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Louisville Downs USF for 11th Straight Win
January 10, 2004 | Men's Basketball
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Taquan Dean scored 16 points and Francisco Garcia added 15 Saturday to pace a balanced attack that led No. 10 Louisville to its 11th straight victory, 85-40 over South Florida.
Larry O'Bannon had 14 points and Luke Whitehead finished with 11 for the Cardinals (11-1, 2-0), who have won their first two Conference USA games by an average of 39.5 points and haven't lost since dropping their season opener by one point to Iowa in overtime.
South Florida (6-6, 0-1) played without starting guard Marlyn Bryant, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week. The Bulls narrowly missed setting school records for largest margin of defeat and fewest points in a game.
The Bulls shot just 26.5 percent from the field and turned the ball over 22 times. Jimmy Baxter's 3-pointer in the final minute ensured his team would finish with more than the 36 points South Florida scored in a 35-point loss to Marquette in February 1997.
Louisville held Southern Mississippi scoreless for nearly 13 minutes during a 34-point blowout in its C-USA opener. The Cardinals were just as impressive defensively Saturday, forcing 15 turnovers in the first half and using an 18-0 run over a 7-minute stretch to build a 20-point lead.
South Florida, playing its conference opener after an 11-day layoff, missed 15 of 20 shots in the first half and trailed 40-15.
Louisville began the second half with a 20-4 run.
The Bulls lost to Syracuse by 46 points in December 1987. Bradley Mosley's free throws in the closing seconds enabled South Florida to avoid that mark.
Mosley led South Florida with eight points, while Baxter and Brian Swift each scored seven.
Louisville shot 51 percent (31-for-61) and made 10 3-pointers. Dean and O'Bannon were both 4-for-5 from behind the arc.
