National Basketball Association
Louisville 84, Missouri 61
When: 9:30 PM ET, Friday, November 23, 2012
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials:
# Don Daily, # Tony Greene, # Terry Oglesby
Attendance:
3153
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 2 Louisville 84, No. 14 Missouri 61: Russ Smith finished with 18 points, six rebounds and six steals as the Cardinals’ swarming defense overwhelmed the Tigers in a semifinal game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Luke Hancock overcame a season-long slump from beyond the 3-point arc to shoot 5-of-7 en route to a game-high 19 points for Louisville (5-0), which will face No. 5 Duke in the title game of this event.
In a battle hyped as a showdown between two preseason conference players of the year in Louisville’s Peyton Siva and Missouri’s Phil Pressey, it was the Cardinals' pressure defense that stole the show. Louisville finished with 12 steals and forced the Tigers into a season-high 23 turnovers.
Despite 13 first-half miscues, Missouri (4-1) managed to claw to within 39-35 early in the second half on a jump shot by Alex Oriakhi. But a jumper by Chane Behanan and 3-pointer by Smith keyed an 11-0 run over an 86-second stretch, and the Tigers could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Oriakhi and Pressey each had 15 points for the Tigers, who will meet VCU in the third-place game on Saturday.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Missouri’s first-half turnover total was one shy of its season high for a game. … Hancock, who was in a 4-of-29 slump from beyond the arc entering this game, set a career high with his five 3-pointers. … Pressey’s eight turnovers were two shy of his total over Missouri’s first four games.
Top Game Performances
| Louisville |
|
Missouri |
|
Luke Hancock 19 |
Scoring |
Alex Oriakhi 15 |
|
Peyton Siva 6 |
Assists |
Phil Pressey 7 |
|
Gorgui Dieng 6 |
Rebounds |
Alex Oriakhi 8 |
|
Wayne Blackshear 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Keion Bell 4 |
|
Russ Smith 6 |
Steals |
Keion Bell 1 |
|
Gorgui Dieng 1 |
Blocks |
Tony Criswell 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Louisville
|
84 |
49.2 |
9-21 |
13-20 |
16 |
27 |
1 |
12 |
10 |
| Missouri
|
61 |
46.0 |
5-15 |
10-19 |
13 |
35 |
2 |
3 |
23 |