National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 90, Central Florida 65
When: 5:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Where: CFE Federal Credit Union Arena, Orlando, Florida
Officials: # Lee Cassell, # Joe DeRosa, # Brent Hampton
Attendance: 7094

No. 10 Louisville 90, Central Florida 65: Russ Smith tallied 24 points, nine assists and four steals as the visiting Cardinals opened the inaugural season of American Athletic Conference play with a lopsided win.

Luke Hancock scored a season-high 16 points off the bench and Montrezl Harrell added 15 points and eight rebounds for Louisville (12-2, 1-0 American). Smith hit six 3-pointers and Hancock added four as the Cardinals went 14-for-27 from beyond the arc.

Isaiah Sykes collected 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Central Florida (8-4, 0-1), which had its five-game winning streak snapped. The Knights, who entered the game averaging 8.6 3-pointers per game and shooting 40.1 percent from long range, were just 3-for-14 from beyond the arc.

Smith hit three straight 3-pointers to open the second half as the Cardinals stretched the lead to 14 and cruised from there. Hancock scored the last eight points of a 13-0 run that pushed it to 62-37 and the Knights didn't get closer than 20 the rest of the way.

Louisville raced out to a 23-4 lead as Central Florida missed 11 of its first 13 shots. The Knights clawed back into it by crashing the offensive boards and used an 13-0 run to pull within five before going into the break down 40-31.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville has won its conference opener in five of the last six seasons and has claimed its first conference road game seven straight years. … Central Florida dropped to 3-26 all-time against ranked teams. … The Cardinals had 28 assists on 34 field goals while the Knights had seven assists on their 21 baskets.

Top Game Performances
 
Louisville   Central Florida
Russ Smith 24 Scoring Isaiah Sykes 19
Russ Smith 9 Assists Isaiah Sykes 3
Montrezl Harrell 8 Rebounds Isaiah Sykes 9
Wayne Blackshear 2 Free Throws Made Calvin Newell 4
Russ Smith 4 Steals Daiquan Walker 2
Stephan Van Treese 4 Blocks Staphon Blair 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Louisville 90 54.8 14-27 8-13 28 31 9 12 11
Central Florida 65 35.0 3-14 20-27 7 32 2 5 15