Miami (OH) @ Louisville preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 5, 2019 ) Louisville 0, Miami (OH) 0

After several poor shooting games of late, including a 34 percent effort in a loss to Texas Tech, No. 5 Louisville coach Chris Mack wanted to see improvement on offense. He got that in spades in a rout of Eastern Kentucky and will look for similar execution when Miami (Ohio) visits on Wednesday.

Jordan Nwora scored 26 points, Steven Enoch had a career-high 23 and the Cardinals shot 63 percent in both halves to blow out Eastern Kentucky 99-67 on Saturday. After struggling from the floor in the 70-57 loss to the Red Raiders on Dec. 10, Louisville made 34-of-54 from the field, including 9-of-19 from long range, and 22-of-23 from the line to pull away from their in-state opponent. "Coming off the heels of our game against Texas Tech, one of the bigger concerns that we've had as a coaching staff is just to make sure that we take better shots, we take better care of the ball, and make more passes," Mack said. "To go 22 assists on 34 field goals, I think our offense took a step forward tonight." The RedHawks snapped a four-game losing skid by draining eight 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 79-67 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Sunday.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network

ABOUT MIAMI (5-5): Bam Bowman, a 6-8 senior forward, scored a season-high 20 points - his third game of at least 20 in his career - and secured seven offensive rebounds, and 6-7 junior Dalonte Brown added 14 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season in Sunday's win for the RedHawks, who grabbed 17 offensive rebounds for the game. Junior guard Nike Sibande leads the attack with 14.9 points and 5.4 rebounds while Brown adds 13.3 points and a team-high seven rebounds and shoots 41 percent from the arc. The RedHawks struggle on defense, ranking 308th in defensive efficiency (106 points/100 possessions), allowing teams to shot 54.4 percent on 2-pointers.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (10-1): Nwora (21.3 points, 7.5 rebounds) had the hot hand against Eastern, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-5 from behind the arc to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Enoch (11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 blocks) made his first seven attempts, finished 9-of-10 and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior guard Ryan McMahon (28-of-60) and Nwora (27-of-62) are both shooting well over 40 percent from the arc as the team connects on 38.2 percent.

TIP-INS

1. Louisville is 4-0 against the RedHawks, including an 80-39 demolition in 2012.

2. The Cardinals will have 10 days off for the holidays before playing arch-rival Kentucky on Dec. 28.

3. Louisville ranks third in defensive efficiency (85.9) based on holding the opposition to 41.3 effective field-goal percentage.

PREDICTIONS: Louisville 85, Miami 60