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Arizona meets Louisville at Jimmy V Classic

Dec 5, 2006 - 4:11 PM Louisville (2-1) at No. 15 Arizona (5-1) 9:30 pm EST

NEW YORK (Ticker) - Madison Square Garden has been an unofficial home away from home for Arizona in recent seasons.

The 15th-ranked Wildcats look to maintain their high level of offensive productivity Tuesday when they meet Louisville at the Jimmy V Classic.

Arizona has won 11 of its 16 all-time appearances at the "World's Most Famous Arena," including 10 of the last 11. The only loss in that stretch was a 63-60 defeat to Wake Forest on November 26, 2004.

After dropping the season opener against Virginia, the Wildcats have averaged 92.4 points in their five victories. They have not scored fewer than 84 during that stretch and topped the century mark against Northern Arizona and New Mexico State.

Chase Budinger scored 22 points, Marcus Williams added 20 and Mustafa Shakur 16 for Arizona, which shot 52 percent from the floor in Saturday's 84-72 victory over Illinois.

The game is expected to be the toughest challenge of the young season for Louisville, which has five freshmen and three sophomores on coach Rick Pitino's roster.

After splitting their first two contests against Northwestern State and Dayton, the Cardinals posted a 99-69 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday. Juan Palacios and Edgar Sosa scored 16 points each for Louisville.

The Cardinals won the first two encounters against Arizona before the Wildcats recorded an 82-70 triumph in their most recent matchup at the 1994 NCAA West Regional semifinal.