Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 102, Rutgers 54
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 16, 2014
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Doug Sirmons, # Rick Crawford, # Ted Valentine
Attendance: 21821


No. 8 Louisville 102, Rutgers 54: Luke Hancock registered career highs with 25 points and six 3-pointers to lead the host Cardinals in a rout over the Scarlet Knights.

Terry Rozier added 16 points, including 4-of-7 3-pointers, for Louisville (21-4, 10-2 AAC), which set a season high for 3-pointers, draining 16-of-30 from behind the arc. Wayne Blackshear had 10 points off the bench and Chris Jones chipped in with nine for the Cardinals, who have won eight of their last nine games and remain a game and a half in back of No. 11 Cincinnati in the conference standings.

Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack each scored 10 points to lead the offense for Rutgers (10-16, 4-9 AAC), which lost for the seventh time in their last nine games. Kerwin Okoro contributed nine points off the bench for the Scarlet Knights, who were beaten 39-24 on the boards and shot 35.4 percent from the field.

Louisville kicked off the rout with a pair of 3-pointers off the opening tip from Hancock and Russ Smith and the Cardinals consistently extended their lead throughout the first half. Rozier had four 3-pointers in the opening 20 and led the offense at the break with 14 points, while Louisville shot 51.9 percent from the field to hit the locker room up 43-24.

The Cardinals roared out of the break on a 26-3 surge, led by 11 points from Hancock, including three 3-pointers, to quickly bury any Rutgers hope for a comeback. Rutgers never made a dent in Louisville's lead in the second half on the way to its worst margin of defeat this season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville improved to 13-1 all-time against Rutgers, defeating the Scarlet Knights for the second time this season and the ninth time in a row. ... Rutgers F J.J. Moore finished with two points, his fourth straight game in single digits after a four-game stretch in which he averaged 16. ... F Montrezl Harrell managed only four points but his lone field goal was his 59th career dunk, pulling him into a three-way tie for Louisville's school record alongside F Chane Behanan and C Pervis Ellison.
Top Game Performances
 
Rutgers   Louisville
Kadeem Jack 10 Scoring Luke Hancock 25
Malick Kone 2 Assists Russ Smith 5
Malick Kone 6 Rebounds Montrezl Harrell 9
Malick Kone 6 Free Throws Made Luke Hancock 5
Myles Mack 2 Steals Terry Rozier 3
Greg Lewis 1 Blocks Stephan Van Treese 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Rutgers 54 35.4 5-20 15-23 10 23 1 4 18
Louisville 102 55.7 16-30 18-25 23 38 5 11 9