Sat Feb 11 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville guard Jerry Smith knew Rutgers would be no pusher over Saturday at Freedom Hall.
Smith scored 16 points, including a key 3-point basket in the second-half that helped Louisville to a 76-60 win over Rutgers.
“It was tough,” Smith said. “We’d go on a run and then they’d come back with a run of four or five points. We struck with it, grinded it out and got a win.”
Louisville (15-8, 6-4) led 47-43 with 16:20 to play when Smith drifted to the left, took a pass from Edgar Sosa and swished a 3-pointer. That basket helped propel the Cardinals on a 10-2 spurt for a 57-45 lead with 12:23 to play.
“Edgar found me in transition. I stepped into it and the shot went down for me,” said Smith who made five of nine field goals which included four of seven 3-point baskets.
Samarado Samuels added 14 points and 11 rebounds while Sosa had 13 points and eight assist. Jared Swopeshire added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“This was our trap game,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. “You have to come through that trap and play good enough defense to get the W (win) and get out. Rutgers did a tremendous job of staying in the game.”
Dane Miller and Jonathan Mitchell each scored 17 points and seven rebounds while Mike Rosario added 13 points and Hamady Ndiaye added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Rutgers (11-12, 2-9), which had its two-game winning streak snapped, trailed 63-50 with 8:53 to play. The Scarlet Knights scored six straight points to get within 63-56 with 7:13 to play.
Smith connected on a 3-pointer, Sosa a layup and Swopeshire a three-point play during an 8-2 run to give the Cardinals a 71-58 lead with 4:10 to play.
“We just couldn’t knock down a big shot when we needed it,” Rutgers coach Fred Hill said. “You have to give them credit they come after you. I thought the real difference was that they wore us down.”
Louisville made 27 of 50 shots from the field (54 percent), outrebounding Rutgers 36-27. The Scarlet Knights made 23 of 60 shots from the floor (38.3 percent), which included making just 6 of 19 3-point shots (31.6 percent).
“We played well today,” Pitino said. “I thought we played excellent and did a lot of good things against a team that really came to play.”
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