National Basketball Association
Louisville 86, Samford 45
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 13, 2015
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials:
# Mike Eades, # Anthony Franklin, # Jerry Heater
Attendance:
20347
By The Sports Xchange
In a teacher vs. pupil matchup, Louisville's Rick Pitino and his Cardinals opened the 2015-16 season with an 86-45 pasting over Samford, coached by Scott Padgett (who played for Pitino at Kentucky in 1990s), at the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville's depth and defense ensured that the return of Padgett, a Louisville native, to the Commonwealth was an uncomfortable one. With 12:30 left in the first half, the Cardinals were clinging to a two-point lead, 11-9, but were already in the bonus, which allowed Pitino's bunch to parade to the charity stripe continuously in the first half and to walk into the intermission with an insurmountable 48-27 lead.
Eleven different Cardinals scored in the season opener, paced by two newcomers in 6-5 wing Damion Lee (who transferred from Drexel as a fifth-year senior) and 6-3 freshman Donovan Mitchell with 14 points apiece. Sophomore guard Quentin Snider (12 points) and 6-10 sophomore pivot Chinanu Onuaku (11 points) also reached double figures for the winners.
Pitino's bunch played stifling defense throughout the night, holding Samford to 13 of 62 from the floor (21 percent) and just 3-for-19 shooting from 3-point range (15.8 percent).
Next up for the Cardinals will be Nov. 17 home against Hartford.
Top Game Performances
| Samford |
|
Louisville |
|
Christen Cunningham 15 |
Scoring |
Damion Lee 14 |
|
Christen Cunningham 2 |
Assists |
Trey Lewis 6 |
|
Christen Cunningham 6 |
Rebounds |
Mangok Mathiang 7 |
|
Christen Cunningham 9 |
Free Throws Made |
Deng Adel 6 |
|
Marcus Johnson 2 |
Steals |
Donovan Mitchell 3 |
|
Eric Adams 1 |
Blocks |
Chinanu Onuaku 5 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Samford
|
45 |
21.0 |
3-19 |
16-22 |
5 |
34 |
5 |
7 |
18 |
| Louisville
|
86 |
53.6 |
7-15 |
19-29 |
19 |
46 |
9 |
9 |
14 |
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