Ryan Boatright and the Huskies looked to knock off the visiting Louisville, but Peyton Siva and his number one Cardinals had other ideas and get to travel home happy after a 73-60 victory.
Aside from Russ Smith's 15 points and Gorgui Dieng's 10 rebounds, the first half was a bit of a struggle for the Cardinals. Adding to Louisville's struggles, Peyton Siva ran into early foul trouble and was benched with 16 minutes to go and didn't return until the second half.
UConn may have felt like they had an advantage with Siva out, and their play was giving Huskie fans some faith in them pulling off the upset. That's when the Huskies started to shine shooting 53% from the field and 55% from long range. They even played their way to a 10 point lead, and finished the half up 34-28 behind the 10 point, 2 block, 2 rebound performance of Omar Calhoun, who finished the game with 20 points.
Louisville came out determined in the second half and played like the number one team should. Their defense came out strong and never let up, having a big part in the 9 minute stretch where the Huskies made no baskets. They should also give some credit to UConn themselves due to their poor shooting and poor shot choices.
Peyton Siva's return to the court must have fueled the offense,who started hot and never cooled off, including the 9 point, 4 assist performance from Siva himself, who was well rested after only playing 4 minutes in the first half. Other notable players include Behanan who put up 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Dieng's 16 rebounds.
Even in Siva's return it still seemed to be Russ Smith's game, who led the team to 45 points in the second half and ending the game with 23 points himself.
Louisville will return home to host #6 Syracuse January 19th, as UConn slips to 2-7 all time against No. 1 teams.
Contact: bblom13@yahoo.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thatBeebo
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