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Smith leads No. 5 Louisville in rout of UMKC

Dec 9, 2012 - 12:42 AM Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Russ Smith netted 19 of his 31 points in the first half as No. 5 Louisville routed UMKC, 99-47, on Saturday.

Smith, who finished 12-of-18 from the field, tallied seven rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Cardinals (8-1), who have won three straight since their loss to Duke on Nov. 24 in the championship of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

"Obviously, I think Russ (Smith) played a fantastic game. He keeps getting better, better and better," Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. "He can create easy buckets for you off his defense and is shooting the ball extremely well."

Luke Hancock added 15 points, six boards and five assists, while Montrezl Harrell chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds in the victory.

Trinity Hall poured in nine points for the Kangaroos (4-5).

"They do different things," UMKC head coach Matt Brown said of the Cardinals' pressure. "Sometimes it's man-to-man, sometimes it's zone, sometimes there is a guy on the ball, and sometimes there is a guy off the ball too. They give you so many different looks."

Smith scored the game's first eight points and Louisville's advantage swelled to 23-6 eight minutes in.

The Cardinals took a 53-28 advantage into the break.

Louisville tallied the first seven points of the second stanza and the home team coasted the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Louisville shot 56.1 percent (37-of-66) from the field, while UMKC finished 26.9 percent (14-of-52) ... Peyton Siva had four points and six assists for the Cardinals.