The Louisville Cardinals came to the beaches of FIU and proved why they are ranked sixth in the nation, with an 85-56 win over the Panthers.
Shooting woes plagued the Panthers as they were unable to stop the Cardinals, led by Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
Aside from three players, the Panthers were unable to make a dent on the Cardinals lead, as the bench accounted for only five points, compared to 30 from the Louisville reserves.
“We played against a very good basketball team,” Head Coach Anthony Evans said. “We went out there and played good in spurts. I think their depth wore us down a little bit and they finished the game.”
The Cardinals kept the duo of Senior forward Tymell Murphy and Redshirt senior Rakeem Buckles in check, as both went into the locker room at the half with a combined total of 10 points and five rebounds.
“Mainly, we didn’t run offense,” Buckles said. “I did a bad job with shot selection. I forced a lot of shots, so it didn’t look good on that behalf. I don’t think it was them, I just think offensively we did some bad things.”
A series of runs kept the score at a reasonable reach but the Cardinals, led by guard Russ Smith, held a 14-point lead, 39-25.
The Panthers ended the first half shooting 30.8 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from three. The Cardinals shot 46.2 and 71.4 percent, respectively.
FIU also struggled to keep momentum and the ball throughout the night. The Panthers committed a total of 20 turnovers, 13 of them coming in the second half.
“When we go one-on-one a lot, that’s when our turnovers increase,” Evans said. “We gotta run our sets to the end, try to get a quality shot instead of breaking it down. That’s when we get in trouble.”
The halftime break gave the Cardinals a boost, as they began to run away and extend their lead. All of the Cardinals nine steals came in the second half, five from backup guard Chris Jones.
Extra passing helped spread the offense for the Cardinals, who finished with a total of 20 assists, to the Panthers six.
The Panthers led the Cardinals in total rebounds, 38-34.
Murphy finished the game with 16 points and five rebounds. Buckles ended with 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Panthers finished shooting 33.3 percent from the field, 68.2 percent from the free throw line. The Cardinals shot 48.1 and 62.5 percent, respectively.
The Cardinals also finished with a game high 13 three pointers, 13-of-24 for 54.2 percent, holding the Panthers to just five, 5-of-17 for 29.4 percent.
Buckles was originally recruited to play for coach Pitino and the Cardinals, before a series of injuries sidelined him and brought him to FIU.
The first game against his former team didn’t seem to effect Buckles. Rather, the Cardinals were just another opponent.
“I just wanted to win and we didn’t come up with that,” Buckles said. “I treated it as another game. I didn’t really see them guys as anybody special, I just wanted to win and we didn’t come out and win today. That was it.”
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