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University of Louisville
SOUTH ALABAMA
Men's Basketball Stops South Alabama, 90-79
December 07, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec 7, 2002
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Reece Gaines scored a season-high 26 points and Ellis Myles grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Louisville to a 90-79 win over South Alabama on Saturday.
Luke Whitehead added 17 points for the Cardinals (2-1), who overcame 18 turnovers by shooting 53 percent (31-of-58).
Chris Young scored 24 - all but two in the first half - and Henry Williams had 18 for the Jaguars (3-3) and Coach John Pelphrey, who played for Louisville coach Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1989-92.
The Jaguars missed 7 of their first 8 shots but trailed only 15-11 seven minutes into the game.
Williams scored inside and Young sank a 3-pointer from the corner to give South Alabama its first lead at 16-15 with 12:10 left in the first half.
The Cardinals built a six-point lead, but Young scored 13 points in the final 5:12 of the first half to carry the Jaguars to a 40-38 halftime lead. Young, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, made 7 of 8 first-half shots, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range.
Louisville forced six turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the second half to retake control. Larry O'Bannon's 3-pointer with 16:59 left finished a 14-3 Louisville run that put the Cardinals up 52-43.
The lead hovered between 7 and 13 over the next seven minutes until O'Bannon hit consecutive jumpers to push the lead to 71-57.
The Cardinals smothered Young in the second half, allowing him only three shots, one of which bounced off the side of the backboard.
Williams sank two free throws with 6:19 remaining to cut Louisville's lead to 72-63, the only time the Jaguars cracked a double-digit deficit down the stretch.
The loss was an improvement over last year's meeting, when the Cardinals beat the Jaguars 92-38 in Pitino's Louisville coaching debut.
