National Basketball Association
Louisville 70, Western Kentucky 60
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, December 23, 2011
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials:
# Doug Shows, # Roger Ayers, # Les Jones
Attendance:
22150
By SportsDirect Inc.
Russ Smith scored 23 points off the bench and Gorgui Dieng recorded his fifth straight double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds as No. 4 Louisville survived a test from visiting Western Kentucky 70-60 on Friday.
Kyle Kuric added 15 points for the Cardinals (12-0), who remain one of six undefeated teams in the country.
Louisville barely defeated College of Charleston earlier in the week and struggled with another mid-major in the Hilltoppers, who raced out to a 22-9 lead midway through the first half.
An 18-4 burst to close the half gave Louisville the lead back, 37-34, heading into the locker room.
Western Kentucky (4-9) was not about to roll over and came out of the break strong. Vinny Zollo buried a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run to start the half and put the Hilltoppers back on top.
The Cardinals did not lead again until Smith nailed a 3-pointer with 6:53 on the clock, giving them a 52-50 edge. That came at the start of a 14-0 run that gave Louisville an 11-point lead.
Western Kentucky had one last push in it, but the Cardinals went 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the final 1:02 to seal it.
Top Game Performances
| Western Kentucky |
|
Louisville |
|
Jamal Crook 13 |
Scoring |
Russ Smith 23 |
|
Derrick Gordon 5 |
Assists |
Peyton Siva 4 |
|
Derrick Gordon 9 |
Rebounds |
Gorgui Dieng 15 |
|
Derrick Gordon 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Russ Smith 8 |
|
Jamal Crook 5 |
Steals |
Russ Smith 2 |
|
Teeng Akol 2 |
Blocks |
Gorgui Dieng 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Western Kentucky
|
60 |
44.2 |
6-15 |
8-17 |
11 |
28 |
4 |
9 |
18 |
| Louisville
|
70 |
40.0 |
5-16 |
21-30 |
11 |
37 |
4 |
7 |
20 |