By Matt Adkins

The University of Louisville men’s basketball team won the Billy Minardi Classic by defeating the College of Charleston 78-63 last night.

The Classic began four years ago and is played annually at Freedom Hall. The Cardinals (8-1) have never lost a game in the tournament. With more than 18,000 people in attendance for the final, Louisville took advantage of an overwhelming pro-Cardinal crowd.

Each team started slowly on offense, but Louisville sophomore forward Juan Palacios opened the scoring by hitting a mid-range jumper. The Cougars’ Renardo Dickerson responded with a three-pointer.

Senior guard Taquan Dean answered the three with one of his own to give the Cards a 7-5 lead, and the Cards led the rest of the game.

“We are getting better. Just not better for 40 minutes, but we are getting better," U of L head coach Rick Pitino said. "We’re doing good things defensively. We’re starting to learn what to do defensively. We’re stepping up and rotating a little better, and that’s what I want to see,” he said.

Pitino used a 2-3 zone defense early, and Louisville held the Cougars (4-4) to just two points in the next six minutes. Louisville stretched its lead to 23-9.

The Cougars came back late in the first half with guard Dontaye Draper driving down the lane for a basket and a foul. Charleston forward Jermaine Johnson then got a tip-in off of a Cougar miss to bring his team within six points.

After each team traded field goals, Padgett drew a charge with about two minutes to go in the half which quieted the Cougars’ scoring run. Freshman Bryan Harvey drained a three to give the Cards a 34-23 lead at the half.

Louisville was on the move early in the second half and led by two quick threes from freshman guard Terrance Williams.

However, the Cougars proved that they weren’t down for the count as Josh Jackson and Draper hit multiple baskets to cut the lead to four. Jenkins eventually hit a pull-up jumper to stop the Cougar run. Jenkins and freshman guard Andre McGee then hit back-to-back threes to give U of L a 54-42 lead.

Williams had 13 points in the second half as the Cards pulled away to win by a comfortable margin and remain undefeated at home this year.

"They shot the ball extremely well. Inevitably, I thought the three-point shot beat us tonight," C of C head coach Tim Herrion said.

Louisville made it to the championship game after defeating Middle Tennessee State 76-68 Tuesday night. Despite leading by nine at halftime, the Cards received a scare from the Blue Raiders who trailed by just three with less than a minute to go in the game. Center David Padgett and guard Brad Gianiny combined to hit five free throws in the last 49 seconds to pull away with the win. Guard Brandon Jenkins led the team in scoring with 20 points.

In the final against Charleston, Louisville combined for 12 three pointers, shooting 44.4% for the game. Eight of those threes came in the second half. The Cards also had 20 assists and held the Cougars to eight. Louisville out-shot Charleston 49.2 to 36.5 percent.

The Cards had four players in double figures with Terrance Williams leading the pack with 16 points and 8 rebounds, while also connecting on four of his six three pointers. Jenkins had 13 points and four assists, and Padgett had 12 points and five rebounds.

McGee also put in double figures with 11 points, while hitting three of his four three pointers. Jenkins received the tournament Most Valuable Player award by averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2 rebounds per game during the tournament.

Middle Tennessee State defeated Florida Atlantic 90-76 in the consolation game last night.

Next, Louisville hosts Detroit in Freedom Hall on Saturday at noon.

News Editor Matt Thacker contributed to this story.