Recap: Louisville overwhelms Pitt
Louisville men’s basketball showed its shooters can come from anywhere on the floor and its defense is here to stay. Louisville defeated Pittsburgh 64-46 as eight different Cardinals made 3-pointers Dec. 6 at the KFC Yum! Center.
Three nights after limiting fourth-ranked Michigan to 43 points, Louisville’s second conference win of the season came on another solid defensive performance. Pitt shot 37.7 percent from the field and finished with 12 turnovers.
Jordan Nwora scored a team-high 19 points. Malik Williams notched his first double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan McMahon added 11 points.
The Cardinals spaced the floor in their half-court offensive sets, creating open shots. Steven Enoch, Ryan McMahon and Dwayne Sutton each hit a shot from behind the arc in the opening four minutes as Louisville took a two-possession lead into the first media timeout.
Louisville went on an 8-0 run in two-and-a-half minutes to take a 19-11 advantage with 11:55 left in the first half. Darius Perry and Lamarr Kimble made 3-pointers and Malik Williams scored on an assist from Kimble.
Louisville assisted on six of its first seven made baskets. Williams extended Louisville’s run to 11-0 with a 3-pointer from the wing.
The Cardinals took a double-digit lead for the first time on a corner 3-pointer from Samuell Williamson following a drive and kick by McMahon.
Nwora scored on back-to-back possessions late in the first half, making a 3-pointer on an assist from McMahon and then making a jumper from the elbow to give Louisville a 32-21 lead.
Louisville ended the first half on an 8-0 run, leading by 14 points at halftime. The Cardinals assisted on eight of nine made 3-pointers and all eight players that appeared in the first half hit a shot from behind the arc.
Pitt closed its deficit to five on a 3-pointer and layup on consecutive possessions by Au’diese Toney to cap an 8-0 run. Williamson ended the Pitt run with a baseline hook with just under 12 minutes left.
Louisville’s biggest scare came on an alley-oop inbounds play that ended with an Enoch dunk to extend the lead to 47-38. Nwora collapsed on the floor with an apparent shoulder injury while cutting through a defender on the inbounds play.
The junior left the bench with trainer Fred Hina, but returned to the floor several minutes later.
Williams returned Louisville’s lead to double digits when he tipped in a missed layup by Kimble with 6:22 left. McMahon made a 3-pointer and Nwora had a steal that he took for a fast break dunk to cap an 11-0 run to help Louisville take a 58-42 lead during a five-minute Pitt scoring drought.
