The fourteenth ranked University of Louisville men’s basketball team defeated Houston 77-62 Wednesday night to move to 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the American Conference.
The Cardinals shot their way to a 45-26 halftime lead, shooting 69.6 percent from the field in the first half. Russ Smith had 11 of his game high 17 points in the first half.
Louisville opened up the lead to 23 points in the beginning of the second half, but Houston shaved down the lead to nine at the 7:37 mark in the second half.
Luke Hancock scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Montrezl Harrell added 15 points and five rebounds.
Chris Jones returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench for two games. Jones was 5 of 8 from the field and scored 14 points.
Terry Rozier scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds.
With the absence of Wayne Blackshear due to a concussion, Stephan Van Treese received his first start since late November. Van Treese finished with four points and four rebounds.
Louisville has an eight day break before they travel to Temple on Thursday February 13.
