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Payback Time: Cardinals Slam
East Carolina
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
JUMP
TO BOX SCORE
LOUISVILLE, KY —
It was little more than a month ago that East Carolina dealt Louisville a
painful upset loss in Minges Coliseum. This time the venue was hostile
Freedom Hall, and the Pirates were the only ones feeling the pain.
Sophomore reserve Simeon Naydenov set his career high for the second time in
three games, scoring 25 points Tuesday night to lead U of L to a 75-42 win
over ECU.
Reece Gaines added 15 for the Cardinals (15-10, 6-7
Conference USA), who won for just the fourth time in 10 games since an 87-77
loss to the Pirates in Greenville on January 16.
Naydenov, a 6-foot-7 Bulgarian, was 8-of-12, including a
career-best five from 3-point range. Naydenov's previous career high — 20
points — came in a 76-72 win at DePaul last Tuesday.
 East
Carolina (10-16, 3-10) shot 50 percent in the first meeting with Louisville
but was nowhere near that proficient in the rematch, shooting 27 percent
(12-of-45) and 15 percent (3-of-20) from 3-point range.
The Pirates started 4-of-7 from the floor and led 8-2, but
Louisville's defense tightened after that, giving up only two field goals
the rest of the first half.
The Cardinals started the second half with a 9-0 run to
extend a 12-point halftime lead to 21.
Kenyatta Brown's jumper from the free-throw line ended a
nine-minute field-goal drought for East Carolina and cut Louisville's lead
to 39-20.
Naydenov answered with a 3-pointer to trigger the decisive
Cardinals' spurt.
Gaines made his first 3-pointer in six tries with 14:17 left
in the game and Naydenov swished his fourth 3-pointer of the game 30 seconds
later to extend the lead to 48-23.
Moussa Badiane hit a baseline shot with 12:58 remaining, but
Naydenov sank his fifth 3-pointer with 11:53 left to cap a 9-2 burst and
give Louisville a 51-25 lead.
Brown scored 13 to lead the Pirates, who dropped to 0-7 on the road in
their first season in Conference USA.
Box Score
LOUISVILLE
75, EAST CAROLINA 42
EAST CAROLINA (10-16)
Bing 0-5 4-8 4, Mikulas 3-5
5-10 11, Badiane 3-5 0-1 6, Brown 3-6 5-6 13, Holcomb-Faye 2-6 0-0 4, Foxx
1-4 0-0 3, Hawkins 0-4 0-0 0, Boddie 0-4 0-0 0, Moore 0-6 1-2 1, Twitty 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 12-45 15-27 42.
LOUISVILLE (15-10)
Myles 4-6 3-4 11, Whitehead 3-6
0-0 6, Northern 3-6 0-0 7, Gaines 3-11 7-7 15, Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Mohammed 2-9
0-0 5, Naydenov 8-12 4-4 25, O'Bannon 0-0 0-0 0, George 0-1 0-0 0, N'Sima
2-3 0-0 4. Totals 26-60 14-15 75.
Halftime:
Louisville 30, East Carolina 18.
3-Point Goals:
East Carolina: 3-20 (Brown 2-4, Foxx 1-4,
Holcomb-Faye 0-1, Boddie 0-1, Bing 0-2, Hawkins 0-4, Moore 0-4)
Louisville: 9-25 (Naydenov 5-7, Gaines 2-8, Northern 1-2, Mohammed 1-5,
Brown 0-3).
Rebounds: East Carolina
32 (Bing 10), Louisville 44 (Whitehead 12).
Assists:
East Carolina 5 (Bing 2), Louisville 19
(Northern 5).
Total Fouls: East
Carolina 18, Louisville 21.
Fouled Out:
Mikulas, Badiane.
Attendance:
19,407.
02/23/2007 10:59:36 AM
Copyright ©2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net contributed to this
report.
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