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University of Louisville
SOUTHERN MISS
Men's Basketball Slams Southern Miss, 76-42
January 07, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan 7, 2004
Box Score?|? Quotes | Coach Pitino Audio
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Smothering defense is becoming Louisville's trademark this season.
Nate Daniels scored 15 points and Otis George tied a career-high with 10 rebounds as the 10th-ranked Cardinals beat Southern Mississippi 76-42 on Wednesday night.
But Louisville's defensive numbers were more impressive than anything any Cardinal did on offense.
The Cardinals (10-1), fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense, held the Golden Eagles scoreless for 12:52 bridging halftime in the Conference USA opener for both teams.
Southern Miss (7-5) missed 15 consecutive shots and committed 15 turnovers during the span.
"Our defense has been good from Day One," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "We were stopping penetration and we were forcing them into misses. You can't find any faults defensively."
The Eagles finished 15-of-51 from the field (29 percent) and committed 21 turnovers - 12 on Louisville steals.
Louisville has held all 11 opponents under 45 percent shooting and five of the last six below 40 percent.
"I think there are some other teams that will get a dose of what we got tonight," Southern Miss coach James Green said.
Charles Gaines led the Eagles with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals outrebounded Southern Miss 40-38, but gave up 15 offensive rebounds - one area where Pitino found fault.
"I didn't think our rebounding was good," he said. "It was an off night for some of our players."
The lead changed hands seven times in the first 4 minutes, but Louisville took control with a smothering, halfcourt trap.
Southern Mississippi hit four of its first 8 shots, then missed 16 of its final 20 before halftime.
Ronald Pittman's layup with 7:31 cut Louisville's lead to 29-19, but the Golden Eagles didn't score again in the first half, missing their last eight shots. Southern Miss committed turnovers on eight of its last 16 first-half possessions.
"We definitely had them stuck for a while," said Louisville forward Luke Whitehead, who had five points and five rebounds. "Coach keeps on us about our defense. We need to keep the pressure on."
Louisville, meanwhile, coupled its overwhelming defense with hot shooting, finishing the first half 16-of-27 from the field, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
The Cardinals led 39-19 at halftime, then started the second half with a 12-0 run.
"We can't play much better defense than we did," said George, who scored six points. "We were trying to stop every play they ran."
Jasper Johnson's free throws with 14:39 left ended the Golden Eagles' 13-minute scoreless spell and triggered a sarcastic cheer from the capacity crowd.
Johnson hit a shot from the baseline a minute later to snap the Eagles' 14-minute field goal drought and cut Louisville's lead to 52-24.
By then, the animated Pitino was sitting comfortably on the bench, only occasionally barking instructions.
Louisville won its 13th straight home game, but Pitino still had complaints.
"We had a couple of guys pass up some open shots and then, we don't rebound," Pitino said. "We had a lot of positives, but there are a lot of things we have to work on."
