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Louisville dominates DePaul in OT

Feb 19, 2012 - 1:33 AM Rosemont, IL (Sports Network) - Kyle Kuric scored a season-high 25 points and 19th-ranked Louisville used a dominant overtime to subdue DePaul, 90-82, at Allstate Arena.

Chris Smith and Russ Smith had 20 and 16 points, respectively, for the Cardinals (21-6, 9-5 Big East), who trailed by as many as 17 in the first half.

Brandon Young posted a season-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting to pace DePaul (11-15, 2-12), which has lost six in a row and 11 of 12 overall. Cleveland Melvin supplied a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

DePaul coach Oliver Purnell was pleased with how his team played overall, but lamented how close they were to the upset.

"We took some plays off in the meat of the game," said Purnell. "No matter how well you've played to that point, you can't take possessions off in this type of game against this type of opponent."

Louisville had a six-game winning streak snapped Monday against Syracuse and came out flat against the Blue Demons, who put together a 16-0 run after the Cardinals opened the game's scoring with a Gorgui Dieng dunk and two Peyton Siva free throws.

DePaul then went on a 14-1 burst after the visitors had closed the gap to 20-16, grabbing a 34-17 lead on Young's fastbreak layup.

The Blue Demons took a 42-32 lead into halftime, but Louisville regained the lead at 50-48 when Russ Smith drained consecutive three-pointers. A back-and- forth battle ensued, and Donnavan Kirk knocked down a trey from the left wing to pull DePaul within one at 76-75 with 36 seconds remaining.

After Chris Smith made 1-of-2 free throws, DePaul looked for the go-ahead three but settled for Charles McKinney's shot from in the lane with 2.2 seconds to force overtime.

With the teams even at 79 in the extra session, Russ Smith hit a pair of shots to ignite a 9-0 run that sealed Louisville's ninth straight win in this series.

Game Notes

Siva contributed nine points, six assists and six rebounds...Kirk had 11 points...Louisville shot 12-of-32 from three-point range...DePaul committed 20 turnovers, three more than the Cardinals...The Blue Demons have now lost 36 straight to ranked opponents.