Offensive-Minded Louisville Rolls Past Jackson State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Welcoming Jackson State to the KFC Yum! Center for the second of their four-game, season-opening home stand, the Louisville men's basketball program captured another blowout victory, cruising to a 106-70 win on Thursday night.

On the heels of taking down South Carolina State State 104-45 this past Monday, the No. 11 Cardinals (2-0, 0-0 ACC) score 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Western Kentucky and Morgan State on Dec. 22 and 27, 2010, respectively. It's also their first time in program history opening a season with consecutive 100-point games.

Just like in the season-opener against SC State, Louisville was a dominant force on the offensive end of the floor. They shot it 52.2 percent from the field, despite being 10-of-33 on three-point attempts, but made up for it by going 26-of-35 at the free throw line.

UofL wasn't as crisp at times defensively against the Tigers (0-2, 0-0 SWAC) as they were against the Bulldogs earlier in the week, but they still got the job done and then some. JSU was held to 39.7 percent from the floor, but they did go 11-of-27 on threes.

Ryan Conwell led the Cardinals in scoring, finishing with 19 points on top of eight rebounds. Mikel Brown Jr. was right behind him with 18 points plus nine assists, while Khani Rooths had a 16-point/10-rebound double-double. Sananda Fru also cracked double figurs with 12 points.

The matchup also saw the return of Kasean Pryor, who played in his first game since tearing his ACL early last season. He finished with six points, three rebounds and a steal. Conversely, J'Vonne Hadley did not play against JSU due to a precautionary concussion protocol.

Jackson State might have hit two of the first three field goals of the night, but it was Louisville who took control early. They held the Tigers to a 3-of-15 shooting start to the night, using a 19-2 run to go up by 15 right before the under-12 timeout.

But following the hot defensive start, the Cardinals' effort on that end of the floor started to wane some, which allowed JSU to hit 11 of their final 22 attempts of the half. However, UofL was consistent on the offensive floor all throughout the half, shooting 17-of-32 before the break to take a 55-35 advantage into halftime. This gave Louisville back-to-back 50-point first halves for the first time since the WKU and MSU games.

When the two teams reconvened for the second half, Louisville took control to start this period like they did to start the game. Jackson State shot just 1-of-7 to start the half, allowing the Cardinals to go on an immediate 16-4 run and lead by 33 with 14:21 left.

JSU did respond by shooting 10-of-19 for the rest of the game, but UofL remained firmly in control, going 18-of-35 for the half - despite a 3-of-15 showing from deep - to maintain their massive advantage. Louisville led by as much as 36, and cracked the 100-point threshold with 3:00 left in the game.

Next up, Louisville will host arch rival Kentucky for the annual Battle of the Bluegrass. Tip-off against the Wildcats is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

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