{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 68, Old Dominion 62
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials: # Clarence Armstrong, # Don Daily, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 1601

No. 10 Louisville hit 14 of 18 free throws in overtime to sink Old Dominion's upset bid 68-62 Wednesday night in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Louisville (4-0) advances to play Wichita State (5-0) in Thursday's semifinals, while Old Dominion (2-1) meets LSU (3-1) in the consolation round.

The Cardinals got 18 points from junior guard Quentin Snider and 15 points and seven steals from sophomore guard Donovan Mitchell.

The Monarchs got a game-high 22 points from Brandan Stith. Denzell Taylor and Stith each grabbed 12 rebounds for Old Dominion, which Jaylen Johnson finished with 12 boards for Louisville.

Mitchell's play mirrored Louisville's overall performance in the game. The Cardinals' shooting guard missed 12 of his first 13 shots before an end-of-game run that helped turn the game in Louisville's favor. He hit his last three field-goal attempts -- all 3-pointers -- and was perfect from the foul line in overtime.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said Mitchell said, "In the first half, he was trying to win a game of H-O-R-S-E, see the most difficult shot he could take so he could win the game."

Mitchell scored all 15 of his points after halftime, nearly all of them in the final five minutes of regulation plus overtime.

Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson said he told Mitchell to keep shooting open shots, "You can't make the shots you don't shoot. We tell the guys all the time, just concentrate on defense and your offense will come. And those seven steals were big. We teach our guys not to force things and not to worry about the last shot, and he's bought into that and he executed down the stretch."

Mitchell said of the first half, "I just kind of forced the issue. That's not really what you want to do, especially coming out here and playing in your first real tournament like this. You just have to settle down and let the game come to you."

Down 38-31 with 10:45 remaining, Louisville came back to tie the score at 40 with 5:40 left. Old Dominion hit a pair of buckets to regain the lead by four, but Louisville scored seven straight points, five by Mitchell, to take a 47-44 advantage.

The Monarchs tied the score at 47 and 49 and had a chance to win with five seconds left, but a 3-point attempt by Stith rimmed out.

"We left a lot of points out there," Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones said, "and free-throw shooting was certainly a big part of it. But I think offensively, I don't think I'm going to be sleeping very well. There were a bunch of times where we had opportunities and we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot."

Louisville never trailed in overtime, scoring seven of the first nine points and closing out the win largely at the foul line as the Monarchs struggled to keep pace.

The game was a brutal defensive struggle throughout, with both teams struggling to hit shots. Louisville hit just 7 of 29 shots in the first half, and Old Dominion wasn't much better at 8 of 25. The shooting improved some in the second half to 32.3 percent for the Cardinals and 42.3 percent for the Monarchs.

"That's the storyline of the game, not that we shot bad," Pitino said. "It's the fact we overcame it and won the game."

NOTES: Louisville last played in the Bahamas in 2012, when it lost to Duke in the title game. The Cardinals won the 2013 NCAA title later that season, defeating Duke in the Sweet 16. ... Coach Rick Pitino needs one win to reach 750 in his collegiate career. He has 395 at Louisville. ... The Cardinals never won while shooting less than 30 percent before shooting 29.7 percent during the victory Wednesday night. The Cardinals' previous low shooting percentage in a win was 30.2 percent in 53-44 decision at Memphis in 2005.
Top Game Performances
 
Louisville   Old Dominion
Quentin Snider 18 Scoring Brandan Stith 22
Quentin Snider 4 Assists Jordan Baker 4
Jaylen Johnson 12 Rebounds Brandan Stith 12
Quentin Snider 7 Free Throws Made B.J. Stith 4
Donovan Mitchell 7 Steals Randy Haynes 2
Raymond Spalding 2 Blocks Brandan Stith 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Louisville 68 29.7 8-20 22-35 12 41 3 10 14
Old Dominion 62 37.9 3-16 15-32 12 44 6 5 22