NCAA News Wire
No. 5 Louisville 82, Florida International 57
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
Junior forward Montrezl Harrell posted his third consecutive double-double, leading fifth-ranked Louisville to an 82-57 victory over Florida International on Friday night at KFC Yumi Center in Louisville, Ky.
Harrell had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Louisville (7-0), which shot 57.1 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Anton Gill scored a team-high 15 points for the Cardinals. Sophomore guard Terry Rozier, senior guard Chris Jones and senior forward Wayne Blackshear also scored in double figures.
Senior guard Dennis Mavin scored 15 points for Florida International (5-4), which shot 37 percent. Senior guard Marco Porcher Jimenez came off the bench to score 13 for the Golden Panthers.
Florida International kept the game close in the early stages of the opening period and took a 10-6 lead on a layup by junior guard Tashawn Desir with 13:37 to go in the half. Louisville missed five of its first seven shots and committed five turnovers in the first five minutes, but eventually the Cardinals took control.
Louisville mounted an 18-0 run to take a 24-10 lead on a 3-pointer by Gill with 5:49 to play. Florida International briefly cut the deficit to eight on a 3-pointer by Desir with 1:10 remaining, but the Cardinals held a 36-23 lead at the break after Blackshear made a 3-pointer with one second to go.
Louisville shot 52 percent in the first period while holding Florida International to 33.3 percent shooting. The Cardinals continued their hot shooting in the second half, making four of their first seven field-goal attempts to stretch their lead to 20.
Louisville followed the early barrage with an 8-0 run to take a 53-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Blackshear with 14:47 remaining. The Cardinals went up by 30 when Gill made a 3-pointer less than three minutes later.
