National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 58, Cincinnati 57
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 22, 2014
Where: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials: # Anthony Chiazza, # Carl Gaffney, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 13176

No. 5 Louisville 58, No. 9 Cincinnati 57:
Russ Smith overcame a sluggish effort with a game-winning jumper in the closing seconds to lift the visiting Cardinals to a dramatic win in a matchup of American Athletic Conference heavyweights.

Montrezl Harrell scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds for Louisville (23-4, 12-2 AAC), which has won six straight to pull within a half-game of the Bearcats in the race for first place. Terry Rozier scored 11 points off the bench and Smith - Louisville's leading scorer - finished with 10 on 3-of-10 shooting, none bigger than the decisive basket with 2.2 ticks remaining.

Sean Kilpatrick scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half for Cincinnati (24-4, 13-2), eclipsing the 2,000-point mark in the process. No other Bearcat finished in double figures as the hosts shot a season-low 28.6 percent.

Kilpatrick made 5-of-6 free throws in a short span and Justin Jackson added two more to give Cincinnati a 55-52 lead with 1:28 left but Harrell answered with a dunk and a layup to put Louisville back on top in the final minute. Troy Caupain nailed two foul shots with 11.8 ticks remaining to provide the Bearcats their last lead before Smith was good from the left side and Cincinnati failed to get off a potential game-winner.

The Bearcats closed the first half on a 10-1 run to get within 22-19 and Kilpatrick had six straight Cincinnati baskets in the second, including one to reach the milestone and give his team a 30-27 edge with 15 minutes left. Rozier's 3-pointer capped a 9-2 burst and put the Cardinals up 47-37 with 8:58 remaining before the Bearcats rallied again to set up the back-and-forth stretch run.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Kilpatrick was 2-for-13 in the first half as Cincinnati's starters went 3-for-24, while Smith was 1-for-6 as part of an 8-for-30 showing for Louisville. ... Kilpatrick joins Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (2,937) as the only players in program history to reach 2,000 points. ... Bearcats C Titus Rubles finished with a career-high 14 rebounds to help his team gain a 44-36 advantage on the boards.
Top Game Performances
 
Louisville   Cincinnati
Montrezl Harrell 21 Scoring Sean Kilpatrick 28
Russ Smith 5 Assists Titus Rubles 2
Montrezl Harrell 10 Rebounds Titus Rubles 14
Montrezl Harrell 5 Free Throws Made Sean Kilpatrick 7
Russ Smith 3 Steals Justin Jackson 1
Mangok Mathiang 3 Blocks Jermaine Lawrence 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Louisville 58 40.0 3-11 11-22 13 34 6 9 9
Cincinnati 57 28.6 5-20 20-25 8 41 3 3 13