Game Info:

When: Saturday, Nov. 7, noon

Where: KFC Yum! Center

Watch: ACCNX

Meeting History: Louisville is 32-12 all-time versus Morehead State

Last Meeting: (11/4/2024) Louisville 93, Morehead State 45

No. 11 Louisville welcomes in-state foe Morehead State to the Yum! Center on Saturday. Thursday, the Eagles defeated Virginia Lynchburg 114-60, while the Cardinals defeated Chattanooga 84-70 Tuesday.

Morehead State Overview:

The Eagles are coming off an impressive year in the Ohio Valley Conference, finishing second. Morehead State went 20-13 overall and 15-5 in OVC play, losing to Tennessee State 93-67 in the conference championship. Their 15 league wins were the second most in program history, only behind the 17 won in 2020-21. Head coach Jonathan Mattox, who earned 2026 OVC co-Coach of the Year honors, is the first coach in program history to lead his team to an OVC regular-season championship in his first two years. Mattox was able to retain half of last year’s roster. Morehead State enters this game with a 1-1 record with a win over Virginia Lynchburg and loss at Western Kentucky.

Notable Eagles

• #10 Chase Dawson: Junior guard Chase Dawson appeared in all 33 games last season and averaged 8.3 points per game; he also ranked second on the team in assists (92). Dawson posted 9 double-figure scoring efforts last season with a career-high of 19 points. In the Eagles’ exhibition game versus Eastern Kentucky, that mark would have been broken after scoring 32 against the Colonels. Dawson played 30 minutes and scored 13 points versus WKU and played 19 minutes and shot 6-7 from the field against Virginia Lynchburg (VUL) on Thursday.

• #33 Clayton Parker: Overall, Parker is the most impactful player for the Eagles. The sophomore forward brings good size and can shoot well. Parker had a career game against Virginia Lynchburg (despite it being a lower tier opponent), being 8-of-10 from the floor, scoring a career-high 24 points, and having a career-high in steals (4). Parker is also 4-4 from 3 on the year and perfect from the free-throw line (8-8).

• #7 Kyrell Shaw: Shaw is a junior guard transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he averaged 21.8 points per game while shooting 48% overall. Shaw played for 12 minutes against WKU and didn’t make a field goal, but showcased his skills Thursday evening. Versus VUL, despite coming off the bench and playing just 17 minutes, Shaw led the team in scoring with 28 points, going 10-16 from the field and 6-9 from 3.

Keys for the Cardinals

• Play for 40: The game against Chattanooga was a tale of two halves. In the first, the Cards scored 56, going 21-37 from the field including 8 threes. However, after the break, Louisville got nothing going on offense. The Cardinals made just 9 baskets, 1 three-pointer, and went the final 4:13 without a field goal. That was an alarming half of basketball, and if those issues remain, it could be time to worry about the offense before we get into a tough slate of games.

• Close Out the 3: Versus Chattanooga, Louisville allowed the Mocs to shoot 12-23 from distance, a lot of which were clean looks. Maybe it was a lack of hustle or communication, but the Cards failed to close out and contest many of those attempts. Morehead State also can shoot the ball well, so the Cardinals will need to make a better effort at defending the three ball.

Game Prediction

Louisville 93, Morehead State 58