By Dalton Ray–
No. 11 men’s basketball gained their 10th win of the season in the 87-56 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels didn’t allow the victory to come easy, as they led most of the first half. Quentin Snider, 13 points and six assists, and Donovan Mitchell, 15 points and seven rebounds, led the Cardinals to the win.
Eastern Kentucky’s Nick Mayo scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Marlon Adams and Asante Gist combined for 22 points. Despite the hot start offensively, EKU finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field.
In the first three minutes of the game, EKU held a 7-0 lead against U of L. At the first media timeout, the Colonels owned the shot advantage 7-3 and led the Cards 10-4. Louisville started the game 1-for-4 from the 3-point line and took nearly eight minutes to hit double-digits.
Starting at the 13-minute mark, Louisville missed six straight shots as fans started to become frustrated. Coach Rick Pitino addressed the slow start after the game.
“We started out a little slow because we broke down on what we practiced. That can give the other team momentum and confidence,” Pitino said. “Once we moved the basketball, stayed with our principles and what we wanted to defensively we played much better.”
Mitchell’s and-1 registered Louisville’s first basketball in four minutes. After settling for jump shots and missing open looks, Mitchell started to attack the basket. The sophomore’s back-to-back trips to the line gave Louisville their first lead 12 minutes into the game.
Eight straight points from Snider put the Cardinals up eight with five to play in the half. A low-post basket from Spalding forced EKU to call a timeout and regroup as Louisville started to separate. After trailing 14-11, Louisville went on a 25-2 run to end the half.
Mitchell and Snider guided the Cardinals out of their scoring funk by getting to the rim. The guards entered the break with 23 points as Louisville led 36-16. Despite shooting under 40 percent from the field, the Cardinals used their rebounding advantage and free throws to separate themselves. After shooting north of 50 percent for the better part of 10 minutes, EKU walked into the locker room shooting 26 percent.
U of L started the second half on an 11-2 run, extending their lead to 26. Louisville’s length caused problems as the Cards had more blocks, 11, than EKU had made shots, nine, in the first 25 minutes of play.
Eastern started to go a run of their own after the media break, pulling off a 10-4 run over a two-minute stretch. 3-pointers from Hicks and Mitchell kept Louisville’s lead above 20. Pitino kept Snider on the bench for the start of the second half, allowing Hicks to run the point. He scored six points in the first eight minutes.
Jaylen Johnson had a quiet night from the field, but used his physical play to rebound and get to the free throw line. Deng Adel only scored two points before scoring five straight late in the second half. With 7:34 to play, Louisville led 75-42.
Over the final seven minutes, Pitino used his bench to finish out the victory. A three from Ryan McMahon and fast break dunk from Spalding capped off the win. U of L out-rebounded EKU 47-31 and blocked 11 more shots. The Cards shot 42 percent from three and finished with 48 percent from the field.
Photo by Laurel Slaughter / The Louisville Cardinal
