Louisville calms the Red Storm, 72-48

Led by 16 points from sophomore forward Terrence Williams, No. 20 Louisville completely dominated St. John's Wednesday night at Louisville's Freedom Hall. The Cardinals won their fourth-straight game, beating the Red Storm 72-48 after pulling all the starters with five minutes to go.

The Cardinals were down 12-8 early in the game, but responded with a 6-0 run shortly after the under-16 minute media timeout.

Louisville took an 18-16 shortly after the under-12 minute media timeout, and St. John's couldn't respond. Cold shooting from the outside and frequent turnovers kept the Red Storm from scoring a field goal for the final 11:07 of the first half.

UofL raced to a 31-18 lead with just over a minute left on a pair of free throws by freshman forward Derrick Caracter. St. John's cut the lead to 11 on a pair of free throws by sophomore small forward Anthony Mason Jr., but Louisville extended its lead to 36-20 at the half on a jumper by Caracter and a three-pointer at the buzzer by senior shooting guard Brandon Jenkins.

St. John's offensive struggles continued in the second half. Louisville raced to a 42-22 lead and held St. John's without a field goal until the 15:30 mark when Mason Jr. hit a three from the left corner. The Red Storm started a slight run when Mason Jr. hit a second three and then connected on a dunk during an alley-oop to cut the Cardinal lead to 44-30. UofL responded with a three by Williams with 13:25 remaining.

The Cards held a 52-33 lead with 10:15 remaining after a steal and driving bankshot by Williams. Another three by Williams gave the Cards a 55-33 lead, and St. John's coach Norm Roberts called a timeout just seconds later after Jenkins stole the inbounds pass and increased the lead to 24 points with a wide open layup.

A pair of free throws by freshman forward Earl Clark gave UofL a 61-35 lead with just under eight minutes left. The Cardinals played the last five minutes of the game without a single starter on the court finishing off a 72-48 win.

Williams finished with 16 points, Caracter had 12, Jenkins had 10, Clark had nine and freshman point guard Edgar Sosa finished with eight.