Louisville vs Creighton prediction, pick for March Madness first round

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Louisville basketball: Pat Kelsey on ACC Tournament loss to Duke

Louisville basketball fell to Duke in the ACC Tournament title game. Here’s what Pat Kelsey and Terrence Edwards had to say about the loss.

No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton tips off two days of nonstop NCAA Tournament action at 12:15 p.m. Thursday inside Rupp Arena.KenPom gives Louisville a 60% chance of winning the game.

Pat Kelsey’s reward for a stellar start to his Louisville basketball revival: a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against a team that has advanced to the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight in three of the past four postseasons.

U of L (27-7), the No. 8 seed in the South region, tips off two days of nonstop hoops at 12:15 p.m. Thursday (CBS) vs. No. 9 Creighton (24-10) inside Lexington’s Rupp Arena — its first taste of March Madness since 2019.

“An explosive team,” Kelsey told Matt Jones and Myron Medcalf on Sunday night, during an appearance on ESPN Radio. “A dangerous team — extremely well-coached.”

In Year 15 of Greg McDermott’s tenure, Creighton finished the regular season at 22-9 overall and 15-5 in the Big East. It beat DePaul and UConn to reach the conference tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden but fell to Hall of Famer Rick Pitino and St. John’s, 82-66.

Two years ago, the Bluejays started a run to the Elite Eight as a No. 6 seed. It brought them to the KFC Yum! Center; where they came one win shy of the Final Four against No. 5 San Diego State, 57-56.

The winner of Thursday’s game will face either the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, Auburn, or the winner of a No. 16 play-in game between Alabama State or Saint Francis on Saturday. But one thing at a time; here’s a deeper dive on the Cardinals’ first opponent:

Ryan Kalkbrenner, 7-foot-1 unanimous first-team All-Big East selection, leads Creighton (and ranks second in the conference) in scoring with 19.4 points on a league-best 66.3% shooting.

The Florissant, Missouri, native is also the Jays’ top rebounder (8.8) and…

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Publish date : 2025-03-17 02:59:00

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