| Date: Jan. 3, 2004 | Score: Louisville 91, Murray State 69 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (23) Murray State: Kelvin Brown (17) |
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| This season has already seen several single-game offensive records broken, including most threes in a game and most team assists for a game. Against Murray State, Francisco Garcia broke another record, this time dishing out 15 assists, which broke the record of 14 set by Phillip Bond against UCLA on March 3, 1977 in an NCAA Tournament game. (Garcia also had 17 points and seven rebounds.) Personal records were also set, as Larry O'Bannon scored a career-high 20 points. The Cards were facing a tough match-up in that Murray was coached by former Cardinal assistant coach Mick Cronin, who knows U of L's style as much as anyone, and now has the Racers playing a similar style. U of L missed its first five shots, but the Cards still went up early 10-4. The lead changed hands seven times in the 6:19 before halftime, and the Racers closed the first half on a 7-2 run, including a lay-up at the buzzer, to actually lead U of L 37-35 at the break. It was the first time the Cards had trailed at halftime in Freedom Hall this season. |
But the Cards had a Pitino-trademarked run in the first 87 seconds of the second half that wiped out Murray Sate. O'Bannon had two three-pointers, a steal, a deflection and a putback, and, after a Garcia jumper, the Cards led 45-37 and forced Murray to call timeout. All told, it was a 17-4 run for the Cards to open the second half. U of L also picked up its defense in the second half, and didn't allow any easy baskets inside. Murray State committed turnovers on eight of its first 16 second half possessions, while the Cards, in a similar formula to earlier games, warmed offensively in the second half by hitting 20 of 30 from the field. Murray trailed by 12, but a three from Taquan Dean at the 6:38 mark, followed by a free throw by Kendall Dartez and then a bank shot from Dartez gave the Cards a 75-57 advantage. Luke Whitehead led all scorers with 23 points and also had six rebounds, while Dartez had nine points. This is the third straight Pitino team to yield a record of 9-1. Kelvin Brown led Murray State with 17 points, who had four players in double-figures. For the game, Murray shot 43%, but only 2-17 from three-point range. U of L scored 30 points off of 23 Murray State turnovers.  |
| Date: Dec. 8, 2001 | Score: Louisville 84, Murray State 69 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (30) Murray State: Justin Burdine (27) |
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| In a repetition of Friday's game, Coach Pitino lauded his U of L Cardinals with some pretty heavy praise after this game, calling the first half performance one of the top 10 halves of any team he's ever coached in terms of intensity and defensive pressure, and that is saying something. It was a first half that saw U of L jump out to a 10-0 lead and never look back, leading at the break 37-19. The Cards led by as many as 19 points in the opening period, and used their continuous full-court pressure to force Murray State into 12 turnovers and to miss 23 of their 30 shots. Luke Whitehead, who led all scorers with a career-high 30 points on 12-16 shooting from the field to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds and four dunks, had two of those dunks in the opening two minutes, while Reece Gaines, who tied his career-high with 28 points on blazing 6-12 shooting from three-point range, scored eight of U of L's first 14 points. The six three-pointers for Gaines was a career-best as well. |
| Whitehead had three baskets and Gaines a three-pointer as U of L opened the second period with an 11-4 spurt, but Murray State did make a run. The Cards led by as much as 26, but Murray State's Justin Burdine, who led the Racers with 27 points, scored 11 straight points to pull Murray State within 54-42 with 10:30 left in the game. After a Cardinal timeout, Whithead got a dunk and Gaines another three to extend the lead to 17, and Murray's hopes were squashed. Erik Brown was the only other Cardinal in double-figures, scoring 14 points, while Ellis Myles did not record a double-double, scoring only four points with 10 rebounds. |
| Freshman guard Carlos Hurt was suspended for the game for an unspecified violation of team rules. Sophomore Alhaji Mohammed started in his place, and split time with Bryant Northern. Also, it was reported that sophomore forward Mac Wilkinson may be transferring out of the program. He was not on the Cardinal bench for the second consecutive game. |
| Game Summary: Murray State | Score: Louisville 89, Murray State 86 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (30) Murray State: Isaac Spencer (30) |
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| It was a night that saw three U of L players score career-highs, the total reinstatement of center Muhammed Lasege (who is likely to play in Saturday's game vs. Dayton), a fierce U of L comeback, a late rally by Murray State that scared the dickens out of U of L fans, and a last-second heave that somehow still seems like it might go in. Murray State opened the game with a 13-0 run--another poor start for the Cardinals. Murray hit its first four shots, and with 12 minutes left in the first half was shooting 11-15 from the field and led 23-11. Murray led 24-15 before Marques Maybin, who scored 22 points in the first half and finished with a career-high 30 points, hit two straight three-pointers. Bryant Northern, who had a career-high himself with 10 points, also knocked down a three, and the game was tied at 24. U of L continued its run and led 47-43 at the half. |
| The Cards led by as many as 11 in the second half, but Murray made a late run that almost tied the game. With U of L up 87-79, Murray's Antione Whelchel hit a lay-up with 2:09 left; that was followed by a three-pointer by the Racers' Chris Shumate with 1:25 left to cut the lead to 87-83. U of L's Erik Brown, who finished in double-figures for the third straight game with 11 points, missed a running jumper in the late, and Shumate hit a deep three with 45 seconds left to pull Murray within one. After a U of L timeout, Ellis Myles fed Marques Maybin for a lay-up that provided the final margin. Murray's Justine Burdine missed a three-pointer to tie the game with 5 seconds left, and after Rashad Brooks missed a free throw, a desperation heave by Whelchel bounced off the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded. |
| As one would expect in an 89-86 game, there was a lot of impressive scoring numbers. Hajj Turner has probably his best game as a Cardinal, scoring a career-high 12 points on 5-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Ellis Myles had nine points and nine rebounds, and found his form again from the free throw line in going 5-6 from the charity stripe. U of L also had a season-low nine turnovers, and had 21 offensive rebounds compared to Murray's 11. For Murray, their leading scorer was Isaac Spencer, who like Maybin had 22 at halftime and finished with 30. He was 10-19 from the field and 10-14 from the line. Also scoring for Murray was was Burdine with 17 points and Whelchel with 18 points and 14 rebounds. It was U of L's 26th straight win when scoring at least 80 points or more.
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