Louisville men's basketball outlasts Miami Ohio

Cardinals struggle offensively, use late run to seal victory

Louisville men’s basketball looked less than sharp in its final non-conference home game of the season, but left the KFC Yum! Center Dec. 18 with a win nonetheless. The Cardinals struggled offensively in a 70-46 victory over Miami (Ohio) to improve to 11-1.

Louisville used a 17-0 run midway through the second half as Miami was held scoreless for five-and-a-half minutes that allowed the Cardinals to pull away. The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field with 11 turnovers, but limited the visitors to 27 percent shooting. 

“We obviously were a different team the last 10 minutes or so,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “To hold those guys to six points in 10 minutes.”

Jordan Nwora had 20 points on 7 of 17 shooting along with eight rebounds. Dwayne Sutton finished with eight points and 15 rebounds. Ryan McMahon added 11 points.

Darius Perry had five of Louisville first nine points, making a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession and scoring on a strong drive to the rim. A fadeaway jumper by Nwora gave Louisville an 11-5 lead with 14:16 left in the first half, forcing Miami (Ohio) to call a timeout.

Lamarr Kimble made a 3-pointer at the top of the key to extend Louisville’s advantage to double digits for the first time with 12:25 left in the first half. David Johnson blocked a shot along the baseline on the ensuing possession.

The visitors started just 2 of 13 from the field and suffered a six-and-a-half-minute scoring drought as Louisville took a 17-5 lead.

Nike Sibande had a driving layup with 4:08 left in the first half to bring Miami (Ohio) within 25-16. Precious Ayah brought Miami within seven points, but McMahon made a shot from behind the arc to return Louisville’s advantage to double digits.

Louisville finished the first half shooting 39 percent from the field, leading 28-20. Miami wasn’t any better, shooting 25 percent from the field.

“Our offense at times wasn’t very good to say the least,” Mack said. 

Dae Dae Grant pulled Miami within five on the opening possession of the second half and Dalonte Brown had a dunk two possessions later to cut Louisville’s lead to 28-25. Enoch found Perry for a 3-pointer to return the advantage to two possessions.

Dwayne Sutton willed his way to protecting Louisville’s lead after Miami closed its deficit to one possession once again. Sutton had a put-back on a missed 3-pointer by McMahon and then scored on a driving layup through traffic to give Louisville a 37-29 lead with 14:41 left.

After Miami closed within four, Sutton had an offensive rebound that kept a Louisville possession alive that ended in a jumper from Nwora. The junior made a 3-pointer from the wing on Louisville’s next possession for a 42-33 lead with 12:55 left.

The Cardinals couldn’t put away Miami as Josh Brewer hit a 3-pointer from the wing to cut Miami’s deficit to four points, but McMahon answered with a shot from behind the arc with 8:41 left to give Louisville a 47-40 advantage.

Nwora tipped a missed free throw to Sutton, who dropped in a layup to return Louisville’s lead to double digits. Williams scored in transition on a pass from Nwora on the next possession.

The Cardinals sealed the game with a 17-0 run that ended with a tip-in by Williams for a 61-40 lead with 3:45 left. Miami missed seven straight shots during a scoreless drought that lasted for five-and-a-half minutes. 

“I thought our guys defended pretty much the entire night,” Mack said. “We used our defense when our offense wasn’t there.”