Louisville 87, Rutgers 50

February 2, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Earl Clark had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Terrence Williams had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as Louisville dominated Rutgers 87-50 Saturday.

Louisville (16-6, 6-3 Big East) never trailed, scoring the game's first seven points then overcoming some early ballhandling issues to roll by the Scarlet Knights (10-13, 2-8).

Derrick Caracter added 12 points as five Cardinals reached double-figures and 11 players scored as Louisville showed no ill effects from a tough two-point loss at Connecticut on Monday.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino had criticized his players for taking bad shots and playing poor defense in the second half against the Huskies. The Cardinals had no such trouble against Rutgers.

Louisville shot 49 percent from the floor to post its largest margin of victory against a Big East opponent since joining the conference three years ago.

It took Louisville 10 minutes to take a 22-6 lead, and Rutgers never mustered a challenge. The Cardinals put together runs of 14-2, 11-2 and 14-0 and led by as many as 45 in the second half.

Corey Chandler led Rutgers with 11 points and JR Inman added 10, but the Scarlet Knights hardly looked like the team that came into the game playing its best basketball of the season.

Rutgers had won two out of three by abandoning their deliberate style of play for a more up-tempo attack. It didn't work against the Cardinals.

Rutgers struggled against Louisville's press, constantly dribbling into trouble and panicking before throwing the ball away. The Scarlet Knights committed a season-high 24 turnovers, including seven in the first six minutes of the game that allowed the Cardinals to quickly break it open.

It didn't get much better when the Scarlet Knights got across halfcourt. They shot just 32 percent from the floor and couldn't build any kind of momentum.