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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. 6 Louisvilles victory over Western Kentucky was his teammates assistance in overcoming the absence of starting point guard Chris Jones. Just as important was the timing of those contributions that put away the Hilltoppers. Smith had 14 points and 10 assists and Louisville shot 69 per cent from the field in the second half to pull away to a 79-63 victory on Saturday. With Jones sidelined at least a game with a sprained right wrist, the Cardinals (9-1) got numerous backcourt contributions to beat their in-state rival for the fifth straight time. Smith, Louisvilles leading scorer who has tried to involve teammates more this season, set the tone in both areas with five assists and nine points in the second half to finish with his second double-double in three games. Louisvilles bench outscored WKUs 33-20. "My job is just to perform on a daily basis and get my teammates involved," Smith said. "If shots arent falling, I have to find my teammates, play some great defence and help Louisville win some games." Freshman Terry Rozier grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds starting in Jones place while little-used senior reserve Tim Henderson -- whose consecutive 3-pointers helped Louisville rally past Wichita State in last springs national semifinal -- added career highs of 12 points on four 3-pointers and four assists in 22 minutes. "Im kind of used to that role, Ive had it for four years now," the walk-on said. "We have such a great group of people, a great group of guards who can all play well. "Its whatever Coach (Rick Pitino) feels like is going to work that game and how you match up with them. I guess he felt like I matched up well with this team and with Chris out." Their efforts helped Louisville pad a 31-28 halftime lead as the Cardinals made 13 of their first 21 attempts from the field after the break to build a 63-44 lead with 6:02 left. They shot 18 of 26 in the second half. Louisville held the Hilltoppers (5-4) scoreless for nearly 6 minutes. Mangok Mathiang added a career-high 13 points and Chane Behanan had 11 points and seven rebounds for Louisville, which shot 30 of 59 overall (51 per cent) after hitting just 36 per cent in the first half. Wayne Blackshear added 12 points while senior forward Stephan Van Treese had five points with four rebounds, providing a presence for the Cardinals with Mathiang hampered by three fouls. Pitino praised Smith, his senior tri-captain, for being the catalyst. "Until you knock the young man off of his throne, hes the premier player in college basketball," Pitino said. "(Its a) biased opinion by me, but I think he is because he has made every change. "Two years ago, I needed him to carry the team on his back, he did. Now, I need him to pass the basketball and take good shots, he does." T.J. Prices 22 points led WKU, which shot just 36 per cent and was outscored 36-14 inside. Brandon Harris, coming off a career-high 30-point game at Southern Illinois, finished with four points. Louisville improved to 38-39 all-time against WKU in a series that both coaches want to continue even though its programs are headed to new leagues next season. The Cardinals will leave the American Athletic Conference to join the Atlantic Coast Conference while the Hilltoppers will move from the Sun Belt to Conference USA. The Cardinals collective effort beat back a Western Kentucky team that came in a little deeper after transfers Trency Jackson and Chris Harrison-Docks became eligible on Friday. WKU coach Ray Harper promised to play both extensively and even started Jackson at guard in a strong lineup featuring leading scorer Price (15.6 points) and George Fant (13.9). Harrison-Docks finished with 10 points and Jackson had six. Star players were mostly secondary in a tight first half featuring four ties and eight lead changes before Louisville rallied twice from four-point deficits for its narrow edge at the break. Blackshear scored the Cardinals final eight points of the half including consecutive 3-pointers. Louisville opened the second half with a 14-5 run for a 45-33 lead that eventually reached 21. "I thought the first half we did good job of keeping the pace a little slower," Harper said. "Second half, I thought they dictated pace, got out and got some easy baskets." Discount Michael Kors Handbags . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Michael Kors Outlet 85% OFF . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. http://www.officialmkoutlets.us.com/ . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Cheap Michael Kors . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Michael Kors Handbags Factory . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle.HOUSTON -- Just when it looked as if things couldnt get any worse for the Houston Texans in this dreadful season, it has. The Texans sunk to a new low on Sunday with a 13-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars to extend their franchise-record skid to nine games. A playoff team the past two years, Houston (2-9) was expected to contend for a Super Bowl in the preseason and won its first two games. Soon poor play by quarterback Matt Schaub and a slew of injuries started the losing streak. A change at quarterback to Case Keenum gave the Texans some life, but the losses continued to pile up and they were soon dealing with an illness to coach Gary Kubiak. But as bad as things had gotten, most people assumed that facing the lowly Jaguars (2-9), who picked up their first win just two weeks ago, would be just what Houston needed to break out of its funk. Instead Maurice Jones-Drews touchdown on Jacksonvilles first drive put the Jaguars on top, and they never trailed against an inept and ineffective Texans offence. "I respect the Jaguars, but I just never thought ... that this is something that would happen. Especially in the way it happened," running back Ben Tate said. "I feel very embarrassed and bad for the city." Josh Scobee kicked field goals of 30 and 53 yards to help the Jaguars win for the second time in three games. Keenum had the worst performance in his five starts, throwing for just 169 yards with an interception. Kubiak wouldnt commit to sticking with Keenum, saying he never makes decisions right after games. "Obviously we didnt execute worth a darn offensively," Kubiak said. "Defensively we were on the field pretty much the whole football game." Houston (2-9) was driving late when rookie Ryan Davis grabbed a one-handed interception off a deflection by Keshawn Martin to seal the win. The Jaguars pushed their lead to 13-6 with Scobees 53-yard field goal with about seven minutes remaining. Houston got lucky on its next drive when Keenum threw a ball right into the hands of Jacksonville rookie Johnathan Cyprien, but he couldnt hold on to it. It didnt matter much though as the Texans ended up punting a few plays later anyway. Keenum shouldered the blame for the loss. "Im very frustrated right now," Keenum said. "We had guys open, we hadd the right play calls and I didnt see them I didnt hit them.dddddddddddd" Jacksonville entered the game averaging an NFL-worst 61.7 yards rushing a game, but finished with 118. Chad Henne was 23 of 32 for 239 yards and Cecil Shorts led the team with eight catches for 71 yards. Kubiak coached from the booth for the second straight week on the advice of his doctors after returning to work last week after recovering from a mini-stroke. After the game he was left to answer questions about his job security and why his team cant get things together. Henne was sacked and fumbled on third down late in the third quarter. The Jaguars recovered and attempted a 49-yard field goal, but J.J. Watt swatted it down and the Texans returned it 25 yards. It was the second time this season that Watt has blocked a field goal. Houston didnt take advantage of the opportunity, and Jacksonville got the ball at its 40 after Dennis Johnson was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter. Rookie Denard Robinson came in for one play on Jacksonvilles next drive, and launched a long and accurate pass on third-and-5 downfield to Shorts. But Johnathan Joseph was there to break it up and the Jaguars had to punt again. Jones-Drew gave the Jaguars an early lead when he scored on fourth-and-1 from the 1 on the first drive. Jones-Drew had a 41-yard catch and run and Ace Sanders grabbed a 51-yard pass to set up the score. Jones-Drew had a 44-yard run in the second quarter on a drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal by Scobee to make it 10-0. Houston hadnt made a first down on four straight possessions and had just 20 total yards before a 29-yard run by Johnson 4 1/2 minutes before halftime. But the offence soon stalled again after Keenum was sacked and the Texans settled for a 49-yard field goal to cut the lead to 10-3 at halftime. Keenum was terrible in the first half, going 5 for 12 with 32 yards. His tough day started early when he was sacked by Andre Branch for a loss of 19 yards on third down on Houstons first series. NOTES: Olympic gold medallist Mary Lou Retton attended the game and served as an honorary team captain. ... Houstons Andre Johnson, who had a career-high 273 yards receiving in his previous game against Jacksonville, managed just 36 yards receiving on Sunday. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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