The No. 14 Louisville Cardinals started strong and led wire-to-wire in a 90-65 win against Central Florida on Tuesday.
Louisville vs. Central Florida final score: Cardinals blowout Knights, 90-65
The Cardinals used a strong second half to pull away from UCF and improve to 12-2 on the season.
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Louisville jumped out early, beginning the game with a 15-2 run. The Cardinals extended their lead to 19 in the first half, before the Knights began to chip away. UCF cut Louisville’s lead to nine points at halftime, trailing 40-31, but that was the closest the Knights would get. The teams traded buckets early in the second half, before a big run by the Cardinals helped them blow the game wide open. Louisville led by as many as 27 points in the second half.
Russ Smith was once again the star for the Cardinals. He did a little bit of everything, leading the scoring charge while also facilitating the offense. Smith finished with 24 points, making 8-of-14 shots, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. He also dished out a game-high nine assists. UCF finished with seven total assists.
The Cardinals were effective from deep, hitting 14-of-27 three-point shots. UCF finished just 3-of-14 from deep. The game was a solid rebound win for Louisville after losing to Kentucky last week. The loss snapped UCF’s five-game winning streak.
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