Feb. 24, 2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville (17-9, 8-5) won its sixth straight while handing Saint Louis its third-consecutive defeat 68-56 tonight in a Conference USA men's basketball game at Freedom Hall. The loss was doubly damaging because SLU freshman guard Marque Perry was lost for the season with a severely dislocated right ankle.
"I was proud of the way we competed, particularly after Marque was hurt, because we could have thrown in the towel," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "But that's not the nature of this group. Plus, you have to credit Louisville, because they've been playing as well as anyone in the league for the past couple weeks."
Louisville built a 37-29 halftime advantage on the strength of 14 points off 11 SLU turnovers and the Bills' 38.5 percent (5-13) free throw shooting. Saint Louis also couldn't find an answer for Cardinals junior guard Marques Maybin who poured in 16 of his game-high 28 points in the first half.
Justin Love and Justin Tatum each popped in 15 points, and Tatum led all rebounders with nine. In his last two outings against the Cards, Tatum has averaged 15 points and 10 boards. The Bills were frustrated by their inability to free Love, C-USA's second-leading scorer, from the Cards' clinging defense. Despite repeatedly taking the ball to the basket, Love never got to the free throw line where he averages nearly six attempts per game.
Saint Louis fell behind by 10 in the second half before making one last run. Perry injured his ankle on a pull-up jumper in the lane with 11:53 to play to pull within 51-44. A 7-3 run capped by Dave Fergerson's driving lay-up pulled SLU within 54-51 with 8:06 remaining, but that is as close as the Bills could get.
Tony Williams tipped in an errant UL shot and was fouled by Fergerson. Although Williams missed the free throw, the Cards collected the rebound. UofL forward Nate Johnson drilled two free throws after being fouled, and the four-point possession put Louisville clearly in control of the game.
Maybin was the only Cardinal in double figures. The Cards eventually scored 20 points off turnovers and 25 points on second chance opportunities.
Perry finished his freshman season with 10 points to give the Bills three players in double figures. Tatum's nine boards led a 37-34 advantage for SLU in that category.
The Billikens completed a three-game road swing by going winless and dropped to 14-11 overall and 6-7 in C-USA. Saint Louis returns to Kiel Center on Sat., Feb. 26, to host DePaul in a 2:05 p.m. tip-off.
