LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Isaac McKneely scored 17 points for No. 6 Louisville, which put the defensive clamps on Eastern Michigan, limiting the Eagles to 28 percent shooting in an 87-46 victory Monday night.
The Cardinals (6-0) took a 19-4 lead midway through the first half. The lead grew to 31-9 with 4:29 left before halftime. However, the Cardinals missed their final five shots and shot a season-low 34.4 percent (11 of 32) in the first half.
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The second half was a different story as the Cardinals shot 63.3% to finish at 48.4% for the game.
Three days after shooting 62.7 percent in a 97-91 win over Oakland, the Eagles (3-3) converted just six of their 31 shots in the first half. That included going 2 for 20 over a 12:16 span in the first 20 minutes.
The shooting performance was the Eagles’ worst since hitting that pace in a 91-65 loss to Bowling Green on Jan. 3, 2023.
Mohammad Habhab scored 12 for Eastern Michigan and Carlos Hart finished with 11.
Mikel Brown Jr. and Aly Khalifa added 11 points each for Louisville.
Ryan Conwell, who entered Monday as Louisville’s leading scorer averaging 20.4 points, finished with just seven. He crashed to the floor after committing a hard foul with 10:15 left in the first half.
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The preseason all-conference selection came off the bench after being fouled, but returned to the game six minutes later. He only played 14 of the final 30 minutes.
To be continued
Eastern Michigan travels to Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Louisville hosts NJIT on Wednesday night.
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