Louisville 76 USC Upstate 50

Cardinals couldn't put Upstate away for most of the game, thanks to some really solid shooting by the Spartans. Trailing 43-40 with 14 minutes left in the game, Louisville clamped down on defense and started hitting shots. Closed the game out by a score of 36-7 over those final 14 minutes.

Jordan Nwora again led the Louisville scorers with 28 points and 9 rebounds.

Dwayne Sutton had 9 points and 15 rebounds. Those 15 rebounds honestly felt like 30; he owned the glass last night.

Ryan McMahon went 5-8 from behind the arc for his 15 points.

Junior Malik Williams as well as freshman/Trinity alumnus David Johnson both made their season debuts for the Cardinals, coming back from injuries sustained during the offseason. Johnson went 2-2 in his first three minutes of college basketball, including an outstanding alley-oop.

Cards looked lackadaisical in the first half and first part of the second half. Upstate had as many threes in the first half as they average for the game, and UofL was shooting about 49% before the break. Wednesday night game, ridiculous spread, you could kind of see the start of this one coming, IMO.

Dwayne Sutton is a freak. That guy is the most underrated UofL player in my lifetime. He may not score a lot, but this team doesn't need him to. There's never a player, on either team, that works harder than he does.

Jordan did his thing, as usual. One small thing I'd like to see him do more is really attack the basket when he goes to the lane, instead of bouncing off or away from contact. Draw some more fouls, shoot more FT's.

This team is deep. So many possible combinations you can go to, it's kind of fun wondering what rotation we'll see next, and what will come of it.

Glad to finally see David Johnson last night. That kid is going to be fun to watch and will be a hometown hero when he leaves UofL if he's able to stay healthy.

Is Johnson back earlier than expected? Glad to see him on the floor either way.

That was a nice way to get your first college points.

Williams made a real nice block that kind of spurred the Cards as the whole team turned up the defensive intensity.

Granted, it is a small sample size but I thought Johnson looked calm and collected on the court. Williamson has been looking that way all season IMO.