The Sports Xchange
Dec 9, 2017
Trailing by 10 points in the first half, Louisville came back to beat visiting Indiana 71-62 Saturday in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
The Cardinals (6-2) were led by Deng Adel's 16 points as well as a double-double by Ray Spalding, who had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
"We had nine or 10 guys come in and step up to give us huge minutes," Louisville coach David Padgett said. "Malik Williams stepping in and hitting big shots, Ryan McMahon coming in. ... It was an overall team win. I couldn't be happier for our guys."
Indiana was led by Juwan Morgan's 17 points.
Indiana (5-5) jumped out to a fast 12-2 lead on the strength of stellar shooting. The Hoosiers hit four of their first six 3-point attempts and led by as many as 10 twice in the first half. Meanwhile, Louisville missed 10 of its first 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line.
After trailing 12-2, Louisville scored seven of the next eight points and trailed 13-9 at the 12-minute mark. The Cardinals got a spark from Williams, a 6-foot-11 freshman, who later nailed three 3-pointers during a run that helped Louisville claw back to a 36-35 halftime deficit.
The lead changed hands a five times to start the second half, but Louisville took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Spalding with 15:25 remaining.
Indiana cut Louisville's lead to one point three times in the final 15 minutes and was within a possession at 65-62 with 58 seconds left. But Louisville scored the final six points, and the Hoosiers missed nine of their final 10 shots down the stretch.
Louisville beat Indiana 17-9 in points off turnovers and held the Hoosiers without a fast break point. After starting 4 of 6 from 3-point range, Indiana made just one of its final 17 long-range attempts.
Indiana still holds the series edge 10-9.
Louisville, which came into the game leading the nation in blocks at 8.4 per game, swatted five shots Saturday.