By John McCarthy —
The Cardinals bested the Miami Hurricanes 74-58 at the KFC Yum! Center Jan. 7.
Louisville is now 2-0 this season against the Hurricanes.
Louisville dissected Miami’s 2-3 zone early in the half for high percentage looks. Senior Steven Enoch broke through the gates with a two-handed slam, putting the Cardinals on the board.
Junior Chris Lykes fired back early at the Cardinals with the Hurricane’s first five points, one of his shots being a 30-foot three-pointer.
Junior Jordan Nwora and senior Ryan McMahon each drained three-pointers to help Louisville (12-3, 3-1) spread the score. Junior Malik Williams flushed a monster alley-oop from McMahon with 11:57 left in the first, forcing a Miami timeout.
A block by Enoch led to an and-one floater by freshman Samuell Williamson on a Nwora assist, giving the Cardinals a 16-point lead, their largest, with 8:25 left in the first half.
Nwora had 13 points in the first half for Louisville. Senior Dwayne Sutton racked up five points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
The Cardinals led the Hurricanes (9-5, 1-3) going into halftime 43-32.
Louisville dominated the second half. This allowed both Williams and Nwora to finish the game with double-doubles.
Nwora got the Cardinals going early in the second half with a putback layup off an offensive rebound. Head coach Chris Mack said, “I spoke with Jordan and told him he needs to do more than score.” Nwora finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
The Hurricanes fought back after the 17-minute mark. Senior DJ Vasiljevic drained a three-pointer for Miami, bringing the score within 10 points with 13:30 left to play. Despite two Cardinal blocks on a single possession for Miami, Lykes received the three-point foul call and hit all three free-throws to bring the Hurricanes within five points with 9:39 left to play.
Louisville lit it up in the last five minutes and separated themselves from the Hurricanes.
McMahon swished a three-pointer off a Nwora assist to put the Cardinals up 11 with 3:10 left to play.
Sutton ended the game with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Enoch grabbed 10 boards and contributed 12 points.
Louisville will face off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on Jan. 11 in their next matchup.
Photo by Anna Claire Will // The Louisville Cardinal
