• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Louisville levels UT-Martin

Nov 12, 2011 - 3:59 AM Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Chane Behanan scored 14 points on 6-for-6 from the floor and grabbed 12 rebounds, leading No. 9 Louisville to an 83-48 thumping of UT-Martin Friday night as part of the Global Sports Invitational.

It was Louisville head coach Rick Pitino's 600th career win. He became the 38th college coach to reach the mark.

Kyle Kuric netted 14 points and pulled down five rebounds for Louisville (1-0), while Peyton Siva added 10 points and nine assists.

The Cardinals got off to a good start and look to improve on a 2010-11 campaign in which they finished with a 25-10 record but were ousted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Morehead State.

Mike Liabo dropped 15 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Troy King chipped in with 10 points for UT-Martin (0-1).

Louisville scored the first six points of the game and didn't look back. UT- Martin made it 6-5 just 2 1/2 minutes into the game, but from there Louisville went on a 14-0 run over the next two-plus minutes to push the lead to 20-5 with 14:24 left in the opening half.

"It was a good opener for us because we played very intense defense, with our man, with our zone, with our press, and you want to start out the year playing very intense defense," Pitino said. "I thought we did a very good job sharing the basketball. I'm real pleased with the effort tonight"

Louisville led by as many as 26 points with 2:03 to go in the first half and finished the half with a commanding 47-23 advantage.

In the second half, it was more of the same for Louisville. UT-Martin got the first bucket on a three-pointer by King, but the Cardinals continued to use full-court pressure and a three-pointer by Russ Smith with just over under three minutes gone made it 54-29.

Another three-pointer by Smith with 8:13 to go gave Louisville a 70-40 cushion.

Louisville finished shooting 54 percent from the floor, while UT-Martin shot only 30 percent. The Cardinals also dominated on the glass by a 46-29 margin.

"When they turn the heat up they're pretty good. They have a few guys who are injured, but the guys who did play are very active," UT-Martin head coach Jason James said. "They are long and very deceptive. It'll look like a passing lane is open but because of their athleticism it's really not. They were getting to spots quickly and making us panic a little bit. When you panic you turn it over and they are able to get run outs and now we're trying to catch up."

Game Notes

Louisville won its only previous meeting with UT-Martin back in 2005 by a 78-61 final...Louisville will face Lamar University on Sunday, while UT-Martin will face Ohio University, also on Sunday.