Thursday, January 13, 2011

Villanova outlasts Louisville at Wells Fargo Center

Corey Stokes scored 23 points as No. 7 Villanova ran its winning streak to 10 straight games with an 88-74 victory over 18th-ranked Louisville at Wells Fargo Center. 

Mouphtaou Yarou added a career-high 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Corey Fisher chipped in with 17 points and five assists for the Wildcats (15-1, 4-0 Big East), who shot 53 percent from the floor. 

The ultra-quick Preston Knowles connected on 6-of-10 from behind the arc to finish with 24 points for the Cardinals (13-3, 2-1), who have now dropped two of their past four games.

Villanova's 72-61 win over previously unbeaten Cincinnati on Sunday was a grind-it-out defensive battle that featured 58 free throws. Wednesday's tilt played out quite differently, especially in the first half, when Knowles, Chris Smith and Peyton Siva combined to hit 8-of-12 from three-point range to carry Louisville. 

The Wildcats kept pace behind Stokes' 16 points, and 'Nova held a slim 42-41 lead at the end of a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes.

Knowles opened the second half with a three-pointer, and Villanova's Antonio Pena countered with a pair of buckets to re-gain the lead. The Wildcats never trailed from there.

A Smith free throw had Louisville within five with 12:42 left, but the hosts scored the next eight points and went up 67-54 on a Fisher three-pointer near the midway point.

The Cardinals had the deficit as low as six, 69-63, but Yarou converted a three-point play near the six-minute mark, and Maalik Wayns and Fisher each followed with layups in transition to re-store the double-digit lead.

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