LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Indiana State played the first of three games in three days at the Marques Maybin Classic on Saturday against the host No. 11-ranked Louisville. The Sycamores (0-6) shot just 28 percent from the field throughout the game and the Cardinals (3-1) forced 23 ISU turnovers that led to 32 points on way to an 83-43 victory in front of 18,924 fans at historic Freedom Hall.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 7-0 lead before a layup by Jay Tunnell cut the score to 7-2 with 17:20 remaining in the half. From there, Louisville went on a 14-1 run capped off by two free throws from Terrence Williams to extend its lead to 21-3 with just over 13 minutes remaining. Tyler Cutter then nailed a jumper at the 11:22 mark to give the Sycamores their first field goal since Tunnell's make earlier in the half and cut the lead to 21-5.
A layup by Edgar Sosa later put the Cardinals up by 20 points at 25-5, before back-to-back layups by Tunnell and Brant Leitnaker cut the lead to 25-9 with 8:31 left in the half. Louisville scored the next 13 straight points to take a 38-9 lead with just over three minutes remaining, before a three-pointer by Keenan Barlow snapped the Louisville scoring streak and made the score 38-12 with 2:32 remaining in the half.
Barlow later added two free throws to make the score 40-14 in favor of the Cardinals and Tunnell added another layup with 55 seconds left in the half to make the score 43-16. A three-pointer by Will Scott and a dunk by Earl Clark then made the score 48-16 with 15 seconds remaining before a free throw by Cutter brought the score to 48-17 with nine seconds left. A layup by Sosa with five seconds remaining then made the score 50-17 as the teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
Rashad Reed nailed a three-pointer for the Sycamores on their first possession of the second half and Leitnaker added four straight points to make the score 53-24 just over two minutes into the second half. The Cardinals then went on a 14-4 run to extend their lead to 67-28 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game before a tip-in by Leitnaker cut the lead to 67-30 with nine minutes on the clock.
Louisville scored the next ten points, capped off by a jumper from Williams, to take their largest lead of the game at 77-30 with 6:53 left in the game. The Sycamores then answered with five straight points on a layup by Jordan Printy and a three-pointer from Tunnell to make the score 78-35. Carl Richard then converted on a traditional three-point play to make the score 80-38 with just under four minutes left in the game.
The Sycamores got two free throws from Cutter and two from Richard to chip away at the lead, but the Cardinals remainined focused and maintained their lead over the final four minutes to secure an 83-43 win. Leitnaker scored a career-high nine points and tied a career-high with five rebounds in 15 minutes of action to lead the way for ISU. Tunnell also added nine points to go along with seven rebounds, while Cutter added a career-high eight points and two assists for the Sycamores. Four Cardinals finished in double figures, led by Clark's double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
ISU returns to action tomorrow in the second of two games at the Marques Maybin Classic. Indiana State will face off against Lamar following the Louisville-Ohio game. Tip off is set for approximately 6:30 p.m. at Freedom Hall.
