DALLAS – Making the trek to the Lone Star State for a matchup with ACC newcomer SMU, the Louisville men’s basketball program rode their midseason winning streak to yet another victory, leaving Moody Coliseum with an emphatic wire-to-wire 98-73 win on Tuesday night.

The newly-ranked No. 25 Cardinals (15-5, 8-1 ACC) and first-year head coach Pat Kelsey have now won nine-in-a-row since starting the season at 6-5, and move to 5-0 in road conference play. It’s their longest winning streak since winning 10 consecutive in the the second half of the 2019-20 season.

Additionally, the win over the Mustangs (14-5, 5-3 ACC) was a critical one in terms of their NCAA Tournament resume. Not only does it move Louisville to 7-5 in Quadrant 1 and 2 games in the NET rating, of their 11 remaining games in the regular season, none are Quad 1 and just four are Quad 2.

Facing an SMU squad that boasted the No. 1 scoring offense in the ACC and hung 117 on Miami in their last time out, Louisville put the clamps on them with excellent transition and perimeter defense. The Mustangs were held to just 40.4 percent shooting for the game, and shot just 6-of-18 on three point attempts.

On the offensive end, the blowout victory was fueled by fantastic ball movement and lights out three-point shooting. The Cardinals assisted on 27 of their 31 made field goals, including their first 18 baskets, and were a blazing 19-of-42 from deep. It came in spite of the fact that they were 12-of-25 inside the arc for a 46.3 overall shooting percentage.

Chucky Hepburn was the straw that stirred the drink for Louisville, finishing with a 13-point and 16-assist double-double. The assist mark broke the single-game UofL record, which was previously 15 by Francisco Garcia on Jan. 3, 2004 vs. Murray State.

Scoring-wise, it was Reyne Smith who led the charge for the Cardinals, scoring 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 10-17 on threes. He not only tied his career-high in made threes, but set the single-game UofL record in that category, which was previously nine by Taquan Dean on Dec. 23, 2003 vs. VMI.

J’Vonne Hadley and James Scott also had 16 points, Khani Rooths came off the bench to score 12, while both Hadley and Rooths each secured seven rebounds.

Both offensively and defensively, Louisville put their foot on the gas right from the opening tip. In the first eight minutes, the Cardinals drilled five of their first seven three-point attempts and started 6-of-13 overall, while the Mustangs began the game 2-of-15 from the floor and 0-of-6 from deep.

In fact, SMU opened up shooting just 3-of-19, and was held to 6-of-29 shooting overall plus a 2-of-11 mark on threes for the first half. Meanwhile, Louisville shot a blazing 10-of-20 from downtown as part of a 14-of-33 first half showing assisting on all 14 made shots while committing only four turnovers.

Put it all together, and UofL went into halftime with a 50-27 advantage, and had led by as much as 26. It was not only a new season-high in first half points, but their largest halftime lead of the season since the opener when the lead Morehead State 41-14.

Louisville wasn’t as breakneck to start the second half as they were the first, but they were still extremely efficient.

While SMU’s offense did pick up considerably, shooting 17-of-28 in the second half, the Cardinals continued to pour it on the Mustangs and shot 17-of-34 after halftime. While their advantage did dwindle to as little as 17 with under six minutes left, they led by as much as 32.

Next up, Louisville has some extended time off, and will back in action at home against Wake Forest. Tip-off against the Demon Deacons is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Aboubacar Traore: Raymond Carlin III – Imagn Images)

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