No. 3 Louisville Pulls Away Late to Win 70-46

Wednesday, December 18

Louisville, Ky.

8:30 p.m. ET

Miami University

5-6,0-0MAC

Louisville

11-1,2-0ACC

Miami (OH)

Louisville

No. 3 Louisville Pulls Away Late to Win 70-46

12/18/2019 10:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Miami 46, No. 3 Louisville 70

The RedHawks trailed by four with nine minutes remaining in the game.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Miami University men's basketball team (5-6) fell at No. 3 Louisville on Wednesday by 70-46 margin, despite hanging with the Cardinals for the majority of the game.

Mekhi Lairy led the Miami offense with 10 points while Dae Dae Grant led the squad with eight boards.

Nike Sibande opened scoring for the RedHawks with a three-pointer, answering a three from Louisville within the first minute of the game.

🔥3⃣@nike_sibande #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/KwKWIwIXVi
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 19, 2019

Miami answered the Cardinals' next basket to tie the game at five before three-straight baskets by Louisville forced a RedHawk timeout. The score was 11-5 in favor of the home team with 14:16 to play in the first half.

Though the RedHawks defense held the Cardinals without a basket for nearly two minutes, Louisville scored the next four points to open up a 15-5 lead with 11:49 remaining in the first half. Isaiah Coleman-Lands ended Miami's scoring drought with a basket after 12-straight points from Louisville as the Cardinals held a 19-7 lead midway through the first half.

Mekhi Lairy scored on back-to-back possessions, one of his shots being a three-pointer, as Miami trailed 21-12 at the media timeout with seven to play before halftime.

.@Nolimitdeuce drains one from way downtown and follows it up with a basket on the next possession! 21-12 Louisville with seven minutes to play in the first half.#RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/oExbV0NqSE
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 19, 2019

The RedHawks outscored the Cardinals 8-7 in the final seven minutes of the half to close the gap to 28-20 going into the locker room. Precious Ayah had two of the Miami baskets to close the half.

Dae Dae Grant opened the second half with a three-pointer. The RedHawks scored the first five points of the half as Sibande found Dalonte Brown for a dunk to cut Louisville's lead down to three points.

.@nike_sibande to @DalontB for the DUNK!! 💪💪#RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/8jVZf1EyIv
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 19, 2019

Two more baskets from Grant put his second-half total at seven points and kept the Cardinals' lead at four. Louisville scored on back-to-back possessions to force a Miami timeout with 14:41 to play, facing a 37-29 deficit.

Miami cut Louisville's lead back down to four points before two baskets from the Cardinals gave them a nine-point lead. Lairy hit his third shot of the game as the RedHawks trailed 42-35 with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

Following a three-pointer by Josh Brewer to take Louisville's lead down to four points once again, the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to take a 52-40 lead with just under eight minutes to play. Louisville extended its run to 17-0 to take a commanding 61-40 lead with less than four minutes remaining.

A three-pointer from Lairy broke the RedHawks' scoring drought to become the first Miami player in double figures on the evening. Louisville went on a 9-0 run before Elijah McNamara capped scoring for the game with a three-point shot.

The RedHawks return home to host Bradley on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Millett Hall.