No. 9 Louisville 79, DePaul 58: Russ Smith recorded 17 points, five assists and four steals as the visiting Cardinals shook off a sloppy start to earn their fourth straight victory.

Peyton Siva added 16 points and six assists, while Chane Behanan chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds for Louisville (23-5, 11-4 Big East). Montrezl Harrell registered 11 points and Gorgui Dieng had 10 for the Cardinals, who scored 42 in the paint.

Brandon Young scored 22 points and Cleveland Melvin added 20 for DePaul (11-17, 2-13), which has lost 12 of its last 13 contests. The rest of the Blue Demons combined for six field goals.

Louisville allowed the first eight points of the game before getting 10 points each from Smith and Behanan to build a 34-25 halftime lead. The teams combined for 23 turnovers and 0-for-10 shooting from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

Wayne Blackshear drained the first 3-pointer of the game 2:45 into the second half to start a 12-3 run that gave Louisville a 16-point lead with 13:45 remaining. DePaul pulled within 61-53 with 7:20 left, but the Cardinals responded with the next 10 points – four by Siva – to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Smith became the 65th Louisville player to reach 1,000 points in his career and the 37th to do it in three seasons. The junior guard has 1,002. … The Cardinals, who improved to 5-3 on the road in Big East play, have beaten the Blue Demons 10 straight times. … Young made DePaul’s only 3-pointer of the game with just under three minutes left. The last time the Blue Demons did not make a 3-pointer in a game was in 1993.