No. 5 Louisville started slowly but took command midway through the first half and rolled to an 87-74 victory over unranked Miami on Tuesday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
The Cardinals trailed by seven points early but went on a 17-0 run in winning their 16th consecutive season opener. Five players scored in double figures as Louisville shot 54.0 percent from the floor despite missing seven of its first 10 shots.
Louisville forward Jordan Nwora, the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, recorded a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. Forward Dwayne Sutton and guard Ryan McMahon added 16 points each, and center Steven Enoch also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.
Guard Chris Lykes led Miami with 18 points, 14 in the second half. Guard Dejan Vasiljevic, who opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers, scored 16.
Ahead 45-26 at halftime, the Cardinals led by as many as 30 points (70-40) with 11:33 left in the game.
Both teams got off to shaky starts with Louisville shooting 3 of 10 and Miami 3 of 11 in the opening minutes. Trailing 7-6, the Hurricanes went on a 10-2 spurt to take a 16-9 lead on guard Kameron McGusty's steal and layup at the 11:45 mark of the opening period.
The Cardinals then began playing up to their ranking. While the Hurricanes went scoreless for more than five minutes, Louisville scored 17 consecutive points to go ahead 26-16. McMahon fueled the surge with three consecutive 3-pointers.
Louisville rolled from there as the Hurricanes continued to struggle from the field. Miami shot 35.3 percent in the first half but finished at 43.5 on the strength of an 18-for-35 (51.4 percent) in the second half.
--Field Level Media
Louisville | Miami-Florida | |
Jordan Nwora 23 | Scoring | Chris Lykes 18 |
Darius Perry 4 | Assists | Chris Lykes 5 |
Steven Enoch 12 | Rebounds | Rodney Miller Jr. 9 |
Dwayne Sutton 4 | Free Throws Made | Chris Lykes 2 |
Lamarr Kimble 2 | Steals | Deng Gak 2 |
Steven Enoch 1 | Blocks | Deng Gak 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Louisville | 87 | 54.0 | 9-19 | 10-14 | 14 | 38 | 4 | 8 | 13 |
Miami-Florida | 74 | 43.5 | 10-24 | 4-11 | 12 | 30 | 4 | 6 | 10 |