Recap: Offense leads Louisville to win over Indiana State

Cardinals shoot 58 percent from the field in victory

Another fast start led to another home win for Louisville men’s basketball.

The Cardinals defeated Indiana State 91-62 at the KFC Yum! Center Nov. 13 to improve to 3-0. Jordan Nwora scored a team-high 21 points while Dwayne Sutton added 14 points and 10 rebounds for a Louisville offense that shot 58 percent from the field. 

“I thought we played a pretty complete game,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “We have to have unmatched energy when we hit the floor. I really felt like our guys were dialed in and ready to go.”

The Cardinals used another hot start to take an early lead against Indiana State. After making their first 11 shots from the field against Youngstown State Sunday, Louisville went 7 of 8 from the field to take an 18-11 lead six minutes into the game.

Nwora made two 3-pointer while Darius Perry and Sutton each made a shot from behind the arc.

After a media timeout, Nwora made a floater in the lane followed by a 3-pointer from Ryan McMahon as Louisville stretched its advantage to 23-11 by making 9 of its first 10 shots.

“I think the key to our shooting early was getting the ball to the paint,” Sutton said. “Our point guards and wings did a good job passing the ball, getting to the paint, spreading out for open threes.”

Samuell Williamson circled around the paint and delivered a pass to Aidan Igiehon for a dunk, giving Louisville a 36-20 lead. The Cardinals made 14 of their first 17 shots.

Nwora made a pair of free throws with 5:48 left in the first half to extend Louisville’s lead to 20 points for the first time. The Cardinals remained efficient for the entirety of the first half, shooting 78 percent from the field.

Louisville’s biggest inhibitor from building a lead larger than its 21-point halftime advantage was its nine turnovers.

After allowing 19 offensive rebounds against Youngstown State, much to the chagrin of Mack, Louisville allowed just one offensive rebound in the first half against Indiana State. Louisville outrebounded Indiana State 42-21. 

“We made a lot of progress since the Youngstown State game on the glass,” Williamson said. “That was one of our main keys to the game, to dominate the glass.”

McMahon found Lamarr Kimble, who finished with 13 points, on a backdoor cut for a layup to end an 8-0 Indiana State run, but the visitors pulled within 11 points on a shot from behind the arc by Tyreke Key with 16:09 left in the second half to cap a 14-2 run.

“When we got to the TV timeout, I told those guys that ‘I can’t lose my cool’ I lost my cool, I think they were losing their cool a little bit, I said ‘let’s take a deep breath and let’s gain the momentum back with our play,’” Mack said.

Louisville answered by scoring eight unanswered points capped by a 3-pointer from McMahon on an assist from Kimble to give Louisville a 63-43 lead with just over 12 minutes left.

Williamson had two nice possessions during what would be a 10-0 Louisville run. He had a driving floater in the lane and later found Sutton on a nice pass near the low block for a layup.

The freshman scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Williamson also had five rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.  

“Sam really knows how to play the game on offense,” Mack said. “Offensively, when you see him curling and making some high-arcing shots off the glass, floaters, he has a wide array of offensive moves and touch.”