SMU Falls To Louisville
{fshare id=4876}
DALLAS — Louisville guard Russ Smith was a perfect 6-for-6 from 3-point range in an 84-71 win over No. 18 SMU on Wednesday.
Smith led a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half as Louisville (No. 11 AP/No. 9 USA Today) handed SMU its first loss at home this season.
Smith scored 26 points to push Louisville (25-5, 14-3) to a half-game lead over Cincinnati for first place in the American Conference.
Louisville made 13 shots from beyond the arc, including eight 3-pointers in the second half. Guard Chris Jones was 4-for-7 from 3-point range for 21 points and guard Luke Hancock hit three treys to score 15.
With former president George W. Bush sitting courtside, Louisville snared 17 steals and forced 23 turnovers by SMU (23-7, 12-5).
Louisville connected on four 3-pointers in a three-minute span to push its lead to 55-47 with 10:20 to play.
SMU answered with a 7-0 run, ending with a 3-pointer by guard Keith Frazier, to pull within one, 55-54, with 8:30 left.
That was as close as SMU would get as Louisville countered every
SMU challenge with another bomb from 3-point land.
Talented SMU point guard Nic Moore was limited to five points and four assists in only 19 minutes of action because of foul trouble. Guard Nick Russell led SMU with 18 points.
SMU, now 15-1 at home, saw a 14-point lead evaporate in the first half. SMU was bidding for its first undefeated season at home since 1955-56.
Louisville withstood an early blitz from SMU and rallied back to take a 32-30 lead at halftime.
SMU, feeding off the energy of its record seventh sellout crowd, broke out to an 18-5 lead in the first nine minutes, capped by a 12-0 run.
SMU pushed its advantage to 26-12 with seven minutes to go in the half while Louisville struggled from the field. Forward Shawn Williams led the Mustangs in the first half with eight points.
Then Louisville began to get hot from outside and went on a 15-0 run to post a 27-26 lead with 3:37 left in the half.
Jones finished the run with his third 3-pointer of the half. Hancock added two 3-pointers during the rally.
