SMU Falls To Louisville

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Guard Luke Hancock scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half as No. 12 Louisville held off Southern Methodist 71-63 Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Louisville (14-3, 3-1 AAC) led by 17 points at 37-20 late in the first half, but SMU (11-4, 1-2) pulled to within 42-40 five minutes into the second half after closing the first half with a 5-0 run, then opening the second half with a 15-5 run. Louisville then went on an 8-2 run to open some breathing space, and SMU got no closer than four points thereafter.

“In the first half our defense was the best it’s been all year,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. “Then I think we got tired.”

Guard Russ Smith also had 23 points for Louisville, and forward Montrezl Harrell had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Smith had seven assists and four steals.

Hancock hit four 3-point shots, several of them coming on assists from Smith, who would drive into the lane, then kick out to a wide-open Hancock.

“Well, it helps to have a player like Russ Smith feeding you,” SMU coach

Larry Brown said. “But give Hancock credit; he made the shots. I believe he was the Most Valuable Player in last year’s Final Four.”

Forward Markus Kennedy led SMU with 12 points and eight rebounds, and forward Shawn Williams had 10 points. Forward Nic Moore, SMU’s leading scorer, was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Williams played just 13 minutes because he was called for two fouls in the opening 30 seconds and sat out the remainder of the first half.

“I have to understand that the rules have changed,” he said. “I can’t be as physical as I used to be.

“We had a chance in the second half. But we made too many silly mistakes.”

Brown said, “We took some terrible shots. We got to playing too fast. Then you don’t get a chance to get a rebound, then Russ Smith gets out on the break. You have to understand, when you play a team coached by Rick Pitino, they’re going to play smart and take good shots. We didn’t play smart. But the effort was great.

“I thought we had control in the second half. Then we took a bad shot. We needed Cannen (Cunningham) to have a big game. He had been playing well for us. But he was like the proverbial deer in the headlights. He had three turnovers in warm-ups.”

Cunningham, a center, finished with eight points and four rebounds.

Forward Nic Moore was hounded by Louisville all game long.

“I thought we did an outstanding job on one of the best point guards in our conference,” Pitino said.

With Pitino stressing defense after Memphis shot 51 percent and beat the Cardinals Thursday, they employed a three-guard lineup much of the game. They sprung traps on the ball-handler — especially in the first half — and SMU made 10 turnovers in the first 15 minutes.

“We definitely did a good job,” Pitino said. “We rotated, we hustled.”

SMU shot 32 percent in the first half and 36.9 for the game. It finished with 16 turnovers. Louisville shot 47.2 percent and had 15 turnovers. Neither team shot free throws well. Louisville was 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) and missed the front end of four one-and-ones. SMU was 13 of 25 (52 percent). The Mustangs controlled the boards 48-35.

After a slow start, Louisville sprinted to a 37-25 halftime lead behind 15 points and three assists by Smith and seven points and six rebounds by Harrell. The score was tied 10-10 when the Cards went on a 20-5 run. Freshman reserve guard Terry Rozier had two 3-pointers during the run, and Smith had five points.

SMU did close the half with a 5-0 run. SMU’s leading scorers were Russell and Manuel with six points apiece, although Manuel hit just 2 of 7 shots. Moore, the Mustangs’ leading scorer, was blanked on 0-for-2 shooting.

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