Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) – Chris Jones paced five Louisville players
in double figures with 18 points as the seventh-ranked Cardinals posted an
85-67 victory over Marshall at the KFC Yum! Center.
Terry Rozier added 17 points and Wayne Blackshear had 16 for Louisville (3-0),
which overcame a slow start and a troublesome shooting effort to prevail.
The Cardinals hit on just 38.6 percent of their field goal attempts and went
3-of-22 from 3-point range, but forced 21 Marshall turnovers that were
converted into 24 points.
Montrezl Harrell contributed 12 points to the win, with Chinanu Onuaku
recording a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville.
Marshall (3-1), which had won its first three games — albeit against far
lesser competition — by an average of 20 points, was led by Shawn Smith’s 16
points and an impressive 15-point, 18-rebound, eight-assist effort from Ryan
Taylor.
Louisville’s shooting woes enabled the Thundering Herd to hang around through
much of the first half, with Marshall owning a slim 20-18 edge following
DeVince Boykins’ slam with 8:35 remaining in the opening period.
The Cardinals then began to assume control, putting forth an 11-0 run that
featured three dunks. Cheikh Sane converted a 3-point play to temporarily give
Marshall some momentum, but Louisville answered with eight consecutive points
to claim a 37-23 lead with three minutes to go in the half.
Blackshear hit two free throws in the final minute to put Louisville up 41-27
at the break, with 14 of those points coming off 14 Marshall turnovers.
Louisville kept up its defensive effectiveness in the second half to make sure
the Herd never threatened after the intermission. Marshall continued to
struggle making shots, and the Cardinals effectively put the game away with an
11-2 run that was capped by a Jones 3-pointer, which staked Louisville to a
commanding 58-36 lead with 13 minutes left.
The Cardinals maintained a comfortable differential the rest of the way, with
Marshall never cutting the deficit under 13 points.
Game Notes
Marshall has lost seven straight to the Cardinals and fell to 0-8 all-time in
Louisville … The game was part of the 2014 Global Sports Showcase, a five-
time, round-robin event that also contains Cleveland State, Jacksonville State
and Savannah State as participants … The Thundering Herd won their first two
games of the tournament, opening the season with wins over Jacksonville State
and Savannah State … The win was the 698th of Louisville head coach Rick
Pitino’s career.
