LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men’s basketball team had four players score in double figures to lead the Cardinals to their eighth-straight win with an 81-67 win over Virginia Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
Reyne Smith led the Cardinals with 19 points and connected on four three-pointers, while Terrence Edwards added 16 points and six rebounds. J’Vonne Hadley had 13 points and James Scott chipped in with his third career double-double with12 points and 10 rebounds.
They’re a good team, and they’re going to continue to get better and better and be a force as we approach conference tournament time and things like that,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “But I thought our guys responded to that. Offensively, we got off to a good start – we were able to get into rhythm even though they were trying to really pressure us and not let us move to our spots. I thought our screening was good, our actions were good. We were able to generate some open shots early on and really got going and that great start helped a lot. I thought the crowd was phenomenal.”
Kelsey added,” It’s such a factor and it was a great, great atmosphere today, so a big shoutout to our fanbase. I think our defense continues to be our calling card throughout the course of this winning streak. I think everybody knows we can really score the ball. Our guys are playing in rhythm, connected, really understanding their roles, and the concepts are just second-nature now, but the thing that’s been carrying us has been our defense and we’ve got to continue to guard at this level.”
Louisville improves 14-5 and 7-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Virginia dropped to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in the ACC. It marked the first season sweep for the Cardinals over the Cavaliers in 10 seasons and extended their home winning streak to five games.
Louisville led from beginning to end with a pair of Smith free throws to put the Cards ahead 2-0. After Virginia trimmed the lead to 13-10 with 14:21 left in the first half, the Cards extended the lead to 18-10 with 12:53 left in the half on two free throws by Chucky Hepburn and a three-pointer by Smith. The lead would reach its highest of the first half when Hadley scored a basketball with 5:50 left in the half to make the lead 31-16.
After the Cavaliers trimmed the lead to nine at 35-26, Louisville closed first-half scoring with a bucket by James Scott to send the Cards into the locker room with a 39-28 advantage.
Coming out of the break, Louisville opened with a 14-4 run to put the Cards ahead 53-32 with 12:23 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Khani Rooths. The Cavaliers would get to as close as 11 at 59-48 with 8:55 left in the contest, but another 12-4 run over the next four minutes would put the game away at 71-52 with just 4:53 left in the contest.
Louisville only shot 43.3 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from the floor but were a solid 85.2 percent from the free throw line. Louisville outrebounded Virginia 36-30, including 10-5 on the offensive glass.
UofL will return to action on Tuesday when it travels to SMU for a 9 p.m. tipoff on the ACC Network.
