| Date: Dec. 20, 2003 | Score: Louisville 80, Austin Peay 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia (21) Austin Peay: Adrian Henning (15) |
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| U of L knocks off Austin Peay, who the Cards beat in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament, by sharing the ball: 23 of U of L's 29 field goals came off assists. Francisco Garcia, who led U of L with 21 points (his fourth straight game with 20 or more points) also led U of L with eight assists, matching a career-high, and has established himself as U of L's MVP so far this season. Austin Peay scored the game's first six points, but a three from Garcia gave the Cards a 9-7 lead which lasted the rest of the game. With U of L up 18-16, U of L forced Austin Peay's fifth turnover, which led to a dunk by Otis George that started an 11-1 run. Austin Peay had two turnovers in their next three possession, both leading to Cardinal lay-ups. The Governors went almost six minutes without a field goal, but a three with 2:13 remaining drew Austin Peay to within 37-29. But a three and fast break lay-up by Garcia pushed U of L's lead into double digits; the Cards led 42-30 at halftime. |
| Two straight threes from the Governors pulled Austin Peay to within 42-36 to open the second half, butt he Cards went on an 8-0 run after a timeout. The run actually was built into a 23-10 spurt, with the Cards taking their biggest lead of the game at 65-46. Austin Peay pulled within nine at 69-60 with five minutes left, but two free throws by Luke Whitehead after a steal, a Whitehead basket off an assist from Garcia, then a three from Garcia ended all hopes for Austin Peay; the Cards closed the game with an 11-3 run. |
| U of L shot 49% for the game, while the Governors only made 33.9% of their shots, though they were 9-24 from three-point range. Alhaji Mohammed sparked U of L on both ends of the court in the first half, and wound up with nine points and two steals. For U of L, Whitehead finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, though was criticized by Pitino for having no steals or assists. Taquan Dean had 11 points and five assists. U of L scored 24 points off of 17 Austin Peay turnovers. The win was U of L's 20th straight home win against non-conference opponents. Austin Peay was led by Adrian Henning, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. |
The game also served as a fund-raiser for former Cardinal Marques Maybin, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident over the summer. $22,867 was raised from a collection in the stands, while Austin Peay contributed $10,000 from its guarantee of the game to the Marques Maybin Fund. Austin Peay is located in Maybin's home town of Clarksville, TN. The Daniel Pitino Foundation also added $5,000 to the fund.  |
| Date: Mar. 21, 2003 | Score: Louisville 86, Austin Peay 64 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (20) Austin Peay: Josh Lewis (20) |
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| The Cards win their first NCAA Tournament game since 1997 over Austin Peay, yet the best news was that forward Francisco Garcia was not critically inured when he suffered a knee bruise late in the first half, and was unable to walk off the floor unassisted. Garcia returned in the second half, which buoyed the Cardinals' spirit, and led to a decisive run which pushed U of L into a second round match-up with Butler, who upset Mississippi State. Luke Whitehead had his fifth straight double-double in leading U of L with 20 points and 11 rebounds, hitting several mid-range jumpers. It was U of L's fourth-biggest margin of victory in an NCAA tourney game. Whitehead had all but two of his rebounds in the second half, as the Cards ourtebounded the Governors 27-14 in the second period and 44-29 for the game. U of L was also effective with its pressure defense, forcing Austin Peay into 18 turnovers (including 12 Cardinal steals), off of which U of L scored 24 points. |
| The game was even throughout the first 10 minutes, but then the Cards used a quick, six-point, 23-second run to go up 26-19. Reece Gaines, who had 18 for U of L, and Bryant Northern hit back-to-back threes for the Cards as U of L went up 38-23 with 4:34 left in the first half. The Cards were deflated, however, when Garcia went down a few minutes later; U of L led 45-33 at the break, but heads were down due to the perceived severity of Garcia's injury. The Cards forced three straight turnovers to open the second half, but after a 7-2 Austin Peay run, the Cards were up just 49-40 with 15:00 remaining. At that point, Garcia returned, and brought back to life energy for U of L. The Cards were up 51-41 when Garcia entered the game, and just like that were up 60-43 two minutes later. U of L's biggest lead was 27. For the game, Garcia had six points, seven rebounds and five assists, while reserve Alhaji Mohammed pitched in eight points. Austin Peay shot a woeful 2-21 from three-point range, while they were outscored 28-3 by the Cardinal bench. U of L shot 50% from the field and 8-24 from three-point range. Austin Peay was led by Josh Lewis, who had 20 points on 8-9 shooting, and Adrian Henning, who had 17. |
