| Date: January 10, 2004 | Score: Louisville 85, South Florida 40 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Taquan Dean (16) South Florida: Bradley Mosley (8) |
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| In its first road C-USA game of the year, the Cardinals handed the undermanned South Florida Bulls their worst home-loss ever. The final decision was determined early; the Cards at one point led 31-6 in the first half, a period which saw South Florida finish with 15 points and 15 turnovers. (The Cards were up at the break 40-15.) The final score gave U of L its largest margin of victory ever in a C-USA game, and also set a school record for fewest points allowed in a C-USA game. Also, the output of 40 points was the second fewest in any game for the Bulls, which missed their most lopsided loss in school history by only one point. |
South Florida scored only two field goals in the first 12 minutes, and missed 15 of their first 20 shots. U of L scored 18 straight in that time, building a 24-4 lead. At one point, USF went scoreless for 7:19. After a Bulls basket, the Cards went on a 9-2 run to make it 33-8 with 3:33 left in the first half. After the break, the Cards delivered the final blow, making their first 10 shots of the second half, including two three-pointers each from Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon; meanwhile, USF was held to 3-10 shooting and four turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half. With 11:48 left, U of L was up 70-23. With eight minutes left to play the score was 77-31. No Cardinal player was on the court for more than 23 minutes. Dean led all scorers with 16 points, including 4-5 from three-point range and six assists, while Francisco Garcia had 15 points (plus five rebounds and five assists), O'Bannon 14 and Luke Whitehead 11. Nouah Diakite led U of L with seven rebounds; the Cards outrebounded the Bulls 45-33. Former Cardinal star Reece Gaines was in attendance, as he is on the injured reserve list for the NBA's Orlando Magic. In fairness, the Bulls were playing without starting guard Marlyn Bryant, who suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the week. USF shot only 26.5% from the field.  |
| Date: February 1, 2002 | Score: Louisville 96, South Florida 77 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (30) South Florida: Altron Jackson (25) |
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| U of L fans got a glimpse of what Pitino-ball can look like in this game, as the Cards put on a record-setting shooting exhibition in dismantling the South Florida Bulls with surprising ease. The Cards set a school record with 19 three-pointers (the previous high was 16 vs. Oral Roberts on Jan. 2, 1993) and also set a C-USA record for most threes in a game (the previous high was also 16, by Charlotte vs. DePaul on Feb. 28, 2001). The Cards also received personal bests from Reece Gaines, who notched a career-high with 30 points on 8-15 shooting from the field (including 7-12 from behind the arc), 7-7 from the line, plus six rebounds and four assists, and all this despite playing with a stomach flu. Walk-on guard Bryant Northern also had a career-high, scoring all 21 of his points by shooting 7-9 from three-point range, at one point making five straight. For the game, U of L was 19-32 from behind the arc (11-16 in the second half) and from the field shot a season-high 53.3%. Not coincidentally, the Cards also had a season-high 25 assists. |
| The Cards used defense and South Florida turnovers to build their 39-29 halftime lead. The Cards scored half of their first half points off of 16 South Florida turnovers, and dominated on the boards as well: USF had only three offensive rebounds in the opening frame. Although South Florida did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half (they finished with 22 turnovers) and even wound up shooting 50.3% from the field, U of L's outside shooting proved decisive. The Bulls had a 10-0 run early in the second half, but Northern hit one of his threes to push the Cards' lead back to 46-39. Another Northern three on U of L's next possession gave the Cards a 49-41 lead. After South Florida pulled to within 60-56 with 8:25 left, Northern drilled another three. And then when the Bulls scored on two straight possessions to pull within 63-60...you guessed it: Northern hit back-to-back threes. Other shining stars for the Cards were Luke Whitehead, who followed up his 20-point performance against Memphis with 11 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and no turnovers. Also, Alhaji Mohammed was hot from outside, hitting on all three of his three-point attempts to finish with 11 points. For the Bulls, C-USA's all-time leading scorer Altron Jackson had 25 points on 10-18 shooting, while center Will McDonald had 16 points. |
| Game Summary: South Florida | Score: South Florida 73, Louisville 67 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (28) South Florida: Cedric Smith (18) |
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| It was a rough night for the Cardinals in Tampa. Even though USF was playing without one of their best players, B.B. Waldon, the Cards were unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The absence of Reece Gaines, who continues to suffer from lower back spasms, certainly didn't help, as U of L fell behind by as many as 21 points before making a second half run to make the game closer. The Cards fell too far behind, and simply couldn't make up that kind of deficit. |
| U of L started out to an 8-5 lead, but after South Florida employed their 1-3-1 zone trap, the Cards fell apart. Ellis Myles scored to pull U of L to within 12-10, but it was all downhill from there. U of L then missed its next five shots and fell behind 20-10. U of L got another hoop at the 8:08 mark, but then the Bulls made six straight shots, including three three-pointers, to take a dominating 35-18 lead. The Cards committed 12 first half turnovers and were outrebounded 21-11 in the opening period, all of which led to a 39-22 halftime deficit. |
| After USF extended their lead to 21 points, U of L finally got on track. Marques Maybin, who led all scorers with 28, Bryant Northern and Rashad Brooks each hit three-pointers as U of L cut the lead to nine with 9:47 left. USF went back ahead by 14 before the Cards made another run. The Cards trimmed South Florida's lead to 68-61 with two minutes to go, then pulled to within five with less than a minute left. Erik Brown missed a free throw with 43 seconds left that would have pulled U of L to within four, and then the Cards got no closer the rest of the way. |
| U of L made seven threes in the second half and shot 53% in the second period, compared to only 36% in the first half. Erik Brown had 12 points and six rebounds in starting for the injured Gaines, while center Muhammed Lasege contributed eight points and four rebounds. Maybin had nine rebounds to go with his 28 points, and shot 4-10 from three-point range. |
| Game Summary: South Florida | Score: Louisville 76, South Florida 66 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Nate Johnson (26) South Florida: Altron Jackson (21) |
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| South Florida played a confusing 1-3-1 trap against U of L, which caused the Cards some problems in the first half. But they responded after haltime, got a fantastic effort on the glass, received tremendous leadership from Nate Johnson and clinched at least a bye in the C-USA tournament. A win over Houston on Saturday will give the Cards second place in the conference. As mentioned, it was Johnson who led the Cards, scoring 26 points on 10-16 shooting, including 3-5 from three-point range, and also collecting 10 rebounds. Quintin Bailey provided another important first half lift off the bench, finishing with 12 points and two three-pointers. Reece Gaines also had a solid performance, adding 11 points but more importantly six assists, three rebounds and only two turnovers against a defense that really confounded U of L. |
| Also wrapping up his home career at Freedom Hall in fine fashion was Dion Edward, who tied a career high with 14 rebounds and also scored six points to go along with five blocked shots. All told, the Cards outrebounded USF, a rarity this season, 40-31. U of L opened the game with a 10-0 run, but once South Florida settled into its zone trap defense, the tide turned. Down 14-6, USF then scored 14 points in a row to go up 20-14 with 9:41 left in the half. The Bulls led 31-25 with 4:35 remaining, but the Cards used a 13-3 run to close the half with a 41-37 lead. Bailey at one point scored nine straight for the Cards, keeping U of L in the game. USF pulled with 44-43 in the opening minutes of the second period, but U of L scored ten in a row to lead 54-43 with 15:11 left in the game. USF pulled within six at 61-55 with 11:30 remaining, but got no closer. |
| U of L's defense did the job again, limiting the Bulls to only 43% shooting and forcing them into 17 turnovers, though the Cards had 19 turnovers themselves. Leading USF was Altron Jackson with 21 points and seven rebounds and B.B. Waldon with 12 points and eight rebounds. |
