NCAA News Wire
Louisville 84, SMU 71
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
DALLAS — Louisville guard Russ Smith was a perfect 6-for-6 from 3-point range in an 84-71 win over No. 18 SMU on Wednesday.
Smith led a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half as Louisville (No. 11 AP/No. 9 USA Today) handed SMU its first loss at home this season.
Smith scored 26 points to push Louisville (25-5, 14-3) to a half-game lead over Cincinnati for first place in the American Conference.
Louisville made 13 shots from beyond the arc, including eight 3-pointers in the second half. Guard Chris Jones was 4-for-7 from 3-point range for 21 points and guard Luke Hancock hit three treys to score 15.
With former president George W. Bush sitting courtside, Louisville snared 17 steals and forced 23 turnovers by SMU (23-7, 12-5).
Louisville connected on four 3-pointers in a three-minute span to push its lead to 55-47 with 10:20 to play.
SMU answered with a 7-0 run, ending with a 3-pointer by guard Keith Frazier, to pull within one, 55-54, with 8:30 left.
That was as close as SMU would get as Louisville countered every SMU challenge with another bomb from 3-point land.
Talented SMU point guard Nic Moore was limited to five points and four assists in only 19 minutes of action because of foul trouble. Guard Nick Russell led SMU with 18 points.
SMU, now 15-1 at home, saw a 14-point lead evaporate in the first half. SMU was bidding for its first undefeated season at home since 1955-56.
Louisville withstood an early blitz from SMU and rallied back to take a 32-30 lead at halftime.
SMU, feeding off the energy of its record seventh sellout crowd, broke out to an 18-5 lead in the first nine minutes, capped by a 12-0 run.
SMU pushed its advantage to 26-12 with seven minutes to go in the half while Louisville struggled from the field. Forward Shawn Williams led the Mustangs in the first half with eight points.
Then Louisville began to get hot from outside and went on a 15-0 run to post a 27-26 lead with 3:37 left in the half.
Jones finished the run with his third 3-pointer of the half. Hancock added two 3-pointers during the rally.
NOTES: Wednesday’s game marked SMU’s first home game between ranked opponents since the same teams met on Feb. 16, 1985. No. 9 SMU defeated No. 19 Louisville 72-64 that day. … The game was also the second collegiate matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Larry Brown of SMU and Rick Pitino of Louisville. SMU lost at Louisville 71-63 on Jan. 12. The two coaches went head-to-head 17 times in the NBA, with Brown holding a 11-6 advantage. … Louisville was playing its final road game of the season. The Cardinals had won seven of their last eight games but were coming off a 72-66 loss at Memphis last Saturday.
