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Louisville holds off UConn in double overtime

Jan 29, 2011 - 9:50 PM Storrs, CT (Sports Network) - Peyton Siva scored 19 points and dished out seven assists while Terrence Jennings supplied 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead 23rd-ranked Louisville to a 79-78 double-overtime win against No. 5 Connecticut in a Big East thriller at Gampel Pavilion.

Preston Knowles overcame a slow start to score 15 points and Kyle Kuric contributed 15 points off the bench for the Cardinals (17-4, 6-2 Big East), who have won their last two games by one point following a loss to Providence last Saturday.

"This was a tremendous effort," said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who improved to 14-7 in head-to-head matchups with Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun. "This is one of the gutsiest teams I've ever coached. I'm really luck to coach this team. This was not an easy victory in double overtime on the road."

Shabazz Napier poured in a game-high 23 points and Jeremy Lamb contributed 21 for the Huskies (17-3, 5-3), who had a six-game win streak snapped.

Kemba Walker scored 20 in the loss but made only 7-of-23 shots, missing a potential game-winning three-pointer that spun out as time expired.

Knowles and Kuric buried trifectas in the first 68 seconds of the second extra session to give Louisville a 75-69 lead, their biggest of the day.

Lamb's runner got the Huskies on the board with 2 1/2 minutes left before he drilled a three to slice the Cardinals' lead to 77-74 with 1:44 remaining.

Siva and Napier exchanged layups before Siva missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 18.7 ticks to go. Walker made two at the line to make it a 79-78 contest with 9.8 seconds left.

Chris Smith missed two foul shots with 7.8 seconds left, giving Walker the chance for another dramatic late-game, victory-making shot that fell by the wayside.

Knowles' triple put the Cardinals ahead 64-61 inside of three minutes to go in the first overtime before Napier drained a three to tie the game a minute later.

Lamb and Roscoe Smith each hit two free throws to give UConn a 68-64 lead with 37.5 ticks remaining.

Mike Marra then drilled a triple from the right corner to trim the lead to one with 22 seconds to play before Napier made 1-of-2 at the stripe.

Siva's dunk with 7.5 seconds to go tied the game at 69 and forced the second overtime.

"Louisville played a wonderful game," Napier said. "They were terrific. They just kept on running us and running us and we got real tired at the end. Those picks that they set at the end, we just didn't play enough defense. And that showed how tired we were."

Walker scored nine of the Huskies' 11 points in a 6 1/2-minute stretch that extended their lead from 39-36 to 50-41 with 9:12 left in regulation.

Louisville pulled to within 52-48 before Napier buried a deep three from straight-on to push the lead back to seven with just under five minutes to go.

Four Jennings free throws and a Kuric triple got the game even at 55 with 2:46 remaining. Siva hit two foul shots 20 seconds later to give the visitors the lead, their first since midway through the first half.

Napier hit 1-of-2 at the line with 1:43 to play, but UConn maintained possession. Walker then drained a three from the right wing to put the hosts back on top with 1:20 left.

Siva's driving layup knotted the game at 59 with 29.4 ticks left. Walker's fallaway baseline jumper in the closing seconds rimmed out and sent the game into the first extra session.

Lamb's dunk off a Napier three-point miss capped a 12-4 surge that gave the Huskies a 20-15 lead with 6:16 to go in the first half.

UConn grabbed a 28-23 lead at the break behind 14 from Lamb, who knocked down 7-of-10 shots in the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Walker scored just four points for the Huskies, while Knowles, the Cardinals' leading scorer, did not register a point.

Game Notes

Siva made 7-of-12 shots and added four rebounds and three steals...Knowles was 3-of-10 from long distance while Kuric was 3-of-5 for the Cardinals, who made 8-of-24 from beyond the arc...Walker went 2-of-10 from three-point land and added four boards and four assists...Napier hit five triples and chipped in with three caroms and three assists...UConn is 4-3 against ranked teams this season...The Huskies are 137-19 all-time at Gampel and 70-15 in league play...The all-time series is tied at five games apiece.