Louisville Cardinals thrash IUPUI Jaguars 90-60: NCAA Basketball Recap
IUPUI Jaguars started their NCAA Basketball 2011 quest in style, routing Anderson IND Ravens 101-68 in the opener.
However since then, they have looked pretty ordinary and have managed to grab only one more win.
Just few hours ago, they were handed yet another massive defeat by the impressive Louisville Cardinals 90-60 and have now dropped to 2-8. On the other hand, Cardinals, yet to be beaten in the tournament have extended their record
to 8-0.
Jaguars put up a good fight in the first half and managed to stay nip and tuck with the opponents for most of the frame. However, midway through the next frame, Cardinals initiated a fierce and decisive onslaught that took the
game miles away from the Jaguar.
Cardinals’ guard, Chris Smith was the most outstanding player from the night.
Matching his career best, he marshalled Louisville with 19 points including 8 for 13 from the arc and forced 5 rebounds as well. Gorgui Deing was also phenomenal and completed a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Russ
Smith (12) and Kyle Kuric (11) were the two other prominent scorers from Cardinals.
For Jaguars, only Stephan Thomas (14) managed to produce a double figure tally, which just about sums up their offensive effort on the night.
Jaguars got off to a good start and managed to stay ahead of Cardinals 7-6 for first six minutes of the frame. However a 17-4 spurt led by Chris and Russ Smith ended the initial Jaguar dominance.
However, the Jaguars struck back. Stephan Thomas in partnership with Alex Young and Sean Esposito responded with an 11-0 spurt to make it 23 all with 6 minutes remaining in the frame.
Cardinals again scored in quick succession in the next few minutes though and finished the half leading by 40-35.
Kuric, Russ Smith and Chris Smith ensured Cardinals stay ahead and preserve the lead in the next quarter by scoring quickly. The Cardinals lead kept on mounting and reached 20 points after a blow away 15-0 run midway through the
frame.
That 15 point surge sealed it for Cardinals as Jaguars never managed to recover until the end.
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