Louisville played perhaps its best half of the season to come from behind and take down SMU, 88-74, Saturday afternoon inside the KFC Yum Center.
After trailing 47-44 at halftime, the Cards limited their guests to 11-of-30 shooting and just 27 points over the game’s second 20 minutes.
Mikel Brown Jr., who did not start because of an illness, scored a team-high 20 points and dished out four assists. Khani Rooths, playing his first game in two weeks because of his own illness, also came off the bench
to produce a 12-point, 10 rebound double-double. Isaac McKneely (14), Ryan Conwell (12) and J’Vonne Hadley (10) also scored in double-figures.
At some point, this team was always going to have to realize that it needed top up its defensive effort significantly in order to beat quality opponents. They did that this afternoon.
An important step in the right direction as we prepare to flip the calendar to February.
