Preston Knowles scored a career-high 24 points as Louisville bounced back from its first loss of the season Tuesday night against Drexel by pounding visiting Gardner-Webb 78-49.
The Cards, who were pushed around inside by the Dragons four days earlier, dominated the glass (45-26) and led from start to finish. Freshman Gorgui Dieng, starting in the middle over junior Terrence Jennings, led U of L with ten rebounds and added eight points and seven blocks. Knowles also hit the boards hard and came away with a career-best nine rebounds.
"I don't think he knows a lot about what he's doing," Pitino said of Dieng. "He really listens. The most important thing is he tries to rebound every shot. Gorgui tries to be a factor every time down the floor. Because of his length he can erase a lot of mistakes."
BOX SCORE:
| Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Joshua Henley, F | 25 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Michael Byron, C | 13 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Brian McNair, G | 21 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Luke Davis, G | 35 | 2-7 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Laron Buggs, G | 31 | 4-11 | 3-5 | 5-7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| David Brown, G | 9 | 2-5 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Bryan Burrell, G | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Stefon Johnson, F | 23 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Keith Manley, F | 17 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Luke Engelken, F | 21 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 18-57 | 7-17 | 6-12 | 5 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 49 | ||
| 31.6% | 41.2% | 50.0% | ||||||||||
| Louisville Cardinals | ||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Kyle Kuric, G | 22 | 3-8 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| G Dieng | 24 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Preston Knowles, G | 31 | 9-15 | 6-11 | 0-0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 24 |
| Chris Smith, G | 22 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Peyton Siva, G | 20 | 2-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| George Goode, F | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Terrence Jennings, F | 15 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Mike Marra, G | 22 | 4-8 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Stephan Van Treese, F | 12 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Tim Henderson, G | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Elisha Justice, G | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Russ Smith, G | 9 | 3-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 30-59 | 11-28 | 7-8 | 9 | 44 | 22 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 15 | 78 | ||
| 50.8% | 39.3% | 87.5% | ||||||||||
Technicals: None
Officials: Tim Clougherty, Ed Corbett, Gary Prager
Attendance: 20,434