The Louisville Cardinals will host the top team in the country, the Virginia Cavaliers, on Thursday night, and here is everything you kneed to know before the big ACC matchup.

Virginia vs. Louisville basketball preview

Virginia (26-2, 15-1 ACC) won its previous meeting with Louisville 74-64 on Jan. 31 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers lead the overall series against the Cardinals (19-10, 9-7 ACC) 11-4. This will surely be a fun series to watch, as the NCAA Tournament is right around the corner and both teams have traditionally been strong contenders.

The only two teams to defeat Virginia this season are Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Despite their loss at Virginia earlier this year, Louisville played one of their strongest games of the season. The Cardinals’ offense went 8 of 18 from three-point range and 17 of 32 on 2-pointers, even though the Cavaliers put on some solid defense. Virginia shot 53.7 percent from the field that night.

Among the most productive players on Virginia’s offense are guards Kyle Guy, Devon Hall and Ty Jerome, who are 171 of 419, or 40.8 percent, from 3-point range.

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Meanwhile, Louisville will rely on Darius Perry and Dwayne Sutton, their two best defenders. The Cardinals are eighth in the ACC. They defeated Virginia Tech 75-68 on Saturday.

Here are all the details of the game:

What: No. 1 Virginia vs. Louisville

Date/Time: March 1, 2018, 8 p.m. EST

Place: KFC Yum Center (22,000 capacity)

TV: ESFC

Caption:CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 27: DaJuan Coleman #32 of the Syracuse Orange shoots against Mike Tobey #10 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at United Center on March 27, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Pablo Mena

Article by Pablo Mena

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