| Game Summary: South Alabama | Score: Louisville 90, South Alabama 79 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (26) South Alabama: Chris Young (24) |
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| Coming off the loss to Purdue, one would have assumed the Cards would have come out ready to play. Knowing that South Alabama was coached by former Rick Pitino player John Pelphrey, it was no surprise was strategy and style of play the Jaguars would employ. So it was only a half-surprise when South Alabama came out firing from three-point range. Their success, though, caught many off guard. South Alabama shot an unbelievable 8-15 from three-point range in the first half, riding their shooting to 40-38 halftime lead. The main culprit was Chris Young, who made 6-7 threes in the first half to score 22 of his team-high 24 points in the opening period. |
In the second half, though, the Cards were able to apply the defense they needed to, while opening things up from their own offensive end. By switching on more screens, the Cards were able to hold South Alabama to only 4-13 from three-point range in the second half. The Cards turned their halftime deficit into a 57-46 lead with a 19-6 run to open the second half. U of L built three different 14-point leads, but could not get up any more than that. The Jaguars pulled within seven with 13 minutes left, and within nine at the 6:19 mark, but got no closer the rest of the way. The Cards finished with 18 turnovers in the game, but outscored their opponents 36-14 in the paint and scored 31 points off of 21 South Alabama turnovers. Although he had five turnovers, Gaines led all scorers with 26 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Luke Whitehead had 17 points and six rebounds for the Cards, while Larry scored 10 points in the last 12 and a half minutes in the game to finish with a career-high 16 points. O'Bannon shot 5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from three-point range, and was 4-4 from the line. Ellis Myles had nine points and 13 rebounds. Senior Erik Brown saw his first action of the season, scoring seven points in 16 minutes of action.  |
| Game Summary: One World All-Stars | Score: Louisville 132, One World All-Stars 83 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Kendall Dartez (29) One World All-Stars: Teddy Dupay (45) |
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| It was just another exhibition game for the Cards, who were able to score at will in the paint and control the boards in a way they haven't -- and probably won't again -- all season. Kendall Dartez breaks out for 29 points, scoring easily and collecting rebounds like baseball cards. The lack of a frontcourt presence by the One World All-Stars allowed Dartez to have his way in the paint. In the first half, though, it was work outside the paint that was the show. One World All-Stars' Teddy Dupay hit on 9-10 from three-point range to score 33 points in the first half alone. He finished with a game-high 45 points. |
| Because of the shooting clinic put on by Dupay, the Cards made a concerted effort to guard the perimeter in the second half, using Reece Gaines to guard Dupay and end his shooting touch. The second half was when Dartez took over. He made all eight of his shots in the second period, and his last 12 overall, and his 16 rebounds paced the way for U of L's 56-23 rebounding advantage. U of L also got 40 points off of turnovers, and beat One World in second-chance points 36-5. Other key contributors for the Cards, and there were a lot of them, were Reece Gaines, who had 16 points; Taquan Dean, who had 17 points and four assists; Simeon Naydenov, who scored all 14 of his points in the last eight minutes; freshman Francisco Garcia, who had 13 points and eight rebounds; and Ellis Myles, who had 11 points and nine rebounds. The Cards held One World to 30.8% shooting in the second half, and dished out a total of 35 assists. |
| Game Summary: Seton Hall | Score: Louisville 91, Seton Hall 70 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (23) Seton Hall: Andre Barrett (23) |
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| The end of the first half, and the opening of the second half, probably marks the first appearance of Pitino-ball for the U of L Cardinals. The Cardinals wore down Seton Hall with three-point shooting, pressure defense and depth, accomplishing only the fourth victory for Coach Pitino away from Freedom Hall in his brief tenure, and racking up U of L's biggest margin of victory on the road since a 32-point win over Alaska-Anchorage in 1999. Amazingly, it was only the Cards' fifth 20-point or more win on the road since 1986. The Cards made four straight three-point shots in a 16-4 run that helped erase a 12-point deficit in the last three minutes of the first half. U of L fell behind 13-3 early, climbed back to within three, then fall back again by 12 as the Pirates scored on numerous putbacks. But then the Cards, who shot 67.7% in the second half and 57.6% for the game, stayed hot, making their first six shots of the second period and nine of their first 11. The U of L defense produced six Seton Hall turnovers in nine of the Pirates' first nine possessions of the second half. |
| The 17-0 run to open the second half put U of L up 54-37, and Seton Hall pulled no closer than 12 the rest of the way. U of L's depth really made its presence known, as the Cardinal bench outscored the Seton Hall bench 42-4, featuring 12 points from Francisco Garcia and 11 points from Taquan Dean, who was 3-4 from three-point range. Overall, the Cards shot 12-25 from three-point range, and to boot claimed a 32-27 advantage on the boards which helped the Cards produce 32 second-chance points compared to Seton Hall's 10. Ellis Myles had 12 points and 12 rebounds for U of L, who also received 23 points from Reece Gaines, who was 4-7 from three-point range, 8-14 from the field overall, and had seven assists. The Cards received 15 of their first 21 points from Garcia, Dean, and Kendall Dartez, who finished with eight. Bryant Northern had 12 points and four assists, while Erik Brown added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Seton Hall was paced by Andre Barrett, who had 23 points. In the game, Reeece Gaines became U of L's second all-time three-point shooter with a career 160 three-pointers made. |
| Game Summary: Eastern Kentucky | Score: Louisville 104, Eastern Kentucky 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Taquan Dean (19) Eastern Kentucky: Matt Witt (17) |
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| U of L came out blazing in this game, shooting over 60% from the field in the first half en route to a 27-point halftime lead. Highlighting the opening sparks was freshman Taquan Dean, who in the first half made 4-5 shots, including 2-3 three-pointers, for what was then a career-high 14 points by halftime. He added to that and led all scorers with 19 points. Reece Gaines, who finished with 18 points on 6-11 shooting with five assists and four steals, scored five of U of L's first 10 points as the Cards grabbed an early 10-2 led. Two straight threes from Dean propelled the Cards into a 14-0 run that made the score 36-14 with 7:59 left in the opening frame. Francisco Garcia, who wound up with 13 points, scored nine of those in the first half and also had four assists. U of L shot 7-12 from behind the arc in the first half. |
| Otis George was allowed to start the second half, and more than took advantage. He finished with career-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds. U of L wound up shooting over 50% from the field for the third straight game, finishing at the 57% mark. U of L, continuing trends, scored a whopping 39 points off turnovers; for the game, Eastern finished with 22 turnovers. The Cards' bench also outscored Eastern's 63-11, but this is not surprising the way Pitino manages the depth of this Cardinal team. Also finishing in double figures for U of L was Ellis Myles, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Cards maintained a 36-24 edge on the glass, and have seen their free throw shooting improve from last year. |
| Game Summary: Manhattan | Score: Louisville 89, Manhattan 62 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marvin Stone (19) Manhattan: Jared Johnson (18) |
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| Like in the game vs. Eastern Kentucky the night before, in this final of the Billy Minardi Classic the Cardinals came out hot. The Cards scored the game's first eight points and led by 21-6 midway through the opening period. Manhattan then turned the tables on U of L, applying a half-court trapping defense which put the Cards off rhythmn. The Cards were still able to post a 41-27 halftime lead, built mostly with the contributions of freshman Francisco Garcia, who had all 12 of his points and three blocked shots in the first half alone. |
| The real story of the game, though, was the debut of UK transfer center Marvin Stone. Stone came out maybe a bit rusty but still ready to play: he led the Cardinals both in points with 19 and rebounds with 11. Stone missed five of his first seven shots, and had many balls slapped away, but hung on for the career-high point total while also blocking three shots. Surprisingly, Stone even put down a three-pointer. It was the veterans, though, that eventually paved the way for victory. Up only 53-47 at the 10:47 mark of the second half, the Cards' Ellis Myles scored five in a row, and Luke Whitehead followed with a dunk. The Cards got another hoop, then received eight out of their next 10 points from Reece Gaines. The Cards finished only 6-22 from three-point range, but were 21-29 from the line and outrebounded the Jaspers 50-33. For U of L, Gaines finished with 18, while Otis George had 10 points in only eight minutes of action. Stone took a tumble with just under six minutes left, but was fine. After the game, Reece Gaines was named tournament MVP of the Minardi Classic, and was joined on the all-tourney team by Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean. |
| Game Summary: Furman | Score: Louisville 104, Furman 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marvin Stone, Taquan Dean (21) Furman: Jason Patterson (13) |
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| U of L pads its record to 6-1 now in taking advantage of an overmatched Furman squad to roll to its fourth straight win -- and for the second time in three games, U of L comes out ahead by a score of 104-63. Again, the Cards came out hot and laid down the hammer early. U of L opened up an early 16-6 lead, and a 24-5 run to close the first half gave U of L a 51-25 halftime lead. The Cards were paced in the first half by freshman Taquan Dean, who made his first seven shots, including 4-5 from three-point range. He finished 5-6 from behind the arc and with a career-high 21 points. U of L passed out a season-high 27 assists, and even though they missed 12 of their final 16 shots, the Cards finished 58% from the field. |
| Marvin Stone also notched a career-high (his second in two games), scoring 21 points along with a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with four assists and two blocked shots. Also shining for U of L was Francisco Garcia, who in his second start of the year scored 14 points along with five assists, three blocks and two steals. The Cards' defense led the way for their offense, as U of L forced Furman into 20 turnovers, scoring 30 points off of those turnovers. The Cards also continued to get production from their bench, including 15 points from Luke Whithead. Reece Gaines finsished with 12 points and five assists in only 20 minutes of action. Joshua Tinch made his debut for U of L now that the football season is over. |
| Game Summary: Kentucky | Score: Louisville 81, Kentucky 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marvin Stone (16) Kentucky: Keith Bogans (14) |
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| It's been a long time since U of L fans came away with a smile as big as the one they left Freedom Hall with on this Saturday afternoon. The Cards continue their six-game winninig streak, seemed poised to enter the Top 25, snap a three-game losing streak to UK, and hand UK its second worst loss in the U of L-UK series since it started up again in 1983. U of L also handed UK coach Tubby Smith his most lopsided loss as a UK coach as the Cards turned the tables on the Wildcats, dealing them a second half beating that left the 'Cats bewildered, dazed and somewhat demoralized. It's a feeling U of L fans know all too well; now state bragging rights belong to U of L...at least for a year. |
| As the game opened, it didn't look pretty for U of L, as UK showed their big-game experience...and U of L showed its lack thereof. In front of the second-largest Cardinal home crowd ever at Freedom Hall (20,061), UK took charge in a big way, grabbing the first 14 of 15 rebounds en route to a 20-9 lead. On a few occassions, the Wildcats had opportunities to blow the game open a little bit, but couldn't capitalize on some three-point shots, and the Cards were able to climb back into it and make UK pay. The key to U of L's turnaround was junior guard Bryant Northern, who once again was there for U of L when it needed him. He hit a long-range three-pointer from the left wing to pull U of L to within 26-24, then after UK went up by seven again, he hit another three to pull the Cards to within 31-27. For the game, Northern was 3-3 from three-point range, and he wound up with nine points in only 11 minutes of action. That got the ball rolling for U of L, and after Taquan Dean hit a three with 1:21 left in the half, the Cards had trimmed the lead to 33-30, which was the halftime score. U of L hit only 1-7 of its first three-point shots, but wound up 10-21 from behind the arc for the game. By halftime, U of L had been outrebounded 24-14, and was outscored in the paint 20-6. |
| Like other UK-U of L games, it was a different story in the second half. Unlike other UK-U of L games, it was all U of L in the second half. Francisco Garcia hit a three for the Cards to open the second half to tie the game, and then after UK got a hoop, Erik Brown hit a three to start an 11-0 Cardinal run. Five minutes into the second half, U of L had opened a nine-point lead, and had outscored UK 17-2 in the last six and a half minutes of action. Besides the three-point shooting, U of L improved its work on the glass, fueled by a monster effort from Ellis Myles. Myles had only two rebounds at halftime, but finished with a game-high 14 to go along with 11 points and a team-high five assists. Northern hit his third three of the game to put U of L up 55-42 with 11:43 left; UK pulled within 10 before Reece Gaines, who finished with 10 points, hit a three-pointer that was like a dagger to UK. The Wildcats, though, scored five in a row and were down seven with 9:07 left, but U of L scored the game's next 11 points to seal the contest. UK missed five shots in a row, committed three turnovers (they wound up with 14 turnovers for the game) and didn't score again until the 4:24 mark. Marvin Stone, who led all scorers with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, scored five in a row at one point, as U of L built a lead as big as 22. Stone finished 8-12 from the line, giving the Cards a huge spark on both ends of the floor. His defense against UK center Marquis Estill held Estill to only six points and six rebounds, and Estill fouled out with over five minutes left in the game. No question that Stone was the difference in the game; had he been wearing blue, the game would have had a far different outcome. |
| U of L shot nearly 54% in the second half, finishing 46.2% from the field for the game and an impressive 23-28 from the line. Five Cardinal players finished in double figures, including Stone, Gaines, Myles, Dean (10) and Garcia (12). At the end of the game, UK had only outrebounded U of L by one, 36-35. Guard Keith Bogans led UK with 14 points, but he was only 1-9 from three-point range (UK finished a woeful 3-18 from behind the arc). The only other UK player to finish in double figures was Chuck Hayes, who had 11. UK shot only 37% from the field. |
