The Flyers look to improve on their road warrior image and extend their record away from the University of Dayton Arena to 5-1 as they take on the University of Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon. Dayton has not defeated Louisville since 1969 when they emerged from Freedom Hall with a 72-56 victory. Dayton has dropped 20 consecutive decisions to the Cardinals since, including 12 by fewer than 10 points. The Cardinals lead the all-time series 39-24.

Louisville comes into the game with an uncharacteristic 4-6 record. They went 2-2 in Hawaii, defeating the Hawaii Rainbows before going 1-2 in the Maui Classic. In the Classic, the Cardinals defeated UNLV, and lost decisions to Maryland and UConn. Since returning to the mainland, Louisville has faced a difficult schedule, losing at Alabama, at South Alabama, and to Georgetown and Western Kentucky at Freedom Hall. The Cardinals have won their last two home games, defeating Loyola Chicago and Murray State.

Louisville has an excellent backcourt, led by 6’3″ senior guard Marques Maybin and 6’6″ sophomore guard Reece Gains. Maybin leads the team in scoring with 21 a game, and can score from anywhere. He is connecting on 43% of his field goal attempts, including 46% behind the three-point line. He seldom gives up the ball, and is prone to forcing the action, as evidenced by his 13 assists and 28 turnovers. Gaines is averaging 15.4 points, including 43% marksmanship from trey land. He also leads the team in assists with 3.7 a game, but is prone to committing turnovers. His assist to turnover ratio is 1.1 to 1. Both Maybin and Gaines are adept at getting inside the defense and drawing contact, and are deadly from the line. Maybin is converting 81% of his free throws, Gaines 79%. Eric Brown has average 12 points since becoming eligible the past two games. Rashad Brooks averages 4 points in 17 minutes off the bench.Louisville’s biggest difficulty is finding consistent offense beyond Maybin and Gaines, who have taken 45% of Louisville’s field goal attempts this year. The Cards have looked to 6’7″ freshman Luke Whitehead, 6’8″ freshman Ellis Myles, 6’8″ junior Hajj Turner, and 6’8″ junior Joseph N’sima to provide some scoring without great success. Whitehead averages 10 points and features a baseline jumper, while Myles is scoring at an 8 point a game clip. Whitehead averages 5 boards while Myles leads the team with 7 caroms a game. N’sima has been effective altering shots inside, and leads the Cards with 15 blocks. He also picks up 6 rebounds.The Cardinal frontcourt has been horrendous from the free throw line. Whitehead, Myles and Turner are all converting less than 50% of their charity tosses, while Brooks is an anemic 56%. Only N’sima has been proficient from the line, shooting 81%.

Unfortunately for the Cards, he doesn’t get there often, attempting just 21 in 10 games.Former Flyer recruit Mac Wilkinson sees just minutes of playing time, averaging less than 2 points and has converted just 6 of his 23 field goal attempts. The Cardinal frontcourt has received a boost from the Kentucky court system, as a state judge has ordered the NCAA to reinstate the eligibility of 6’11″ freshman Muhamed Lasege. He is expected to suit up against Dayton, but his playing status is uncertain. He has been practicing while his eligibility was being contested.The Cardinals play pressure defense, both in the full court and half court. If the Flyers are to emerge with their 5th road victory they will need to attack the pressure defense and value of possession of the basketball. Limiting transition points is always a key to beating any Denny Crum-coached team. They need to take advantage of the apparent advantage inside, and advantage that may be greatly lessened if Nate Green is unable to suit up — Green suffered an ankle sprain Thursday night against Morehead State and was on crutches Friday morning.

Finally, the Flyers will have to contain Maybin and Gaines, limiting their penetration and keeping track of them on the perimeter. If Maybin and Gaines go through the defense like a hot knife through warm butter as we’ve seen guards do several times this year against the Flyers, it will be difficult to scratch out a win.