National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 64, Ohio St. 55
When: 9:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Brian Dorsey, # Karl Hess, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 22784

No. 5 Louisville 64, No. 13 Ohio State 55: Wayne Blackshear scored 22 points while Montrezl Harrell collected 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Cardinals withstood a late rally by the visiting Buckeyes.

Terry Rozier registered 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Louisville (6-0), which limited the Buckeyes to 30.4 shooting and held a 46-41 rebounding edge. Chris Jones added 10 points as the Cardinals won the ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest despite shooting 35.2 percent from the field.

Louisville native D'Angelo Russell led Ohio State (5-1) with 17 points, six rebounds and all of the Buckeyes’ seven assists. Marc Loving had 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 7:01 remaining while Sam Thompson registered seven points and seven rebounds for the Buckeyes, who trailed by as many as 19 early in the second half.

Blackshear made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in the first half for Louisville, which led 35-18 at the break after holding the Buckeyes to 6-of-26 shooting. Jones drained a 3-pointer with just over six minutes left to push the Cardinals’ lead to 12 before the Buckeyes rallied with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 51-46 with 4:19 remaining.

Russell made four straight free throws to pull the Buckeyes within 56-53 with 1:12 left, but Rozier responded with a 3-pointer and the Cardinals sealed the win at the foul line. Rozier and Jones were a combined 6-of-26 from the field, but Rozier scored eight points in the final four minutes to squelch Ohio State’s comeback hopes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville improved to 26-5 in December over the last four years, including a 14-1 over the last two seasons. … Ohio State G Shannon Scott, who came in averaging 9.2 points, missed six of seven shots and scored three points. … Louisville, which shot 16-of-28 from the foul line, recorded its 31st straight win at home against a nonconference opponent.
Top Game Performances
 
Ohio St.   Louisville
D'Angelo Russell 17 Scoring Wayne Blackshear 22
D'Angelo Russell 6 Assists Terry Rozier 7
Jae'Sean Tate 7 Rebounds Montrezl Harrell 10
D'Angelo Russell 5 Free Throws Made Wayne Blackshear 6
Shannon Scott 3 Steals Wayne Blackshear 3
Amir Williams 2 Blocks Anas Mahmoud 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Ohio St. 55 30.4 6-18 15-25 7 39 4 10 14
Louisville 64 35.2 10-29 16-28 15 45 5 11 16