.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
University of Louisville
17-4,6-2
VIRGINIA
17-4,6-3
No. 11 Virginia Shuts Down No. 16 Louisville, 63-47
January 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --Â Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill each scored 13 points and No. 11 Virginia used stifling defense to rout No. 16 Louisville 63-47 on Saturday for its fourth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (17-4, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) needed no late-game heroics after rallying from 10 points down in the final 1:23 and beating Wake Forest 72-71 Wednesday on Darius Thompson's 3-pointer at the buzzer. They were simply thorough on both ends, holding the Cardinals to season lows in shooting (33 percent) and points nearly a year after losing 52-47 to Virginia last year in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers also shot 58 percent from the field.
Louisville (17-4, 6-2 ACC) committed 18 turnovers in having its four-game winning streak snapped. Reserves Ray Spalding and Deng Adel each 12 points for the Cardinals, who often trailed by 20 points until the final minute. Leading scorers Damion Lee and Trey Lewis combined for just 10 points.
Defense figured to be the theme in this nationally televised matchup between the ACC's two stingiest units and all of it belonged to Virginia as it held Louisville under 30 percent until late in the game.
A sea of white-clad fans didn't seem to affect the Cavaliers. Virginia began 5 of 9 from the field, including two 3-pointers, en route to making 57 percent in the first half alone. Brogdon looked especially comfortable, making several soft jumpers set up by good ball movement.
Virginia's first-half shooting shouldn't have been that shocking given its No. 8 ranking at nearly 50 percent, but the fact it was achieved against Louisville's second-ranked field-goal defense (37 percent) was impressive. The Cavaliers continued to pour it on in the second half, shooting 59 percent.
Even better was the Cavaliers' scrappy defense, which disrupted the Cardinals on nearly every possession and held their duo of Lee and Lewis scoreless through 20 minutes. Forward Chinanu Onuaku didn't practice on Thursday because of illness and didn't start and he wasn't a factor with one point.
Louisville had almost as many turnovers (13) as points while trailing 29-14 at the break, with six coming during an early 7-minute span. Its 21-percent shooting half included a scoring drought of more than 7 1/2 minutes, a performance nearly similar to last year's meeting in Charlottesville in which they went 12 minutes without a point in the first half.
TIP-INS:
Virginia: Brogdon's string of three consecutive 20-point efforts ended, during a span in which he averaged 23 points per contest. The Cavaliers improved to 3-4 on the road and 7-4 all-time against Louisville.
Louisville: The Cardinals' first-half scoring was a season low. ... Anas Mahmoud started at center for the first time since Dec. 12 vs. Eastern Michigan. ... Among the 21,714 was six-time All-Star Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays, who was the featured guest at Friday's leadoff dinner for Louisville's baseball program.
UP NEXT:
Virginia: Hosts Boston College on Wednesday.
Louisville: Hosts No. 2 North Carolina on Monday.
