Men's Basketball Falls 88-66 at #7/4 Louisville

Thursday, February 27

Louisville, KY

9:00 PM

Temple University

7-20,2-13

Louisville

24-4,13-2

Temple

Louisville

Photo by: Mike McAtee

Men's Basketball Falls 88-66 at #7/4 Louisville

2.27.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

LOUISVILLE - Shooting over 50 percent for the entire contest, #7/4 Louisville took a big lead early and held it, winning 88-66 over Temple on Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center in front of 21,312, the largest crowd for the Owls this season.

Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell led the Cardinals with 24 and 21 points, respectively, as Louisville improved to 24-4 overall and 13-3 in the American Athletic Conference.

Will Cummings scored 18 points and tied his career high with five steals to lead the Owls, while Quenton DeCosey put up 17 points. Temple falls to 7-20 overall and 2-13 in the league. Dalton Pepper also finished in double figures, scoring 10 points.

Louisville started the second half with a 13-point lead, but hit five three-pointers in just over five minutes and extended its lead to nearly 20 in that stretch. By the midway point of the second half the Cardinals did push their lead to 20, and would go on to lead by as many as 28 near the eight-minute mark.

After DeCosey hit a jumper to start the contest, five misses by the Owls combined with four turnovers helped the Cardinals jump out to a 12-2 lead. The early dominance continued for UofL, as the Cardinals hit 10-of-12 shots over a five and a half minute stretch to eventually lead by 18, 24-6 at 12:55.

Cummings scored seven points in a 9-2 run for the Owls that cut their deficit to 11 just past the midway point of the half. With 5:35 to go, another Cummings jumper got Temple within nine, but the Owls would get no closer.

The Owls trailed by 17 after another run by the Cardinals, but by halftime Temple cut UofL's advantage to 13, 42-29.

Cummings was tied with Smith for the halftime scoring lead, as each put up 13 points. Temple shot well from the field in the first half at nearly 46 percent, but it was topped by Louisville at close to 57 percent.

DeCosey hit a pair of free throws in the first minute of the second period to narrow the margin to 11, but Temple would get no closer.

After facing five nationally ranked teams in a row, the last two on the road, the Owls will return home on Saturday to face Houston at 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU.