Perry puts together best performance

Junior point guard finishes with a double-double

Darius Perry played his best game in a Cardinal uniform.

The junior finished with 12 assists and 10 points, his first career double-double, in Louisville men’s basketball 78-55 victory over Youngstown State Nov. 10 at the KFC Yum! Center. Perry had just one turnover while shooting 4 of 7 from the field in a game Louisville led the entire way.

“Best game he has played since I have been head coach,” Louisville head coach Chris Mack said. “It was great to see. I am really happy for Darius. I liked what he did on both ends of the floor.”

Perry wanted to control the game and get his teammates involved. He had six assists in the first half as Louisville made its first 11 shots from the field.

“Coach Mack has been really big on my voice, he wants me to be louder, communicate with my teammates,” Perry said. “That’s what I was trying to do today. I don’t think I did anything spectacular, my teammates made shots.”

Perry made shots himself, but had his biggest challenge on the defensive end of the floor. He was tasked with guarding Darius Quisenberry, Youngstown State’s leading scorer and assister.

Quisenberry, a 6-foot-1 point guard, went 3 of 13 from the field and finished with 11 points and three turnovers.

“Defense wins games, defense wins championship,” Perry said. “A good defensive team will be good on offense as well. My defense can always turn into some offense.”

Mack thought Perry allowed the game to dictate how he led the offense as its point guard. He balanced when to shoot, pass or score in Louisville’s home opener.

Perry says he hasn’t changed his game much from his sophomore year, instead, focusing on staying poised. He was plenty poised against Youngstown State.

Jordan Nwora, who finished with a team-high 21 points, agreed with Mack that Perry played his best game.

“He has done a really good job finding the open guy,” Nwora said. “He has taken pride in it. He is becoming more of a true point guard.”

In two games this season, Perry has 16 assists to three turnovers.