Does Evansville have another Ace up its sleeve, or will Louisville basketball Twitter get to make more jokes at UK’s expense?
Louisville basketball kicks off the season, like, really soon.
And although we don’t know much about this Louisville basketball team, what we do know…. is even less about what Evansville will look like. But, let’s break it down to give you a bigger picture of what the Cardinals could face on Wednesday.
Yes, Evansville beat Kentucky last season
The Aces absolutely stunned Kentucky last season as 25-point underdogs in Rupp Arena.
Kentucky was the No. 1-ranked team in the country at the time, and then-head coach Walter McCarty notched the biggest win of his coaching career, and one of the biggest- if not the biggest- in program history.
Yes, that Evansville team ended up being historically bad
After the Purple Aces beat Kentucky, they went on a pretty solid tear through non-conference play, winning five straight at one point, and beginning the season 9-4.
Evansville would not win another game.
McCarty was placed on administrative leave a week after Evansville’s big win over Murray State. Then, he was fired on January 21st after investigations into sexual misconduct allegations.
The Aces were downright awful the rest of the season. In the interim, and after new head coach Todd Lickliter took over, Evansville became the first team to beat the AP No. 1 team and lose every conference game in the same season.
Evansville has some familiar names
The first thing you may notice about the Evansville roster is that there are a lot of names you may recognize.
Former Louisville walk-on Logan Baumann serves as an assistant on the Evansville staff.
Former Kentucky star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s brother, Thomasi, is a redshirt freshman for the Aces. He was a lesser regarded recruit coming out of high school that had offers from South Carolina and Fresno State.
And, yes, former Louisville fan favorite David Levitch has a younger brother, Jax Levitch, that is on the Evansville roster.
The younger Levitch began his career at Purdue-Fort Wayne, where he started 32 games his sophomore season and averaged 5.4 points and 4.1 boards. He then transferred to UNC Asheville, where he sat out a year and didn’t see much action last season.
You may very well see a lot of Levitch on the floor against the Cards.
This is not the same team that beat Kentucky
There are some holdovers from last year’s roster, but there are also a ton of new faces for the Aces.
Obviously, Evansville has a new coach in Lickliter who went 0-13 last season after officially taking over. Also, five of the top seven leading scorers from last year’s big upset have since moved on.
In other words, this is a completely new squad we are going to see.
The line is intriguing
Louisville opened as a 22-point favorite. And, while I’m not suggesting that you drive across the bridge to place a bet on a 4:00 PM Wednesday game, this is an intriguing game.
Evansville really has potential to be pretty damn awful once again this year. However, there are so many unknowns surrounding Louisville’s roster that I’m not sure I’d confidently say you should take Louisville and the points right now.
If you’re a true degenerate and need to just put some money down, although 64 percent of the money has come in on Louisville, the line has dropped to -21 in most places. Take the over and hold your breath when the Cards put the walk-ons in late.
Predictions:
Presley Meyer: Louisville 76, Evansville 52
Alan Thomas: Louisville 84 Evansville 73
Matt McGavic: Louisville 72, Evansville 52
