No. 16 Cardinals get third win in 3 days
November 24, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—Rick Pitino wasn’t looking for perfection duringLouisville’s run through the Hall of Fame Showcase.
Good thing, because he didn’t get it. Not that he particularly cared afterthe 16th-ranked Cardinals completed a three-game sweep in the round-robin eventwith an 80-53 win over Appalachian State on Monday night.
For a team still searching for an identity after the departure of stars EarlClark and Terrence Williams, winning convincingly while playing its third gamein barely 48 hours will do.
“I think we had to get three wins, which we did,” Pitino said after theCardinals improved to 4-0. “This was a good basketball team we played, I thinkwe just wore them down.”
Samardo Samuels led a balanced attack with 16 points and Edgar Sosa andPreston Knowles added 11 points each for the Cardinals, who can complete theirsecond undefeated November in Pitino’s nine seasons with a win over UNLV onSaturday.
“It was a confidence booster for a lot of guys,” Samuels said. “A lot ofguys got to play and they can take a lot from that and mature. Every one thatcame in was a contributor. That’s going to be big for us.”
Freshman Rakeem Buckles added six points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals,who pulled away in the second half.
“We’ve got so many weapons, it’s really hard for teams to play againstus,” Louisville guard Peyton Siva said. “Out of the three games, we found outa lot about our weaknesses.”
The Mountaineers exposed one of them in the first half, knocking downseveral 3-pointers early, forcing Pitino to abandon the 2-3 zone defense thatwas a staple of last year’s Big East championship team.
Donald Sims led Appalachian State (2-3) with 19 points and Jeremi Booth had14, but the Mountaineers couldn’t keep pace when the Cardinals turned up thedefensive pressure after halftime.
“They were just too much for us,” Appalachian State coach Buzz Petersonsaid.
Louisville led 39-30 at halftime but slowly pulled away thanks to majorcontributions from role players like Buckles and Reggie Delk, who made two3-pointers during a 17-7 run that put the Cardinals up 68-44 midway through thehalf.
The Cardinals used their distinct size advantage and superior depth to getoff to their best start since 2005-06, when they opened 6-0.
That team was rebuilding coming off a Final Four appearance, and theCardinals quickly faded as the season wore on and missed the NCAA tournament.
Pitino has decidedly higher expectations this year, but will need more ofselfless play the Cardinals showcased in the second half.
Siva hit a 3-pointer to get Louisville going, Samuels added a hook shot andSosa rolled in a layup as part of a 10-2 run to put the Cardinals up 49-32.Appalachian State managed to get it back to 12 points but couldn’t withstand theconstant wave of players Pitino sent onto the court.
All 14 Louisville players entered the game and 11 of them scored.
“I don’t think these guys worry about who the stars will be,” Pitino said.“One night it will be Samardo and then another night somebody else. It doesn’tmatter to them.”
Delk, the nephew of former Kentucky star Tony Delk, continued his strongstart to the season with eight points. Buckles, considered a project of sorts,helped Louisville outrebound the Mountaineers 37-26 and outscore them 30-6 inthe paint.
By the time Kyle Kuric stepped in front of a pass and swooped in for a dunk,the Cardinals led 68-44 for their most decisive victory of the weekend.
Pitino had criticized his team for somewhat lethargic play in wins over EastTennessee State and Morgan State, but the Cardinals were crisp during the final20 minutes of their three-day run.
Louisville held the Mountaineers to 32 percent shooting in the second halfwhile forcing 11 turnovers.
“Our defense and our intensity picked up,” Siva said. “You could see itin the crowd, they got restless and then we picked it up.”
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