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Louisville takes on South Florida in opening round of NCAA Tournament

South Florida Bulls (25-8, 17-3 AAC) vs. Louisville Cardinals (23-10, 12-8 ACC)

Buffalo, New York; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -4.5; over/under is 164.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 23 Louisville plays in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against South Florida.

The Cardinals are 12-8 against ACC opponents and 11-2 in non-conference play. Louisville has a 1-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Bulls’ record in AAC action is 17-3. South Florida is sixth in college basketball with 37.7 rebounds per game led by Izaiyah Nelson averaging 9.6.

Louisville makes 47.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.8 percentage points higher than South Florida has allowed to its opponents (41.3%). South Florida scores 15.5 more points per game (87.7) than Louisville allows (72.2).

TOP PERFORMERS: Ryan Conwell is scoring 18.7 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Cardinals. Mikel Brown Jr. is averaging 15.1 points over the past 10 games.

Wes Enis averages 3.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulls, scoring 16.8 points while shooting 36.5% from beyond the arc. Nelson is averaging 15.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and two steals over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, averaging 82.5 points, 31.9 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points per game.

Bulls: 10-0, averaging 81.6 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 9.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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