The Louisville Cardinals are looking to avenge their 4-28 record from a disappointing 2022-23 season as they host UMBC to open the season on Monday.
UMBC Retrievers vs. Louisville Cardinals (-11.5, 144)
Louisville will look to improve a defense that was 355th in points allowed per possession and an offense that was 327th in points scored per possession, but did not show a lot of improvement in a 71-68 exhibition loss to Kentucky Wesleyan.
The loss marked the second straight season in which Louisville lost to a non-Division I team in an exhibition tune up and had just seven assists with a lack of a true ball handler after the team was 361st in assist-to-turnover ratio.
On the other side, UMBC is a new-look team with each of last season’s top seven scorers gone and turn to Chicago State transfer Bryce Johnson to build off the 11.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game he logged in his final 14 games played last season.
UMBC covered each of their last four games last season as an underdog of at least six points and with Louisville having not covered a single game as a favorite since Kenny Payne took over as head coach prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, UMBC will keep things close and have a chance at the outright upset on Monday.
The Play: UMBC +11.5
