RELEASE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seventh-ranked Louisville used a suffocating full-court press to force visiting Marshall into 21 turnovers as the Cardinals defeated the Thundering Herd 85-67 Friday evening in the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville improved to 3-0, while Marshall suffered its first defeat to drop to 3-1.
The Cardinals finished with five players in double figures (Chris Jones 18, Terry Rozier 17, Wayne Blackshear 16, Montrezl Harrell 12, Chinanu Onuaku 10) and Onuaku added 11 rebounds for a double-double effort. Jones also posted five assists, Blackshear notched four steals and Mangok Mathiang added three blocks.
Marshall’s Ryan Taylor nearly had a triple-double as he finished with 15 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists. Shawn Smith had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Cheikh Sane added 10 points as well before fouling out.
Marshall got out to a fast start as it leaped to a 7-2 lead on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Taylor, which forced a quick timeout by Louisville coach Rick Pitino just 2:06 into the contest. The Herd battled tooth and nail the deeper into the first half until the hosts took the lead for good on a dunk by Blackshear with 7:51 left in the half to go up 22-20.
UL led 41-27 at the half.
The lead swelled to as many as 22 (58-36) at the 12:34 mark of the second half on two Rozier free throws. Marshall chopped it back down to 13 (72-59) on a Sane jumper at the 5:23 mark.
Marshall outrebounded Louisville 50-47 and Taylor outplayed Harrell (12 points, 8 rebounds), Louisville’s Wooden Award candidate.
The Cardinals’ press hounded Marshall for much of the game and yielded 24 points off Herd turnovers and racked up a 13-1 edge in steals. By the same token, Marshall’s perimeter defense didn’t give up much either as Louisville made just three of 22 3-point attempts (13.6 percent).
The Herd hosts Morehead State (1-3) Wednesday at 8 p.m. in a game that will be televised by the American Sports Network. MSU was downed by Louisiana Tech 74-63 Friday evening.