Louisville Cardinals guard J'vonne Hadley (1) tries to make the basket against Southern Methodist University Mustangs center Samet Yigitoglu (24) Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center. Jan. 31, 2026 Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Preview: Louisville's Rematch at SMU

Originally posted on Louisville Cardinals on SI
By Matthew McGavic | Last updated Feb 16, 2026 6:00 AM ET

The Louisville men's basketball program is starting to peak at the right time, and they won't have to go far for their next matchup. After dispatching of Baylor this past Saturday in a neutral court showdown, the Cardinals are staying in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, heading to SMU for a chance to earn the in-season sweep.

Louisville's midseason doldrums seem to be firmly in the rearview mirror, as they've fired off a five-game winning streak since going through a seven-game stretch where they lost four times. They've looked especially convincing in their last two games, and most recently used a strong second half to emerge with an 82-71 win over the Bears this past Saturday.

UofL was on fire from the floor, connecting on 56.0 percent of their field goal attempts, including 15-of-23 in the second half of what was a tie game at halftime. They also held BU to 36.7 percent shooting overall, and an ice cold 2-for-22 on three-point tries. Mikel Brown Jr. had 29 points, and J'Vonne Hadley finished with 20.

As for the Mustangs, they have split their four games since their first meeting with Louisville. They lost by one to NC State at home, blew out Pitt in the Steel City, earned a win over Notre Dame, and most recently suffered a heartbreaking 79-78 loss at Syracuse on a tough layup by Nate Kingz in the closing seconds.

Since opening the season at 12-2, Andy Enfield's SMU team has lost six of their last 11. They're also 14-1 overall against Quad 2-4 teams, but are just 3-7 against Quad 1 teams.

This will be the 13th all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Cardinals holding a 10-2 advantage. They have won the last five meetings, including an 88-74 decision in back on Jan. 31 at the KFC Yum! Center to get their current five-game winning streak started. Louisville is 4-1 on the road against SMU, and have won the last two.

No. 24 Louisville Cardinals (19-6, 8-4 ACC) vs. SMU Mustangs (17-8, 6-6 ACC)

Date/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. EST
Place: Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Tex.
TV: ESPN2 - Play-by-play and analyst TBD.
Channel (Louisville)/Live Stream: Spectrum: 30; Dish: 143; DirecTV: 209.
Radio (Louisville): 93.9 FM - Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst).