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University of Louisville
DE PAUL
No. 9 Men's Basketball Destroys DePaul, 71-43
January 22, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan 22, 2003
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville coach Rick Pitino liked his team's blue-collar effort against a bruising opponent.
The ninth-ranked Cardinals' defense dug in to hold DePaul to 34 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers for a 71-43 victory Wednesday night, the 10th straight game Louisville held its opponent below 40 percent.
 | We just had more depth than they did. Our defense is as hard-working as any team I've coached. Head coach Rick Pitino |
"DePaul is a tough, hard-nosed basketball team," Pitino said. "We just had more depth than they did. Our defense is as hard-working as any team I've coached. We just get after it, get after it, get after it."
Reece Gaines scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack as the Cardinals (13-1, 5-0 Conference USA) won their 12th straight. It was Louisville's 13th straight win over DePaul (10-5, 2-2).
The Cardinals had their own offensive struggles early, but pulled away by shooting 61.5 percent from the field in the second half. But it was Pitino's halftime talk about defense that got the Cardinals' attention.
"In the first half we were getting a little careless," forward Francisco Garcia said. "Coach said at halftime, `We have to get after it. We've got to dig in a little more and get after it.' We did that."
Garcia, a freshman, had half of Louisville's eight blocks. The Cardinals converted DePaul's turnovers into 19 points.
Louisville's deep bench also took a toll, as its reserves contributed 25 points and kept up the defensive intensity.
"They come at you in waves offensively and defensively," DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. "You have a team like that, you can go a long, long way."
DePaul's leading scorer, center Sam Hoskin, was held scoreless.
Garcia and Erik Brown each scored 10 points for the Cardinals, while Taquan Dean and Bryant Northern each had nine.
Louisville went on a 13-4 run to start the second half and take a double-digit lead it never relinquished. The Cardinals got 3-pointers from Brown, Dean and Northern during the spurt.
Andre Brown, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds for DePaul, made a layup to cut the lead to 54-35, but the Cardinals answered with nine straight points, capped by Garcia's layup after a steal.
"It was real physical, a war in there," Louisville center Marvin Stone said. "But they got kind of tired. Our bench has been playing well."
DePaul has the conference's top defense against the 3-point shot, but the Cardinals outscored the Blue Demons 36-3 from 3-point range.
Louisville hit 12-of-29, while DePaul had only one 3-pointer in nine attempts. The Blue Demons often struggled to get a shot off against the Cardinals' defense.
"The thing we've been doing a good job of is taking the 3 and making it, but it is only effective if you stop it," Pitino said.
Louisville missed six of its first seven shots, but the Blue Demons could muster only a 4-0 lead. Louisville's freshman duo of Dean and Garcia both hit two 3-pointers to score the Cardinals' first 12 points.
After Stone hit a short hook shot to tie it at 15 with 8:04 left in the first half, the Cardinals went on a 16-8 run to lead 31-23 at halftime, matching their biggest lead of the half. Gaines hit 3-pointers to start and finish the spurt - his only points of the half.
"Obviously, we played tonight one of the very best basketball teams out there," Leitao said. "If you enjoy basketball, you have to enjoy the way they play."
