Virginia (8-9, 1-5 ACC) at Louisville (13-5, 6-1 ACC)

Noon, ESPN2

A heartbreaking last-second loss to SMU extended UVa’s losing streak to four games, extending their misery into the second half of January. The Hoos will look to get off the mat this weekend and snap the losing skid, with another challenging test at Louisville, set for high noon on Saturday (ESPN2).

Saturday’s matchup will be the second clash between the programs in just 14 days. Louisville came to JPJ and won 70-50 back on January 4th, and will look to sweep the season series against Virginia for the first time since joining the conference a decade ago. Louisville led by five at the break in the first meeting, UVa hung around for a while, but the Cards outscored the Hoos by 14 in the final 10 minutes en route to the comfortable victory.

It’s been a complete role reversal for the Hoos and Cards this season, who have basically switched places in the league standings. UVa went from annual competitor to the basement with a 1-5 record, and their earlier loss to Louisville began this four-game skid. Louisville, on the other hand, quickly went from bottom feeder to contender in the ACC at 6-1. While Virginia hasn’t won since the first meeting, Louisville hasn’t lost since, and were already riding a three-game winning streak when that game took place. The Cardinals have now won seven straight dating back to mid-December, and are coming off of a 24-point win at Syracuse this week.

Louisville enters the weekend ranked #30 in Kenpom, more than 100 spots ahead of the Hoos now. The Cardinals rank 30th in offensive efficiency, in large part because they’ve been great around the rim, making 57.1 percent of their two-point field goal attempts. Louisville also has a better-than-average turnover rate, and their offensive rebound rate ranks 51st nationally. The Cards are 38th in D1 in defensive efficiency. The Cards are 84th in turnover rate, 44th in offensive rebound rate allowed, and 24th in non-steal turnovers created.

In the first meeting, Louisville allowed UVa to make 53.6 percent of their two-point attempts, but the Hoos hit just 5-of-26 three point tries. UVa also got out-rebounded 42-25 in the loss, and turned it over 10 times. Louisville was 7-of-19 from three, and scored 1.17 points per possession. The Cards were particularly efficient as the game wore on, scoring 23 points in the final 10 minutes of play, while holding the Hoos to nine. The Cards also handled their business at the free throw line, making 13 of 14 shots from the charity stripe.

Reyne Smith, Guard

A big part of Louisville’s win at UVa earlier this month was the three point shooting of Reyne Smith. The former Charleston Cougar made 5-of-10 triples in the win, hitting all but two of Louisville’s three-pointers in the game Smith scored all 15 of his points on threes, and for the season, he’s shooting 39.3 percent from deep. Smith was 7-for-11 from three in Saturday's win at Pitt.

Chucky Hepburn, Guard

Louisville’s leading scorer, the former Wisconsin Badger has continued his excellent season in ACC play, averaging 15.6 points and 5.7 assists per contest this year. Hepburn went for 10 points in the win over Virginia earlier this month, while dishing out seven assists. Hepburn is coming off of one of his best games of the season, too. In 37 minutes on Tuesday at Syracuse, Hepburn went for 24 points with seven assists in the blowout win.

Aboubacar Traore, Guard

He’s nowhere near the top of Louisville’s stat pages, but senior guard Aboubacar Traore had his best outing of the season in Charlottesville. The Ivorian guard transferred to Louisville after three years at Long Beach State, and has had a limited role with the Cardinals. Despite averaging 4.3 points per game on the season, Traore went for a season-high 15 at JPJ, making 6-of-10 shots and also grabbing eight rebounds. UVa is surely hoping Traore doesn’t have a repeat performance in him.

With the caveat that anything can happen, this one feels like a bit of a no brainer. UVa has lost four straight and Louisville has won seven in a row. The Cards are home, and we’ve already seen them beat Virginia by 20 points just days ago. UVa did play better basketball at the end of Wednesday’s game against SMU, but that’s not reason enough to pick a big upset win here. We’ll see if Virginia can use their late rally against the Mustangs as fuel for Saturday’s game in the Derby City, or if the last-second lost further damages morale.