The fourth-ranked Louisville Cardinals lived up to their billing Friday afternoon as the Cardinals defeated Murray State 115-51 at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals’ (6-0) pressuring full-court press proved to be lethal as they forced the Racers (1-4) into 26 turnovers, scoring 35 points off those turnovers. U of L also used its height advantage to out-rebound MSU 58-26 and tallying a 28-5 advantage on second-chance points.
Abria Gulledge led the Racers with 18 points in the loss as she hit a season-best four 3-pointers in the game. Ke’Shunan James added 13 points and eight boards as she was the only other Racer to score in double figures.
Louisville shot 55.3 percent in the game and held the Racers to just 29.5 percent shooting and 9-of-34 (26.5 percent) from beyond the arc. MSU was also just 6-for-13 from the free-throw line. The Cards went 14-for-17.
U of L jumped on MSU early in the contest as it opened with a 17-5 run the first six minutes of the game and led 29-8 after the first quarter. The Cards built their lead up to 57-22 at halftime. In the third, Gulledge got hot and hit a trio of 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 63-34 with 5:39 left in the period. Louisville would lead by 38 at the end of the third.
MSU returns home to the CFSB Center as Bethel comes to town for a 6 p.m., contest Monday. The game was originally scheduled to be played December 14 before it was moved up to Nov. 27.
(Courtesy MSU Athletics)