What to Expect: IU basketball takes on Louisville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Inside the Hall

IU basketball returns to action on Saturday afternoon against Louisville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Cardinals are 7-1 and No. 13 in KenPom.

Saturday’s game will tip at 2:15 p.m. ET on CBS:

For the second straight season, Indiana and Louisville will meet in non-conference play. Last season, the Cardinals easily defeated the Hoosiers, 89-61, in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Louisville went on to play Darian DeVries-led West Virginia in its second game in the Bahamas and won 79-70 in overtime before falling to Oklahoma a day later. Tucker DeVries struggled in that matchup, finishing just 3-for-9 from the field before fouling out in 32 minutes.

Indiana leads the all-time series between the two programs, 12-10.

MEET THE CARDINALS

Louisville is looking to build on a 27-8 campaign last season that ended in an NCAA tournament first-round loss to Creighton, 89-75, at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

The Cardinals retooled their roster after graduating do-everything guard Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards, Reyne Smith and Noah Waterman. Big man James Scott, a starter, transferred to Ole Miss.

The guard-heavy attack is led by a trio of newcomers in Ryan Conwell, Mikel Brown Jr. and Isaac McKneely.

Conwell, an Indianapolis native who is at his fourth school in four seasons, leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game, shooting 46.4 percent on 2s and 41.9 percent on 3s. He’s a career 84.3 percent free-throw shooter who does a good job of using his size, athleticism and physicality to get to the line. Conwell has taken 44 free throws in eight games.

Brown Jr., a five-star recruit, is a projected top-five pick in next June’s NBA draft. The Orlando native has excellent size for a point guard at 6-foot-5 and his athleticism makes him difficult to keep out of the lane. Brown is shooting 59 percent on 2s, 81.5 percent on free throws and has an assist rate of 34.7 percent, which ranks in the top 50 nationally.

McKneely transferred from Virginia and provides a floor spacing to complement Conwell and Brown Jr. McKneely has taken 61 of his 72 field goal attempts from beyond the 3-point line. He’s shooting 41 percent from distance and is a career 42.1 percent 3-point shooter. He made 101 3s last season for the Cavaliers.

Hadley is the lone holdover from last season in the starting lineup. At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, he’s a hard-working player who does a lot of the little things that contribute to winning. In 24.4 minutes per game, Hadley is averaging 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals.

German big man Sananda Fru, who is 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds, starts at the five and gives the Cardinals a post scorer, an elite offensive rebounder and some rim protection. Declared a junior by the NCAA, the 22-year-old has professional experience and is shooting 76.2 percent on 2s. He’s 21st nationally in offensive rebounding percentage and has 10 blocked shots.

The Cardinals can go 10 deep with their rotation with guards Adrian Wooley and Kobe Rodgers and frontcourt pieces Khani Rooths, Aly Khalifa and Kasean Pryor.

The 6-foot-4 Wooley is a transfer portal addition from Kennesaw State, a solid defender who has struggled with his perimeter shot early this season. After shooting 41.4 percent on 3s last season, he’s just 8-for-25 from distance this season. He is a solid 17-for-19 from the free-throw line, and it may only be a matter of time before the perimeter shots start falling.

Kobe Rodgers, a 6-foot-3 guard, redshirted last season after transferring from Charleston and averages 4.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals in 14.9 minutes per game as a reserve. He’s a quality backup who would be seeing more time in most other programs.

Khani Rooths originally signed with Michigan out of high school but reopened his recruitment after the coaching change in 2024 in Ann Arbor. After an up-and-down freshman season, the 6-foot-10 Rooths has earned two starts this season and is shooting 78.3 percent on 2s through eight games. He had 36 points through the team’s first two games, but hasn’t scored in double figures since.

Khalifa, a 7-foot, 250-pound senior, is an excellent passing big man who sat out last season due to injury following previous stints at BYU and Charlotte. Khalifa has 26 assists in 103 minutes of game action.

Pryor, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound senior, has missed three games due to injuries and played just five minutes in Louisville’s most recent game at Arkansas. He’s averaging 2.6 points in eight minutes per game.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW

All stats updated through Thursday’s games.

The teams sport identical 7-1 records with a loss in their most recent outing. There’s a lot to like on the KenPom profile for the Cardinals.

Louisville plays an up-tempo style – 47th in adjusted tempo, per KenPom – and has the nation’s fourth-best offense. The Cardinals are aggressive on the offensive glass and are rebounding 36.8 percent of their missed shots. In addition, Louisville turns it over on just 14 percent of its possessions and shoots a solid 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 61.4 percent from 2-point range.

Defensively, Louisville ranks in the top 40 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, is very good on the defensive glass and only allows its opponents to shoot 41.9 percent on 2s.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

The KenPom projection is Louisville by four with just a 36 percent chance of an IU victory. The Bart Torvik projection favors Louisville by two with a 41 percent chance of a victory by the Hoosiers.

Indiana already has experience this season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in an exhibition game against Baylor, but this will be easily the most talented team the Hoosiers have faced to date. The Hoosiers must be connected defensively, with a clear emphasis on limiting second-chance opportunities against a Louisville team that will crash the boards.

Offensively, Minnesota showed that taking DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson out of the flow offensively can produce disastrous results for Indiana. It may be even harder for both players to get clean looks on Saturday against a Louisville team that is faster, bigger and more athletic along the perimeter.

Currently a top-10 team in the national polls – although Wednesday’s loss to Arkansas is likely to change that – Louisville presents a stiff test and is the favorite entering Saturday afternoon, despite a crowd that will favor the Hoosiers.

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