T.J. Price scored 22 points and Chris Harrison-Docks had 10 points in 23 minutes in his debut in Red and White, as WKU fell on the road at defending national champion and sixth-ranked Louisville Saturday afternoon by a 79-63 count. The loss drops WKU's record to 5-4 on the season, and Louisville improves to 9-1.
Despite the loss, WKU still leads the all-time series between the Bluegrass rivals, 39-38. The game against the Cardinals was WKU's second of four against teams that won at least 27 games last year in the non-conference portion of the 2013-14 Hilltopper schedule.
The largest lead of the first half was four points either way, as the Hilltoppers and Cardinals had eight lead changes and four ties in the opening 20 minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers by Wayne Blackshear on assists by Player-of-the-Year candidate Russ Smith gave the Cardinals the final six points of the half and a 31-28 lead heading into the break. T.J. Price and Aleksej Rostov led the Hilltoppers with seven points each, and Aaron Adeoye had five rebounds.
The Cardinal lead ballooned to 12 with just over five minutes gone by in the second half, but a triple by Price and a jumper by Harrison-Docks forced the Cardinals to call timeout as WKU closed within seven points. But the Cardinals regrouped an opened up a lead as large as 21 en route to the 79-63 victory.
Three Cardinals set career marks. Freshman center Magnok Mathiang scored 13 points. Senior guard Tim Henderson hit four 3-pointers, scored 13 points and had four assists. Freshman guard Terry Rozier, who got the start in the absence of the injured Chris Jones, had 10 rebounds. Coach Rick Pitino said Henderson played better than Rozier, who Petino said was more concerned about his shots not falling than he was pleased with his rebounding. He said both of them are ahead of Kevin Ware, who was the number three guard on last year’s national championship team but is not fully recovered from a serious leg injury suffered in their win over Duke in the regional finals..
Louisville shot 69.2 percent in the second half (18-for-26) and made six three-pointers. WKU committed just 11 turnovers in the game against the nation's leader in forcing opponent miscues.
Louisville’s Smith finished with 14 points and 10 assists. He’s moved into Elvis territory at the KFC Yum Center with the public address announcer simply saying “assist by Russ.” No last names are needed.
The game was the annual Billy Minardi Classic, named for Pitino’s brother-in-law, who died in New York during the 9-1-1 tragedy. Bowling Green High graduate Chane Behanan was named MVP after getting 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists as a reserve.
Louisville has a big game coming up Dec. 28 against the University of Kentucky’s struggling teenagers at Rupp Arena. The Cardinals have spent much time together as a team. Smith, Henderson, Stephan Van Treese, Luke Hancock, Behanan, Blacksheer and Ware have all been together for at least three seasons, the last two resulting in Big East championships and berths in the Final Four.
That same day, the Cardinal football team (11-1) plays the University of Miami in a bowl game. Football coach Charlie Strong spoke to the crowd at halftime.
WKU returns home on Wednesday for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks to face Southern Miss at 7 p.m. start a four-game homestand. Fans can bring a new toy to the game for Toys for Tots and receive a free ticket, and all members of Big Red's Rascals can receive a free ticket as well. After the game against Southern Miss, WKU hosts another instate rival, Murray State, on Saturday at 1 p.m.