – Williams | 7 – Cunningham | Spectrum Center (19,691) Charlotte, NC |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 21, 2019 12:15 pm, CBS | (7 E) | vs. (10 E) Minnesota First Round | L 76–86 | 20–14 | 22 – Cunningham | 11 – Nwora | 4 – Tied | Wells Fargo Arena (16,512) Des Moines, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received 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 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 18 | RV | | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | — | RV | 24 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 24 | RV | RV |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings