Ryan Conwell scored 17 of his season-high 25 points in the second half to help No. 6 Louisville deny an upset bid from Cincinnati, 74-64, Friday night in Cincinnati.
Conwell had a season-high five 3-pointers as part of his big night for Louisville (5-0). Mikel Brown Jr. finished with 22 points on 4-of-15 shooting to overcome an off shooting night as he scored five straight points late to fend off a Cincinnati charge.
Day Day Thomas led a sluggish and sporadic offense for Cincinnati (4-1), with 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Shon Abaev also added 12 for the Bearcats, who shot just 23 of 62 (37.1 percent) for the game.
Cincinnati drew to within six, 61-55, on Abaev’s layup with 4:35 left. But Brown hit a long three from the right wing and then put home a thunderous dunk to put Louisville up 66-55 with 3:36 left.
The game — billed as the Hoops Classic — was played off of Cincinnati’s campus, and instead at the Heritage Bank Center in downtown.
Louisville improved their series advantage to 57-44 in the 101st meeting between the two former Ohio River rivals.
Cincinnati took early control with a 13-0 run that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 15-4 lead. After Louisville opened with three free throws from Isaac McNeely 58 seconds into the game, the Cardinals went ice cold.
Louisville missed their first 10 shots from the field and didn’t make a shot from the floor until Brown’s layup with 12:27 remaining in the first half.
But trailing 17-6, the Cardinals answered with a 13-0 run of their own, sparked by a Conwell three and capped by a pair of Conwell free throws with 6:45 left for a 19-17 Louisville lead. The Cardinals missed their first eight shots from beyond the arc before converting 3-of-4 during the run to draw even.
The Bearcats then answered with a 9-2 spurt to take a 26-21 lead, and took a 32-28 lead to halftime thanks to a Moustapha Thiam block of Aly Khalifa at the basket just before the buzzer. Thiam finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Cincinnati had trouble getting its offense on track in the second half, missing its first five shots before Kerr Kriisa’s three with 12:34 left in the second half.
