National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 95, Memphis 87
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2011
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Pat Driscoll, # John Higgins, # Mike Stuart
Attendance: 22733
By SportsDirect Inc.

Fourth-ranked Louisville blew a 13-point second-half lead at home, then used a late 8-0 spurt to remain undefeated with a 95-87 victory over Memphis.

Russ Smith scored 22 points, and Gorgui Dieng scored 14 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Cardinals (10-0), who extended their winning streak to 10. But it wasn’t easy, as the Cardinals let a 13-point lead in the early moments of the second half evaporate against their former Conference USA rival.

Memphis (5-4) tied the game at 70 on Will Barton’s layup with 6:44 to go. The Cardinals responded by forcing turnovers on three consecutive Tigers possessions and scoring the next eight points. Dieng’s alley-oop dunk from Smith gave the Cardinals a 78-70 advantage with 4:47 to go.

Chris Smith’s 3-pointer with 3:37 remaining pushed the Louisville lead to 83-73. Memphis pulled within 89-84 on Chris Crawford’s 3-pointer with 42 seconds remaining but could get no closer.

Neither team shot the ball well. Memphis, which came in 22nd in the nation in field-goal percentage at 48.7 percent, shot just 41.3 percent. Louisville finished at 40 percent. The two teams combined to shoot 83 free throws with Memphis hitting 29-for-43 and Louisville hitting 32-for-40.

Memphis lost despite a monster game from Barton, who finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Joe Jackson added 22 points.

The Cardinals host College of Charleston on Tuesday. Memphis hosts Lipscomb on Monday.
Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   Louisville
Will Barton 28 Scoring Russ Smith 24
Chris Crawford 4 Assists Peyton Siva 9
Will Barton 16 Rebounds Gorgui Dieng 14
Will Barton 14 Free Throws Made Russ Smith 10
Chris Crawford 3 Steals Russ Smith 7
Tarik Black 3 Blocks Gorgui Dieng 6
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 87 41.3 6-15 29-43 11 44 8 10 17
Louisville 95 40.0 7-23 32-40 17 42 9 13 14