Preston Knowles led the way with 25 points and Kyle Kuric came off the bench to add 20 on 7-of-9 shooting as No. 15 Louisville cruised to an 88-63 victory over St. John’s at the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday. Peyton Siva added 10 points, 10 assists, and seven steals for the Cardinals (15-3, 4-1 Big East), who forced 28 turnovers.

Louisville came out strong in the first half, shooting 65 percent from the floor including 7 of 10 from 3-point range. Kuric had the hot hand early, knocking down four 3-pointers and pouring in 14 points as the Cardinals took a 44-31 edge into the break. It was tied at 13-13 before Louisville went on a 21-2 burst to take control.

The Red Storm could not make a move after the half, allowing the Cardinals to open the second with a 13-5 burst and stretch the lead to 21 points. Knowles took over the scoring load in the final 20 minutes, scoring 20 points before coach Rick Pitino cleared the bench.

Paris Horne scored 13 points to lead St. John’s (11-6, 4-3), which continues a brutal stretch with a home game against Cincinnati on Saturday before playing at No. 23 Georgetown and hosting No. 5 Duke next week.