National Basketball Association
Louisville 51, Northern Iowa 46
When: 9:30 PM ET, Thursday, November 22, 2012
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials:
# Duke Edsall, # Keith Kimble, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance:
3126
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 2 Louisville 51, Northern Iowa 46: Russ Smith finished with 16 points as the Cardinals held off a late rally from the Panthers in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
Smith was the only player to finish in double figures for Louisville (4-0), which overcame 20 turnovers and will play No.14 Missouri in Friday's semifinals.
The Cardinals forced 12 consecutive missed shots and held the Panthers (3-1) scoreless for a 10:26 stretch after surrendering a jumper to open the second half, allowing Louisville to turn a six-point halftime advantage into a 40-22 margin.
However, Louisville could hit only score five points over a 10:13 span, giving Northern Iowa a chance to rally, which it did behind three consecutive 3-pointers during a 24-8 run that allowed them to move within two points with 43 seconds left.
But just as Northern Iowa appeared to have a shot to tie the game in the final seconds following a miss from Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan grabbed the offensive rebound and following a jump ball, Smith converted a three-point play off the subsequent inbounds pass with four seconds remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Northern Iowa’s 20 first-half points were a season-high against Louisville. … The Cardinals have held each of their four opponents to 54 or less points. … Louisville has forced at least 21 turnovers in three of its four games this season.
Top Game Performances
Louisville |
|
Northern Iowa |
Russ Smith 16 |
Scoring |
Marc Sonnen 11 |
Russ Smith 5 |
Assists |
Deon Mitchell 3 |
Gorgui Dieng 9 |
Rebounds |
Seth Tuttle 8 |
Russ Smith 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Jake Koch 6 |
Russ Smith 4 |
Steals |
Anthony James 2 |
Gorgui Dieng 3 |
Blocks |
Jake Koch 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Louisville
|
51 |
30.6 |
5-22 |
8-11 |
12 |
40 |
4 |
13 |
20 |
Northern Iowa
|
46 |
34.8 |
6-19 |
8-9 |
8 |
26 |
4 |
9 |
22 |