Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – George Kimble III gave EKU a 1-point lead with less than a minute and a half left in the game, but Louisville scored in the final two seconds and escaped with a 78-76 victory on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
 
EKU trailed by 15 in the first half and 13 early in the second half before staging a rally.  After two free throws from J'Vonne Hadley gave the Cardinals (8-5) a 50-37 lead one minute into the second period, the Colonels (6-7) scored nine straight.
 
Jackson Holt accounted for seven of the nine, including a 3-pointer to start the run.  His lay-up with 16:41 on the clock closed the gap to four, 50-46.  A put-back and a layup from Kimble made it a 1-point game, 54-53.  Holt's long jumper from the right corner on an in-bounds pass gave EKU its first lead since early in the game, 55-54, with 14:29 left to play.
 
With the Colonels in front by two, 61-59, and less than 10 minutes to go, Louisville rolled off a stretch of 12 unanswered.  James Scott's alley-oop with 6:17 to go gave the Cardinals a 10-point lead, 71-61, and appeared to put the game away.
 
However, EKU put together a run of its own.  A 3-pointer from the top of the key from Kimble started a 12-1 spurt.  Another three from Kimble closed the gap to three, 72-69, with 4:16 remaining.  After Kimble made it a 1-point game with a layup, Devontae Blanton converted a layup to finish the run and put the visitors ahead 73-72 with 2:20 to go.
 
UofL took a 2-point edge on a 3-pointer from Reyne Smith at the two minute mark.  After Kimble's three with 1:22 left put the Colonels on top, neither team scored again until the final two seconds.  The Cards missed two shots and EKU missed one during that time.
 
Noah Waterman converted a baseline layup with 1.2 seconds on the clock for the final lead change of the game.  Louisville made a free throw with 0.4 ticks left to set the final score.
 
Kimble led all players with 24 points, hitting 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.  Blanton had 22 points.  Jackson Holt finished with 15 on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
 
Terrence Edwards Jr. led Louisville with 20 points.  Hadley had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
EKU held the Cardinals to 31 percent shooting from the field in the second half and 38 percent for the game.  After making 9-of-21 attempts from 3-point range in the first half, UofL hit just 2-of-15 (13 percent) in the second.  The Colonels shot 52 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game.
 
Louisville out-rebounded EKU by 15, 47-32, and out-scored the Colonels at the free throw line by 13 (19-6).  The visitors had a 28-26 edge in points in the paint.
 
The Colonels will take to the road for its first two Atlantic Sun Conference games of the season starting at Central Arkansas on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The trip concludes on Saturday at North Alabama.
 
EKU got off to a good start and took an 8-5 lead on a 3-pointer from the right corner by Holt.  The Cardinals scored the next 11 points to turn it into a 16-8 advantage.  Seven unanswered by the Colonels closed the gap to one.  Back-to-back jumpers from Blanton, the second coming with 10:36 on the clock, made it 16-15.
 
Blanton's 3-pointer from the left wing with 6:24 to play in the opening half had his squad within three, 26-23.  However, Louisville scored the next seven points to start a 16-4 run.  Five straight from Edwards pushed the margin to double figures for the first time, 33-23.  Two 3-pointers by Smith handed the home team a 14-point lead, 39-25.  Edwards finished the run and extended UofL's lead to 15, 42-27, with a 3-pointer at the 3:41 mark.
 
The Colonels were able to shave six points off the deficit with a 7-2 run to end the half.  EKU trailed 46-37 at the break.  The Cardinals scored the first four points of the second half to build a 13-point edge.