National Basketball Association
Louisville 85, Florida International 56
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 21, 2013
Where: U.S. Century Bank Arena, Miami, Florida
Officials:
# Jose Carrion, # Tony Henderson, # Gerry Pollard
Attendance:
3361
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 4 Louisville 85, Florida International 56: Russ Smith made four 3-pointers en route to 18 points as the defending NCAA champions won their sixth straight game by easily defeating the host Golden Panthers.
Wayne Blackshear made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Cardinals (11-1), who were playing just their second road game of the season. Terry Rozier also made two shots from long range as Louisville finished 13-of-24 from behind the arc.
The Golden Panthers (8-5) were led by 13 points and nine rebounds from Rakeem Buckles, who transferred from Louisville following the 2011-12 season. Tymell Murphy scored 16 points for Florida International.
The Golden Panthers hung close for much of the first half and trailed 30-25 with less than three minutes remaining before the Cardinals scored the final nine points - including 3-pointers from Smith and Tim Henderson - and went into the locker room leading by 14. Smith had 12 points in the first half and hit a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the second stanza to restore Louisville's momentum.
Chane Behanan's layup with 5:16 to play gave the Cardinals their biggest lead up until that point at 73-45. Behanan finished with nine points off the bench as the Louisville reserves outscored their counterparts 30-5.
GAME NOTEBOOK: In his second game back from a minor wrist injury, Louisville G Chris Jones had five points, six assists and five steals off the bench. ... Louisville has a week to prepare for its road matchup with in-state rival Kentucky. ... Neither team shot well from the foul line, as the Cardinals were 20-of-32 while the Panthers were 15-of-22.
Top Game Performances
| Louisville |
|
Florida International |
|
Russ Smith 18 |
Scoring |
Tymell Murphy 16 |
|
Chris Jones 6 |
Assists |
Jason Boswell 2 |
|
Mangok Mathiang 7 |
Rebounds |
Rakeem Buckles 9 |
|
Wayne Blackshear 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Rakeem Buckles 4 |
|
Chris Jones 5 |
Steals |
Tymell Murphy 1 |
|
Montrezl Harrell 2 |
Blocks |
Rakeem Buckles 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Louisville
|
85 |
48.1 |
13-24 |
20-32 |
20 |
31 |
6 |
9 |
10 |
| Florida International
|
56 |
33.3 |
5-17 |
15-22 |
6 |
33 |
3 |
2 |
20 |