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University of Louisville
SAINT LOUIS
No. 19 Men's Basketball Smashes Saint Louis, 73-54
January 11, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan 11, 2003
Box Score | Coach Pitino Audio
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Reece Gaines pumped his fist, then waved to the cheering crowd as he left the court late in Louisville's 73-54 victory over Saint Louis on Saturday.
Cardinals coach Rick Pitino met Gaines before he reached the bench.
"That a boy, Reece. Way to take over the game," Pitino said.
If that's what it takes to keep Louisville rolling, Gaines says he'll do it every time.
"All I want to do is win," said Gaines, who scored 23 points to lead the 19th-ranked Cardinals (10-1, 2-0 Conference USA) to their ninth straight win.
Louisville is off to its best start since the 1996-97 team started 15-1.
But the Cardinals had to climb out of a double-digit, first-half deficit for the third time in four games to end a four-game losing streak to Saint Louis (6-7, 0-2).
Louisville missed 10 of its 11 shots and trailed 19-6. They came back from an early 11-point deficit to beat Kentucky on Dec. 28, and rallied from 18 down to beat Ohio State on Jan. 4.
"I'm definitely worried about the beginnings of the games," said Gaines, who missed six of seven shots in the first half, but finished 8-for-14. "We've got to execute better and not take bad shots."
The Billikens led 21-10 with 8:22 left when Marque Perry, their senior point guard and leading scorer, picked up his second foul. He left the game for Drew Diener, and the Billikens missed eight of their next nine shots.
Perry returned with 2:52 left in the half and Saint Louis leading 23-18.
Louisville trailed 26-24 at halftime, despite shooting 24 percent from the field (5-of-21), including 17 percent (2-of-12) from 3-point range.
Gaines, the Cardinals' only fourth-year senior, gathered the team before the second half began.
 | "I've got to make sure I get the guys ready and make sure they take every game as a championship game." Senior guard Reece Gaines |
Gaines has made a habit of firing up his teammates during games.
"I've got to make sure I get the guys ready and make sure they take every game as a championship game," he said.
Erik Brown hit a jumper from the wing and Gaines scored on a layup to give Louisville its first lead, 90 seconds into the second half.
The game went through three ties and three lead changes before Gaines scored inside to start Louisville's decisive 15-2 spurt. He had eight points in the run.
"We had a great player take over the game," Pitino said.
The Billikens, averaging only 61 points, committed seven turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the second half. They went three minutes without scoring before Diener's 3-pointer with 8:39 remaining cut Louisville's lead to 50-40.
But Taquan Dean made two free throws, and Garcia had a breakaway layup to extend Louisville's lead to 14 points, and it soon grew to 20.
"The outcome of the game had more to do with how well they played and not how poorly we played," Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg said.
Perry was only 2-for-11 from the field Saturday and scored seven points. He averaged 18 points in Saint Louis' two victories over Louisville last season.
"What we wanted to do is put everybody on him and not let anyone wear out," Pitino said. "I was hoping he wouldn't have any legs left in the last 10 minutes."
Louisville has won its seven home games by an average of 23 points.
