#6 Louisville Defeats Men's Basketball, 95-78

LOUISVILLE, KY On Louisville’s Senior Night a pair of players in their final home game, Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, guided the #6 Cardinals to a convincing 95-78 victory over Seton Hall Wednesday in Louisville.

Williams had 14 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals.  Clark poured in a game-high 27 points and 14 rebounds.

Junior Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led Seton Hall with 22 points.

Seton Hall (15-14, 6-11) got off to a quick start.  After Louisville’s Samardo Samuels started the scoring with a dunk, the Pirates connected on consecutive three-pointers by Paul Gause (Pittsgrove, N.J.) and Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) to give Seton Hall an early 6-2 lead. 

Louisville (24-5, 15-2) had three-pointers by Williams and Jerry Smith to keep the score close, but Seton Hall responded with a quick 5-0 run highlighted by another Gause three-pointer to give the Pirates a 17-12 lead with 15:14 remaining in the first half. 

Accounting for their hot start, Seton Hall hit seven of their first eight shots including three, three-pointers.

A 12-2 run highlighted by an Andre McGee three-pointer and dunk by Earl Clark enabled the Cardinals to re-take the lead, 24-19, with 11:40 remaining in the half.  A jumper by Mitchell brought the Pirates to within two at 26-24, but Louisville went on another run, this time a 13-2 run capped by a breakaway dunk by Williams to give the Cardinals a 39-26 lead with 5:39 before halftime.

The Pirates would trail by as many as 17 in the first half, but a last second three-pointer by Hazell made the deficit 11, with a score of 51-40 at the half.

Seton Hall’s shooting percentage dropped from their hot start, but still managed to shoot an impressive 50.0% from the floor in the first half.  Unfortunately for the Pirates, Louisville shot a blistering 58.8%.  The Pirates were 6-for-10 from three-point range, while the Cardinals were 7-for-12 from behind the arc.  Seton Hall rebounded the ball well, losing the battle of the boards by only one, 18-17, in the first half.

In a game that featured the BIG EAST’s top two steals teams, Seton Hall committed 11 turnovers in the first half, an uncharacteristically high number for a Pirates team that has protected the ball well this season. 

Robert Mitchell and Terrence Williams led their respective teams with 11 points a piece.

To start the second half Louisville picked up where they left off in the first half scoring the first eight points of the second frame to give them their largest lead and take a commanding 59-40 lead with 17:22 left in regulation.

Thanks in part to some strong defense, Seton Hall went on an 8-0 run to pull to within 12 points, at 68-56, with 12:06 left to play.  But Louisville staved off the charging Pirates with a 14-4 run to push the Cardinals lead back to 22, at 82-60 with 6:06 to go.  Seton Hall would not get closer than 17 points for the rest of the game.

Paul Gause fouled out with 6:47 remaining in the game.  Gause scored eight of Seton Hall’s first 12 points of the night, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the game.

For the game, Seton Hall shot 44.6% from the floor compared to Louisville’s 53.7%.  The Pirates were out-rebounded, 44-to-33, and forced fewer turnovers, 18-to-14.

Seton Hall will wrap up the 2008-09 regular season at Cincinnati on Saturday, March 7.    Game time is scheduled for noon.