Gardner-Webb Wraps Up 10-Game Road Swing With 78-49 Loss At No. 20 Louisville
December 19, 2010 | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Laron Buggs scored a career-high 16 points, but Gardner-Webb was hemmed in by 20th-ranked Louisville's size and length in a 78-49 loss at the KFC Yum! Center Saturday.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (6-8) played without leading scorer Jon Moore and forward Santoine Butler (injuries), and saw Louisville (9-1) break the game open with a 20-0 run midway through the first half to take a 29-7 lead.
GWU would claw back to within 14 points at halftime after David Brown drained a pair of threes and Stefon Johnson connected on a dunk with five seconds left before the break to make the score 39-25.
Louisville asserted itself with a quick, 5-0 run out of the gate to start the second half and continued to dominate the backboards. The Cardinals held a 45-26 edge on the glass, outscored Gardner-Webb 30-14 in the paint and got a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds from guard Preston Knowles in the win.
"Give [Louisville] credit, they planned to attack the glass more and concentrate on rebounding the basketball, and they accomplished that," said GWU head coach Chris Holtmann. "I thought we did a good job limiting their run outs after turnovers, but they made some threes and made us work for our offense today."
Center Gorgui Dieng was a thorn in Gardner-Webb's side, turning his first career start into eight points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots. The Cardinals blocked 14 shots on the day, and limited GWU to just six second-chance points.
In addition to Buggs' 16 points, Gardner-Webb got 11 points from Johnson. The 'Dogs shot a chilly 31.6 percent from the floor (18-of-57), made 7-of-17 three-point shots (41.2 percent) and cared for the basketball well for much of the game with only 13 turnovers.
Louisville shot 50.8 percent and made 11-of-26 shots from deep to pull away. Only one other player scored in double figures besides Knowles, who hit 9-of-15 shots and 6-of-11 from three-point range. Mike Marra came off the bench to notch 10 points and three other Cardinals had at least seven points on the afternoon.
Gardner-Webb gets back into Big South play after the Christmas break, hosting Liberty at 5:30 pm on Friday, December 31 at Paul Porter Arena. Tickets are available by calling (704) 406-4340.
