Louisvilles fast start sinks Missouri State
Rick Pitino came into Tuesday night's game against Missouri State expecting his team to be challenged. The No. 6 Cardinals jumped on the Bears 29-8 in the first 12 minutes and never really looked back.
Missouri State (8-2) led Louisville (10-1) 4-3 two minutes into the game when the Cardinals went on a 16-0 run that started with a free throw by Russ Smith.
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"I don't know what was better, the defense, the offense or the offensive rebounding," Pitino said. "It was just awesome in the first half. Missouri State is a good basketball team. Outside of free throws shooting, we played a great game in every phase of the game."
A layup by Montrezl Harrell, a jumper by Smith and a three by Wayne Blackshear pushed Louisville's lead to 11-4. A layup by Mangok Mathiang and a jumper by Terry Rozier gave the Cardinals their first double-digit lead at 15-4.
Louisville would never lead by less than 11 points the rest of the game. A dunk by Chane Behanan and a layup by Rozier pushed the lead to 19-4 before Missouri State finally hit the scoreboard again with a pair of free throws at the 10:57 mark.
The Cardinals dominated Missouri State in every way possible during the first half. The Bears went without a field goal from 17:59 to 9:02. Louisville out-rebounded Missouri State 27-10 in the first half and the Cardinals hit 54.5 percent of their shots.
After a pair of free throws by Rozier with 1:09 left in the first half, Louisville led by 26 points, 47-21. UofL went into halftime ahead 47-24.
Louisville was not as dominant in the second half, but still maintained a healthy lead. When Missouri State threatened to make a game of it by cutting the UofL lead to 62-45 with 11:09 left, Louisville scored seven straight points to take a 24-point lead again.
The Cardinals closed out the 90-60 win with four players in double-figures led by Harrell's 17. Blackshear, Rozier and Smith each scored 11 points.