Reyne Smith scored 19 for Louisville as the Cardinals posted an 81-67 wire-to-wire victory over Virginia in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday.
Terrence Edwards Jr. added 16 for the Cardinals (14-5, 7-1), who won their eighth straight.
The Cardinals built a 24-12 lead within the first 10 minutes. That would expand to 53-32 with 12:23 left in the second half, but Virginia cut the deficit to 59-48 less than four minutes later on an Elijah Saunders 3-pointer.
Saunders led Virginia with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
After Saunders’ trey, Smith responded with a 3-pointer of his own on Louisville’s end to stop the Cavaliers’ run, and the Cardinals would rebuild their advantage to 21 again before coach Pat Kelsey pulled his starters in the waning minutes.
The Cavaliers shot 47.1 percent, including 65 percent (13 of 20) in the second half. However, they committed 12 of their 15 turnovers after halftime.
Louisville shot just 43.3 percent Saturday. However, the Cardinals compensated for that by winning the rebounding battle 36-30, with 10 of those coming off the offensive glass. That allowed them to get 13 second-chance points.
Louisville also capitalized on Virginia’s miscues, scoring 20 points off turnovers.
With the loss, Virginia (8-10, 1-6) extended its losing streak to five games. That is the Cavaliers’ longest since losing nine straight from Feb. 6-March 6, 2010. That was the most recent season in which the Cavaliers posted a losing record (15-16).
J’Vonne Hadley scored 13 points for Louisville, which also got a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) from James Scott. Chucky Hepburn, the Cardinals’ leading scorer, struggled from the field, going just 2 for 13. However, he added eight assists and four steals to his eight points.
Isaac McKneely added 10 points for Virginia.
Louisville played without Noah Waterman. The 6-foot-11 forward had played in every game and started 14, even though he had surgery on his thumb last month. After scoring 39 points in the Cardinals’ final three games in December, he scored just 16 points in his last five games.
–Field Level Media
