By Pk Bartley
“To us, basketball is Santa Claus. Playing basketball is the greatest gift you can get.” The comment by U of L head coach Rick Pitino after the Cards’ 104-63 victory over Furman showed what the players had in store for them over the holidays. However, if Pitino is right, and basketball is the greatest gift, then Furman will surely have a blue Christmas with the overwhelming loss.
U of L was able to take control of the game in the first half due to their excellent field goal shooting 64 percent for the half, and 58 percent from behind the three point line.
Freshman guard Taquan Dean led U of L in scoring in the first half with 16 points. Dean was perfect from the field in the half, going six for six, and an outstanding four for four behind the three-point line.
On defense U of L held Furman to just 37 percent shooting in the first half, and 28 percent shooting from behind the arc. The Cardinals played so well in the first half that they had a big lead at half time 51-25.
The second half was more of the same with U of L continuing their hot shooting. The Cards hit 52 percent of their field goals and 58 percent for the game.
Senior center Marvin Stone was tied with Dean with the team high of 21 points for the game. Stone also had 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the game.
“He’s doing a lot of things in limited minutes,” Pitino comments on Stone. “He only played 25 minutes tonight and he had four assists, two blocks, 21 points, and 13 rebounds. That’s very impressive.”
The biggest reason U of L shot such a high percentage was their unselfish play. Louisville had 27 assists in the game, compared to only 12 for Furman. Louisville as able to get 49 points off the bench, including 15 points for junior forward Luke Whitehead.
Playing that typical Pitino press, U of L got 30 points off Furman turnovers. The win is the fifth in a row for the Cards, improving their record 6-1.
Up next is the hated Kentucky Wildcats Saturday at noon at Freedom Hall.
