Louisville Dismantles NJIT on Thanksgiving Eve

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It might have been the night before Thanksgiving, but the Louisville men's basketball program was not in the spirit of giving or showing mercy.

Hosting NJIT for a late night matchup, the Cardinals had no issue with the quick turnaround, easily cruising to a 104-47 victory over the Highlanders at the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday.

No. 6/5 Louisville (7-0, 0-0 ACC) earns their fourth win by at least 30 points this season, and have an average margin of victory of 33.7 points up to this point of the year. UofL is off to their longest undefeated start since going 9-0 to start the 2019-20 season.

On both ends of the court, NJIT (3-5, 0-0 America East) offered little resistance for the home squad. Louisville shot 49.3 percent from the floor, and assisted on 24 of their 36 made baskets. They also shot a blazing 20-of-47 on three-point tries, with the attempts mark breaking the single-game school record, and their makes being second all-time in UofL history (22 vs. Hartford - Nov. 17, 2007).

Conversely, NJIT was held to just 31.0 percent shooting and a 7-for-27 showing on threes. The Cardinals only forced 11 turnovers, but they dominated the low post, out-rebounding the Highlanders 59-to-21. The plus-38 rebound margin set a new program record.

Ryan Conwell exploded against the Highlanders, scoring a season-high 32 points, while also securing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. Isaac McKneely added 17 points, Adrian Wooley came off the bench for 15 points, while J'Vonne Hadley poured in 12 points.

Defensively, Louisville was locked in from the jump, holding NJIT to just an 8-of-29 shooting performance in the first half - including 5-of-25 in the first 17-plus minutes of the game. Offensively, they also got off to a very hot start, making nine of their first 14 attempts, resulting in a 29-9 run in the first 10-plus minutes of the night.

The latter 10 minutes of the first half featured some lulls on that end of the floor, but they still did enough to finish the period shooting 18-of-36. Sporting a 52-20 halftime advantage, it gave Louisville their fifth 50-point first half of the season, and their second-largest lead at the break over the last nine years.

Louisville's defense took a slight step back to start the second half, but it was still a period in which they held NJIT to 10-of-29 shooting. Combine with their own 18-of-37 effort from the field, and Cardinals' lead got to as much as 57, and didn't dip below 38 in the final 15 minutes of the game.

Next up, Louisville has a few extra days off, and will be back in action when they head to Arkansas for the ACC/SEC Challenge next week. Tip-off against the Razorbacks is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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