No. 19 Louisville doubles up Southern Illinois, 84-42 (Nov 21, 2017)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Three games wasn't too soon for No. 19 Louisville to enjoy a blowout after winning its first two the hard way.
Jordan Nwora came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points, Deng Adel had 16 points and the Cardinals coasted past Southern Illinois 84-42 on Tuesday night.
After scraping past George Mason and Nebraska-Omaha, the Cardinals (3-0) had a surprisingly easy time against the Salukis (2-1) once they got past the early moments. They turned a 9-6 deficit into a 29-18 halftime lead before putting put it out of reach, leading 65-30 with 6:47 remaining.
Louisville still has work ahead trying to develop chemistry with seven newcomers and a first-time coach. But the Cardinals finally saw how it looked with everyone in sync and focused.
''We wanted to come out and play well for 40 minutes and get a win,'' said Louisville interim coach David Padgett, whose team shot 59 percent in the second half and 45 percent overall.
Credit the Cardinals' youngsters for shifting things into high gear on both ends of the court.
Though the teams combined to shoot just 11 of 47 from behind the arc, Louisville's freshmen found their mark late to help the Cardinals finish 8 of 26. Nwora had 12 career points coming in but made 4 of 6 shots in the first half for 10 points and set the tone along with Adel (12).
Louisville's defense created offensive chances in the second half that allowed many to benefit.
''We weren't shooting the ball well and just let the offense come to us,'' said Nwora, who finished 7 of 10 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
''We were a little sluggish. We just knew we had to keep playing defense. He (Padgett) just said the offense will come.''
Dwayne Sutton had eight points with two 3s, guard Darius Perry had 10 points and forward Lance Thomas (five points) added one from deep for Louisville.
Louisville held SIU to a season-low 27 percent shooting, including just 3 of 21 from long range. The Salukis' 42 points tied for their eighth-lowest total all time.
Armon Fletcher had 14 points and seven rebounds for SIU while junior center Kavion Pippen, nephew of NBA great Scottie Pippen, had 10 points.
''Their press was kind of different,'' Fletcher said. ''Those guys, they're long and athletic. . We needed to run our patterns that we'd practiced. When we did, we got good shots on the other end. We've just got to finish around the basket.''
BIG PICTURE
Southern Illinois: Despite missing their first 11 shots, the Salukis regrouped to grab a 9-6 lead. That didn't last long as Louisville outscored them 16-2 over 5:17 and 23-9 the rest of the first half. Inside scoring was tough against the taller Cardinals, who won that category 40-24. SIU managed to stay close on the glass for a while before eventually being beaten there 49-40. Sixteen turnovers leading to 19 Louisville points also hurt.
Louisville: The Cardinals still have a lot of rough edges, but showed much more intensity from the first two games. ''That's what our defense is capable of,'' Adel said. ''The first two games, it wasn't there. ... We are going to need that type of defense the whole season.'' They dominated bench scoring 49-10, which they have needed in hopes of finding depth. Adel had another good game against SIU, scoring in double digits with seven rebounds after registering 12 points and 12 rebounds last December for his first career double-double.
BIRTHDAY GIFT
Louisville is 6-0 all time on Nov. 21, the birthdate of longtime sports information director Kenny Klein.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois faces another Kentucky school on Saturday when it visits Murray State.
Louisville hosts Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) on Friday night to conclude its season-opening, four-game home stand.
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