Defense leads the way for No. 6 Louisville in 87-46 rout of Eastern Michigan

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Isaac McKneely scored 17 points for No. 6 Louisville, which put the defensive clamps on Eastern Michigan, holding the Eagles to 28% shooting in an 87-46 victory on Monday night.

The Cardinals (6-0) jumped out to a 19-4 lead midway through the first half. The lead grew to 31-9 with 4:29 remaining before halftime. However, the Cardinals missed their final five shots and shot a season-low 34.4% (11 of 32) in the first half.

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% in a 97-91 win over Oakland, the Eagles (3-3) converted just six of their 31 first-half shots. That included a 2 for 20 stretch over a 12:16 span in the opening 20 minutes.

The shooting performance was the Eagles' worst since hitting at that rate 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 with a 20.4-point average, finished with just seven. He crashed to the floor after taking a hard foul with 10:15 left in the first half.

The preseason all-conference selection left the bench after being fouled, but returned to the game six minutes later. He played in just 14 of the final 30 minutes.

Eastern Michigan travels to Cincinnati on Wednesday.

Louisville hosts NJIT on Wednesday night.

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