Louisville Bounces Back, Blows Out Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Making the trip up north to take on Boston College, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to get back on the right track, leaving the Silvio O. Conte Forum with a 84-58 victory on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals (17-6, 10-2 ACC) get back in the win column after suffering a stunning loss at Georgia Tech this past Saturday, one that snapped a 10-game win streak. They also snap a four-game losing streak to the Eagles (10-12, 2-9 ACC).

While the ball movement wasn't what it was during their winning streak, it was certainly a step forward from the Georgia Tech game, and the offense benefitted tremendously.

Louisville shot an even 50 percent from the floor, and were 9-of-23 on three-point attempts. With BC's starting center Chad Venning missing the contest with a foot injury, the Cardinals took advantage, finishing with 48 points in the paint and out-rebounding the Eagles 44-to-32.

Despite some streakiness, UofL also had a bounce back effort on the defensive end. They allowed BC to shoot just 38.3 percent from the floor and 6-of-20 on threes, and forced 14 turnovers for 16 points on the other end.

J'Vonne Hadley led the charge for the Cardinals with 22 points, while Terrence Edwards Jr. finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Aboubacar Traore nearly had a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

Chucky Hepburn also had 12 points, but had to exit at the 15:15 mark of the second half after suffering what appeared to be a groin injury. He was ruled questionable to return afterwards, but did not return to action.

Both teams looked pretty sloppy right out of the gates. Louisville shot 2-for-7 and had three turnovers in the first four minutes, while Boston College was 2-for-11 with three turnovers in the first six minutes. Following clunky respective starts, both the Cardinals and Eagles started getting into more of a rhythm. UofL shot 14-for-24 in the remainder of the first half, while BC was 11-for-21.

In fact, the majority of the first half was just the two teams trading runs. A 16-4 run by Louisville to start the game was countered by a 10-3 stretch by Boston College, the Cardinals responded with a 10-0, which was then followed up by a 15-6 Eagles run. UofL was able to close the half scoring three of the half's final four baskets to go into halftime with a 41-31 lead.

Through the opening minutes of the second half, Louisville did just enough to keep Boston College at arm's length, and couldn't string together the necessary possessions to mount a run that iced the games.

But that run did eventually come, even with Hepburn on the sideline.

Up by nine with 11:22 left, the Cardinals mounted a 17-4 run to push their lead to 26 points with under four minutes to go. They hit 11 of their final 21 attempts after only going 7-of-16 to start the second half, while the Eagles closed out the game shooting 1-of-9 after beginning the second half 9-of-17.

Next up, Louisville comes back home for a matchup against Miami. Tip-off against the Hurricanes is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Aboubacar Traore: Bob DeChiara - Imagn Images)

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