How it happened: No. 11 Louisville cruises past Memphis, 99-73
The University of Louisville men’s basketball team’s 99-73 win over Memphis was overshadowed by what happened during halftime, but by day’s end, it was another dominant win inside the Yum! Center.
Three-year Louisville player (1972-75) and local legend Junior Bridgeman‘s No. 10 jersey was hung in the rafters and retired, and the 1974-75 NCAA Final Four team was recognized.
The Cardinals got off to a sizzling start and shot 60.7 percent in the first half and made 12 of 22 3s by the break, including a streak of seven consecutive makes from beyond the arc within a four-minute and a half span.
Louisville also finished with a 34-33 advantage in the rebounding department, an area of concern coming in, although Memphis did score 21 second-chance points.
Hasan Abdul-Hakim led the Tigers with 17 first-half points, but only finished with 18. Point guard Dug McDaniel struggled to command a complacent offense and finished just 5-of-12 from the floor, turned it over twice, and failed to record an assist.
Now that it’s been over a year since tearing his ACL, sixth-year forward Kasean Pryor looks to be getting back to full form. The Chicago product was making shots, but he also impacted the game with his motor. Pryor finished with 11, his first double-figure game of the year, and provided four rebounds and a steal. In total, the Louisville bench was responsible for 44 points, with sophomore Adrian Wooley netting four first-half triples and adding 15 of those. Khani Rooths also scored 10.
Starting forward J’Vonne Hadley was scoreless without attempting a FG in the first half, but opened the second act by drilling three 3-pointers for nine points. Hadley was coming off a season-best 15 against Indiana and also dished out three helpers.
Ryan Conwell led Louisville, scoring 17 points on five FGs, and freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. was second with 16 points. The German center, Sananda Fru, also finished in double figures.
The Tigers struggled moving the basketball for much of the afternoon, only tallying eight assists on 28 made field goals. Penny Hardaway’s team did score 40 points in the paint, but shot 14 fewer attempts than the U of L from the field.
Memphis started the second half extremely aggressively and was able to knock the Cards on their heels, but in the end, a 20-point halftime advantage was too much for the Tigers and Hardaway to overcome.
Three-year Louisville player (1972-75) and local legend Junior Bridgeman‘s No. 10 jersey was hung in the rafters and retired during halftime. His 1974-75 NCAA Final Four team was also recognized by the university.
Pat Kelsey’s team moved to 9-1 on the season and will now head into their second true road contest of the season at No. 20 Tennessee on Tuesday.
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