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Knowles, No. 19 Cardinals rout St. John's

Jan 20, 2011 - 3:57 AM Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Preston Knowles poured in a game-high 25 points and Kyle Kuric scored 20 as 19th-ranked Louisville thumped St. John's, 88-63, at KFC Yum! Center.

Peyton Siva supplied 10 points, a career-high 10 assists and seven steals for the Cardinals (15-3, 4-1 Big East), who have won two in a row and four out of their last five games.

Rick Pitino celebrated his 800th career game as a college head coach with his 587th victory.

"A tremendous victory," Pitino said. "The defense was good. The zone was good, the man was good. We rebounded well, we were great on the break. We attacked the pressure very well. Peyton did an unbelievable job tonight, I really thought he ran the team well and got his shots."

Paris Horne scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds, while Malik Stith added 12 points off the bench for the Red Storm (11-6, 4-3), who have dropped three out of four, all to ranked teams.

"From start to finish, they were aggressive and played a very cohesive brand of basketball," St. John's head coach Steve Lavin said about Louisville. "We were a step slow and passive. You will get blown out in this conference if you don't bring it for 40 minutes."

Horne's layup tied the game at 13 before Louisville erupted for 21 of the next 23 points to forge a 34-15 advantage inside of seven minutes left before the half. The only points for the visitors during that nearly seven minute stretch came on free throws by Horne.

Louisville made 15 of its first 19 shots in sprinting to a 40-19 lead with just over five minutes remaining before the intermission.

Dwight Hardy's triple in the final 30 seconds trimmed the Cardinals lead to 44-31 at the break.

St. John's never got closer than 13 points over the final 18 1/2 minutes.

Game Notes

Knowles knocked down 4-of-12 from beyond the arc, as Louisville connected on half of its 26 attempts from long distance...Kuric made 7-of-9 shots, including 5-of-7 from three-point territory...The Cardinals had 24 assists on 33 made baskets...Louisville leads all-time series, 9-4, and has won five of the last six...Pitino 9-4 all-time vs. St. John's...Cardinals center Terrence Jennings missed the game due to a hip injury...The Red Storm made only 2-of-7 from three-point range...St. John's committed 25 turnovers to only 12 for the Cardinals.