Southeastern Louisiana vs Louisville Odds and Picks (Dec. 14)

• Louisville is a 22.5-point favorite over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday
• SE Louisiana is 1-4 straight up, ATS in its last five
• Read below for analysis and a betting prediction

Louisville (6-3) is a 22.5-point home favorite over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at 6 pm ET on the ACC Network. The Cardinals enter after a 62-55 home loss to DePaul on Friday as a 7.5-point favorite.

Southeastern Louisiana (4-6) was the preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference.  The Lions are playing the sixth game of an eight-game road trip that will finish against Iowa and Iowa State next week.

Southeastern Louisiana vs Louisville Odds

Odds from BetMGM on Dec. 13.

Both teams have played Southern U, their only common opponent. Louisville beat the Jaguars 72-60 in its home opener Nov. 9 behind 16 points from Noah Locke and 15 from Matt Cross. Southeastern Louisiana fell to the Jaguars 72-66 its last time out on Thursday, when it was outscored by 11 in the second half.

Louisville Scuffling

The Cardinals have lost two of their last three games during a tough early stretch, falling to Michigan State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and Big East DePaul around a road victory at North Carolina State in their ACC opener.

Senior forward 6’11 Malik Williams had a career-high 22 points in the 62-55 home loss to the Demons, going 10 of 15 from the floor. The rest of the starting group was little help — the other four starters were 11 of 44 from the field and the bench was 2 of 15 as the Cardinals shot a season-low 31.1 percent from the field.

The Cardinals have not shot well as they attempt to transition into a more effective team from the perimeter. While early results are mixed, their play on the defensive end and their plus-6.12 rebounding edge have kept them in games.

Louisville is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor, among the worst rates in Division I, but has limited opponents to 38.4 percent, among the best, Williams (51.4 percent) is the only member of the rotation who is shooting at least 44 percent. Starting guards Locke (10.7 points per game) is at 32.7 percent and Dre Davis (8.8 points) is at 38.3.

It's been too long.

Friday, we're together again. Let's do this, #CardNation.

🎟: https://t.co/UhJrV1LI9J pic.twitter.com/xm5elafHzr

— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) December 9, 2021

Coach Chris Mack elevated 6’7 Miami transferMatt Cross to the starting lineup in place of Jae’Lyn Withers against DePaul, and Cross finished with 11 points, He had 13 points and seven rebounds in the 73-68 victory at North Carolina State on Dec. 4, when his 3-pointer from the left baseline with 28 seconds remaining broke a tie.

Lions in a Rut

Southeastern Louisiana has two members of the Southland Conference’s preseason all-league team in forward 6’6 Gus Okafor and guard 6′ Keon Clergeot, but the Lions struggled to put it together as seven different players have started.

The Lions, who play on the perimeter, lost by 15 at SMU, their toughest test to date. Three of their victories have come against non-NCAA Division I schools Southeastern Baptist College, Paul Quinn College and Ecclesia College.

Southland Conf Pre Season All Conf
1st Team
F Gus Okafor 6-6 JR SLU
G Keon Clergeot 6-0 SR SLU
G Troy Green 6-3 SR UNO
G Derek St Hilaire 6-0 SR UNO
G Ty Gordon 6-1 JR NIcholls

— Major Madness (@low_madness) August 11, 2021

Okafor, who leads the Lions with a 13.5 scoring average, has only nine points in his last two games while playing through an ankle injury he suffered in the first half of a 72-68 victory over Troy on Dec. 5. He did not start against Southern and had only seven points in 27 minutes. His status needs to be monitored.

Clergeot (11.7 points, 3.5 assists) and 6’5 guard Jalyn Hinton (12.4 points, 7.2 rebounds) are the other double-digit scorers.  Clergeot had 16 points against Southern The Lions are averaging 9.6 steals and 9.4 made threes per game, both in the top 50 in Division I against a schedule ranked 221st by KenPom.

**THE DUNK! Nick Caldwell’s phenomenal put-back dunk in the game’s waning moments! #LiveForTheHunt #JoinThePride #LionUp #SCTop10 nominee pic.twitter.com/NdgUwMSt9Y

— Southeastern Men's Basketball (@LionUpMBB) December 6, 2021

By the Numbers

Louisville is 44th in Ken Pom in adjusted offensive efficiency, 116th on offense and 12th on defense. Southeastern is 308th in efficiency margin, 299th on offense and 296th on defense. Southeastern Louisiana is 3-6 ATS. Louisville is 3-2 at home and is 7-0 lifetime against Southland Conference teams.

The teams have never met. Southeastern Louisiana is 0-5 against the ACC, the last game an 86-50 loss at Notre Dame on Dec. 21, 2017. The step up in class for Southeastern will be too much to overcome against a strong defensive team that is smarting from its seventh nonconference home loss in the last 12 seasons. The Cardinals are the play.

The pick: Louisville -22.5 (-110)