University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Lose, As Louisville Rolls To 14th Straight
1/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Lose, As Louisville Rolls To 14th Straight
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Erik Brown was a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor and had a career-high 22 points as No. 8 Louisville rolled to a 94-65 Conference USA victory over Southern Miss Wednesday.
The Cardinals (15-1, 6-0 in C-USA) had four players in double figures as they extended the second-longest active streak in the nation.
Along with Brown, Marvin Stone and Reece Gaines both had 16 points. Francisco Garcia had 10. Gaines also turned in a game-high 11 assists.
Charles Gaines led Southern Miss (9-8, 2-4) with 15 points, and Greg Johnson added 13.
After Southern Miss quickly scored the opening basket of the second half on a Dante Stiggers layup, Louisville pushed its lead with a 31-7 run to take a 27-point lead at the 10:25 mark.
The run carried over from a 5-0 mini-run at the end of the first half, and Pitino credited his team?s shooting ability with the fast start.
?All of our guys can shoot the ball well,? Pitino said. ?That run at the end of the first half helped us in the second. After we hit a few shots, it was just like a shark feeding.?
?We didn?t come out in the second half and play the first five minutes the way that we needed to,? Southern Miss head coach James Green said. ?(Louisville) is not where it is because of fluke reasons. They are there because they have a lot of talent. They have size, and they have shooters. They play every play.?
Louisville, which shot 52 percent in the game, improved the lead to 30 points, 78-48, with 7:16 left as Stone connected on a short jumper.
The Cardinals scored 36 points off 3-point baskets, with Brown netting 15 of his points from long range. They also won the rebounding battle with a 45-41 advantage.
Louisville led by as many as eight points in the first half, as it was up 34-26 at the 4:22 mark, but the Golden Eagles trimmed the lead to just three points, 35-38, as Jason Forte hit two free throws with :51 left.
Louisville quickly pushed the lead back to eight points as time expired in the opening period as Brown nailed a 3-pointer and Stone added a put back in the final minute.
Brown led all players with 13 points in the first half, as he was 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc.
Jasper Johnson also had 12 points for the Golden Eagles, and David Haywood and Forte had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
