{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 72, Southern 60
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Leslie Jones, # Jerry Heater, # Clare Aubry
Attendance: 12643

Samuell Williamson scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Tuesday night as host Louisville rallied in the second half to topple Southern 72-60 in each team's season opener.

Noah Locke tallied a team-high 16 points for the Cardinals and Matt Cross chipped in 15, while Malik Williams grabbed 13 rebounds. It was Louisville's first game without coach Chris Mack, who's serving a six-game suspension imposed by the school after it determined he didn't follow the university's procedures during an extortion attempt by former assistant coach Dino Gaudio.

Brion Whitley scored a game-high 17 points for the Jaguars, who made just 30.9 percent from the field, including an awful 28.9 percent in the second half.

Tyrone Lyons added 11 points before fouling out and Jayden Saddler contributed 10 points. Southern forced 19 turnovers, but was outrebounded 54-40.

The Jaguars led 36-34 when Whitley nailed a transition 3-pointer with 16:55 left in the game, but the Cardinals got consecutive 3-pointers from Locke to fuel an 11-3 burst that put them ahead to stay.

Louisville jumped out to a 9-3 lead just over three minutes into the game on a 3-pointer by Jae'lyn Withers. But the expected rout never materialized for the first half's remainder as Southern went on a run.

The Jaguars rattled off seven straight points in less than two minutes for a 10-9 lead on a putback by Damien Sears and proceeded to match the Cardinals punch for punch. In fact, they opened up a 25-20 advantage when Whitley stuck a short jumper at the 6:21 mark.

Louisville answered with 13 straight points for a 33-25 lead after Sydney Curry's layup with 2:42 remaining, but Southern responded. Whitley canned a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, drawing the visitors within 33-31 at halftime.

The Jaguars used the 3-point arc effectively in the half, sinking 5 of 9 while the Cardinals made just 4 of 18.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Southern   Louisville
Brion Whitley 17 Scoring Noah Locke 16
Jayden Saddler 4 Assists Jarrod West 5
Damien Sears 14 Rebounds Samuell Williamson 14
P.J. Byrd 6 Free Throws Made Noah Locke 3
Damien Sears 2 Steals Matt Cross 2
Damien Sears 2 Blocks Dre Davis 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Southern 60 30.9 8-24 10-17 9 34 3 10 14
Louisville 72 41.5 7-28 11-19 12 50 5 9 19