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University of Louisville
TOLEDO
Louisville Blows Away The Rockets, 92- 56
December 30, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Dec 30, 2003
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - No. 11 Louisville didn't need leading scorer Francisco Garcia on Tuesday night.
Luke Whitehead had 19 points and nine rebounds and Nate Daniels scored a career-high 18 points as the Cardinals overcame the loss of the injured Garcia to beat Toledo 92-56.
"When Francisco was out, I was wondering how this team would respond," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "They responded like hungry tigers that hadn't eaten for two weeks."
Garcia, who also leads Louisville in assists, hurt his left knee in the first half and did not return. He scored five points.
His injury did not appear serious, however, as he spent most of the second half jumping and cheering from the bench as the Cardinals (8-1) pulled away in their first game since Saturday's upset at then-No. 2 Kentucky.
Pitino said Garcia hyper-extended his knee, but should be ready for Saturday's game against Murray State.
Garcia was not immediately available for comment after the game.
Taquan Dean added 14 points for Louisville, which improved to 21-1 in December games during Pitino's three seasons.
Daniels, a junior college transfer, hit all five of his shots - four of them 3-pointers - in 13 second-half minutes.
"I just wanted to come in and contribute and not make any mistakes," said Daniels, who also went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. "I came in with nothing to lose and good things came out of me."
The Cardinals shot 53 percent (30-of-57) and scored 34 points off 20 turnovers to beat a nonconference opponent at Freedom Hall for the 22nd straight time.
"That was a devastating offensive performance," Pitino said. "That is as good as we've looked. We had to have some other people step up and we did."
Keith Triplett scored 15 points for Toledo (7-2), which had beaten a ranked team on its last two Dec. 30 games - No. 14 Michigan State last year and No. 18 Cincinnati in 2000.
"We ran into a buzzsaw tonight," Toledo coach Stan Joplin said.
The Cardinals took control with an early 10-0 run, triggered by smothering defense.
Louisville trailed 5-2, then pressured the Rockets into four straight turnovers.
Allen Pinson scored inside to end a 4-minute Toledo scoring drought, but Garcia converted a three-point play and Dean hit a 3-pointer over the next minute to push Louisville's lead into double digits.
The Cardinals were up 39-23 when Garcia bumped his left knee defending Sammy Villegas with 4:06 left before halftime. Garcia stayed in the game for 3 more minutes, then limped to the locker room with a trainer.
Garcia didn't take the floor with his teammates after halftime and the Rockets hit their first two shots of the second half to pull within 48-38.
Pitino called a timeout and the Cardinals responded with an 11-2 run.
"We made two defensive mistakes," Pitino said. "I told them if they wanted to win it with offense, go home. If you want to win it, you win it on defense."
Garcia, dressed in warmups, returned to the Louisville bench at the 16-minute mark, with the Cardinals up 59-40.
Even without Garcia, the Cardinals extended the lead past 30 with overwhelming defense, crisp passing and hot shooting.
The Rockets missed 15 of their first 21 second-half shots, while the Cardinals hit 12 of their first 16 with nine baskets produced by assists.
Toledo, averaging 80.5 points, shot 29 percent (9-of-31) in the second half.
"On offense, we have to be hard to guard and we weren't," Joplin said. "They put us on our heels by how aggressive they were."
The Cardinals showed impressive depth for the second straight game. Reserves scored 33 in Saturday's 65-56 win over Kentucky and had 41 on Tuesday night.
"What's great about our wins is everybody is contributing," Whitehead said. "People came off the bench and showed what they could do."
