Reyne Smith hit a season-high seven 3-pointers to highlight his 25-point performance, lifting Louisville to an 82-78 win over host Pitt on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.

In a back-and-forth clash of second-place teams, Smith scored eight straight points down the stretch to give the Cardinals (12-5, 5-1 ACC) a five-point lead. Louisville then held off the Panthers to secure the program’s best start to the conference season since the 2019-20 season.

With their 12th victory, the Cards matched the combined win total of the previous two season.

Chucky Hepburn finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Cardinals, who made 9-16 3-pointers in the second half after making just four on 19 attempts before the break.

Jaland Lowe paced Pittsburgh (12-4, 3-2) with 24 points, including 15 in the second half, to go along with six assists.

Ishmael Leggett had 16 points and Damian Dunn had 13 of his 15 after halftime for the Panthers, who dropped their second straight and saw their 15-game home winning streak come to an end.

After a rocky start, Pitt ripped off 10 straight points as part of a 15-2 run – including two Lowe lobs to Cameron Corhen – to put the hosts up 15-7.

Edwards helped put the Cardinals back in front with an offensive rebound and stick-back and a 3-pointer shortly after. This came as part of a 17-3 surge to vault Louisville to a 24-18 lead as Pittsburgh missed seven straight shots and endured a scoring drought of over six minutes.

After the Panthers narrowed the gap to 35-34 at the half, they put together a 14-4 run to go back in front 48-44. Lowe and Dunn scored 17 of the team’s first 20 points of the second half.

Louisville would not go away, hitting five straight shots — including a step-back 3-pointer by Hepburn — to take a 72-67 lead with under four minutes remaining. Smith then took over with a pair of triples sandwiching a mid-range jumper as the Cards hung on for their sixth straight win.

–Field Level Media