National Basketball Association
Louisville 76, Western Kentucky 67
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 20, 2014
Where: E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # Tim Nestor, # Raymond Styons
Attendance:
7598
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 4 Louisville 76, Western Kentucky 67: Terry Rozier scored 26 of his career-high 32 points after halftime as the visiting Cardinals won despite playing the second half without ejected Montrezl Harrell.
Harrell (14 points, six rebounds) had half of his team's points when he was ejected for throwing an elbow during a scrum with 38.7 seconds left in the first half. Chris Jones added 10 points for Louisville (10-0), which blocked nine shots.
T.J. Price led Western Kentucky (5-5) with 24 points - his fourth straight 20-point game - and DJ Clayton added 14 after hitting 4-of-4 from the 3-point line. George Fant contributed seven points and seven rebounds for the Hilltoppers.
Harrell and Jones had baskets off turnovers to start an 11-0 run to build a 28-15 lead with four minutes left in the first half. The Hilltoppers answered with a 7-0 run but the rally was interrupted by the scuffle after Brandon Price stripped Harrell and players got tangled diving for the loose ball.
Rozier was the only Cardinal to score during a 10-minute stretch of the second half, scoring 17 straight points to keep Louisville ahead, and Louisville's Anton Gill followed Rozier's third 3-pointer of the run with another from behind the arc for a 57-47 lead with less than seven minutes left. The Hilltoppers never got closer than four and Louisville hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Clayton was given a contact technical during the scuffle, Harrell was ejected for a flagrant-2 technical foul and both coaches earned technicals after shouting at each other following the ensuing meeting with referees. ... Western Kentucky had five turnovers, four misses and two shots blocked during its 6 1/2-minute scoring drought in the first half. ... Rozier and T.J. Price were given offsetting technical fouls as they exchanged words heading into a TV timeout with 10 1/2 left in regulation.
Top Game Performances
Louisville |
|
Western Kentucky |
Terry Rozier 32 |
Scoring |
T.J. Price 24 |
Wayne Blackshear 3 |
Assists |
Trency Jackson 5 |
Montrezl Harrell 6 |
Rebounds |
George Fant 7 |
Terry Rozier 11 |
Free Throws Made |
T.J. Price 7 |
Terry Rozier 3 |
Steals |
Trency Jackson 3 |
Anas Mahmoud 3 |
Blocks |
Justin Johnson 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Louisville
|
76 |
41.5 |
6-22 |
26-30 |
11 |
34 |
9 |
7 |
12 |
Western Kentucky
|
67 |
37.5 |
10-23 |
15-25 |
15 |
35 |
1 |
5 |
15 |