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No. 8 Louisville takes down Butler

Nov 19, 2011 - 9:32 PM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Kyle Kuric scored 17 points, Chris Smith had 15 and No. 8 Louisville pulled away in the last 12 minutes of the game to beat Butler, 69-53, on Saturday.

Louisville (3-0) didn't take its first lead until the final seconds before halftime. It used an 11-2 run in the second half to pull away for the 16-point win.

Khyle Marshall scored 20 points to lead Butler (1-2) and Chase Stigall added 11.

The Cardinals were the highest-ranked team to play on Butler's home court since No. 5 North Carolina visited in 1992 and beat the Bulldogs, 103-56.

Butler scored the first five points against Louisville and held the lead for all but one possession, a 15-15 tie, until Jared Swopshire's layup in the final seconds gave the Cardinals a 29-28 edge at halftime.

Louisville pushed its lead to six early in the second half, but quickly found itself in a fight again until Smith's jumper and three-point play sparked an 11-2 run inside 12 minutes.

Smith scored nine points during the surge, which made it 51-43 with 9:41 remaining in the game, and Butler was never closer than six the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Louisville shot 51.1 percent and took a 6-5 lead in the all-time series with Butler...The Bulldogs shot 39.1 percent, including just 4-for-18 from three- point range (22.2 percent)...Swopshire had eight points off the bench, while Russ Smith scored nine.