Double-doubles help Louisville clobber Samford 80-54
No. 2 Louisville sprinted to a 32-9 lead, led 42-13 at halftime and coasted to a 80-54 win over Samford Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
A pair of Cardinals had double-doubles - Chane Behanan with 12 points and 18 rebounds and Gorgui Dieng with 10 points and 13 rebounds - and four players scored in double-figures during the rout.
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It wasn't much of a game from the start, but the blowout didn't start until six minutes in. The Bulldogs tied the score at 2-2 and were down only 11-6 at the 13:44 mark, but then Louisville turned on the jets.
The Cardinals scored the next 13 points and held Samford to just one field goal during an 11 minute stretch of the first half.
The half-time statistics illustrated Louisville's dominance. The Cardinals held Samford to four field goals and forced 16 turnovers. Behanan had 13 rebounds to Samford's 12.
The second half wasn't as dominant, and the Cardinals' coach took note.
"I was really disappointed in that second half because we weren't playing basketball to get better," Pitino said near the start of his post-game comments.
Louisville still won the second half 41-38, but allowed the Bulldogs to score 38 points and shoot 50 percent from the field.
Still, Louisville won 80-54 with 18 points from Russ Smith and 13 from Wayne Blackshear. Tim Williams led Samford with 15 points.
LEADING SCORER RUSS SMITH