Samuels, Knowles lead No. 20 Louisville to 90-81 victory over Morgan State

No. 20 Louisville holds off Morgan State 90-81

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Samardo Samuels scored 23 points to go with 12 rebounds and No. 20 Louisville held off Morgan State 90-81 on Sunday.

Preston Knowles added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Edgar Sosa had 12 points for the Cardinals (3-0), who struggled to put away the Bears.

DeWayne Jackson led Morgan State (3-1) with 21 points, and Kevin Thompson had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the defending MEAC champions.

The Bears drew within 74-67 with 5:23 remaining, but Louisville countered with a 10-2 run highlighted by a dunk from freshman forward Rakeem Buckles.

The Cardinals held on behind solid free-throw shooting. Louisville made 33 of 41, while the Bears went just 18 of 24 from the stripe.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was looking for a better performance following a lethargic win over East Tennessee State on Saturday. He got it in spurts. Louisville never trailed after the opening four minutes, but the Cardinals were unable to shake loose despite shutting down Morgan State star Reggie Holmes.

The senior guard came in averaging 25.3 points but was held to nine on 4-of-12 shooting.

Jackson and Thompson, however, helped pick up the slack. With the Cardinals keying on Holmes, Jackson found plenty of room to knock down 4 of 8 3-pointers while Thompson held his own in the lane against the bigger, deeper Cardinals.

Louisville used a late 17-8 run to end the first half and take a 50-35 lead at the break, but Morgan State refused to go away.

The Bears drew within 65-60 on a 3-pointer from Jackson before Louisville pushed it back to a 10-point edge. Another 3-pointer by Jackson got Morgan State back within seven before a little urging from Pitino and some fantastic perimeter defense from Knowles and freshman guard Peyton Siva helped Louisville pull away.

The Cardinals held Morgan State without a field goal over a key 2:30 stretch while managing to get to the line with regularity.

Louisville’s only basket during the game-deciding burst came courtesy of Buckles, who corralled the ball after Samuels swatted a shot Morgan State’s Joe Davis all the way to halfcourt. Buckles raced in for the breakaway dunk and Louisville was finally out of danger.