Jan. 25, 2012
Box Score | AP Photo Gallery 
A balanced scoring attack, featuring five double figure scorers, helped Louisville (16-5 overall, 4-4 BIG EAST) down Villanova 84-74 in a BIG EAST men's basketball game played before 21,129 here at the KFC Yum! Center. The 'Cats are now 10-11 overall, 3-6 in conference action.
"I thought we played a good first half but defensively we weren't able to stop them in the second half," stated VU head coach Jay Wright.
Junior Maalik Wayns scored 19 points despite being hindered by foul trouble for Villanova and sophomore James Bell recorded his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Peyton Siva scored 16 points and Kyle Kuric 15 for the Cards.
"We're very glad to beat a Villanova team that had played very well the last two games," said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.
The home team got off to the quicker start, scoring 19 of the game's first 30 points over the first eight minutes of the contest. Siva and Chris Smith inflicted the most damage for Louisville.
Villanova, though, kept its composure in front of a sellout crowd of just under 22,000 mostly red-clad Cardinal fans. Boosted by the scoring of Bell and Wayns, VU steadily made gains, eventually grabbing its first lead at 32-30 with more than six minutes left in the period.
Wayns picked up his second foul and headed to the Wildcat bench with 4:30 to go in the half and VU down by two, 34-32.
VU, though, didn't wilt with the BIG EAST player of the week watching from the bench. Instead, the Wildcats closed the period on a 12-5 run, with Ty Johnson adding five points to claim a 44-39 lead at the break.
Bell paced VU with 11 points and nine boards in the first half while Wayns added nine points. Siva and Chris Smith combined for 21 of the Cardinals 39 first half points.
The second half opened with a Kuric triple and then came a pair of foul calls against Wayns in the span of six seconds. The fourth foul came on an offensive foul and less than a minute later the contest was deadlocked at 44 with 17:18 to play in regulation.
This time, Villanova found it more challenging to find its groove without its leading scorer. The Cardinals scored 12 of the first 14 points of the period to claim a 51-46 lead with 15:23 to play.
After the Wildcats narrowed the deficit to 53-50, Louisville scored the next six points to craft a 59-50 lead with under 11 minutes left in regulation.
Wayns returned to the floor with 10:02 to play and the 'Cats down 61-51. He quickly made a short runner to shave the gap to 61-53 with just over nine minutes left.
The return sparked a surge that got VU to within 63-61 with 7:35 to go in the half.
The Wildcats kept the heat on, twice pulling to within two points. Yet each time Louisville responded and with 3:41 left once again held a 71-65 lead after four straight free throws and the rebound of a Mouphtaou Yarou miss that was halfway in the cylinder before rolling out.
In the end, the final count was 84-74.
The Wildcats resume action on Saturday when they host another nationally ranked BIG EAST foe, Marquette, at the Wells Fargo Center (Noon/ESPN2/ESPN 950 Radio).
