LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Coach Rick Pitino notched his 400th win at Louisville with a 102-71 victory over Texas Southern on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The 11th-ranked Cardinals (9-1) were led by junior guard Quentin Snider's 15 points, who paced six Louisville players in double figures.
"You look at this game and look at the score people will say, Louisville blew them out by 31 points," Pitino said, shaking his head. "We all know - because we were here - that didn't happen. But we are playing very good defense."
Demontra Jefferson had 27 points (on 10 of 30 shooting) and Derrick Griffin finished with 15 points and 26 rebounds, a Yum! Center record, for the Tigers (4-5). Texas Southern shot 35.1 percent for the game with 19 turnovers.
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"We knew it was going to be a challenge for us, but what we wanted to get out of this game more than anything was to come out and play for 40 minutes," Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. "Demontra Jefferson, he only practiced one day - yesterday - and so I wanted him to play for 40 minutes to get his wind going, for the rest of our games. ... Coach Pitino is one of the top five coaches in the history of the game and he gets his guys to play so hard. So it was a great game for us, so now we can go back and prepare for our conference by understanding the level of intensity and effort you have to give every night."
Louisville's offense was brutal early as the Cardinals missed their first seven shots and 14 of the first 17 attempts. Louisville's defense wasn't much better as Texas Southern hit six of its first 11 shots, three of which were rim-rattling dunks.
Early in the game, Jefferson would drive into the paint and toss up a shot and Griffin would sneak behind Louisville's defense for an offensive putback or dunk. Pitino called Griffin's rebounding one of the best performances he has seen in the Yum! Center.
"He was a great lift for us because we got 30 offensive rebounds against one of the top teams in the country," Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. "He got off to a slow start this year, but last year he was second in the country in double-doubles for freshman, right behind Ben Simmons. ... 26 boards, that's big time. I with it had been 30."
Louisville trailed 15-13 midway through the first half, but went on a 13-4 run and ended the half ahead by 14 points. Snider led all scorers with 13 points in the half.
"I keep saying this, I don't think people believe me what I'm saying, I really don't have a great feel for this team. I really don't," Pitino said. "Wonderful kids, wonderful young men, who work hard in practice, but from one game to the next you don't know really who's going to play well. In practice, you don't know who's going to play well. Like Q (Snider) started out not playing well, then he got us the big run. Deng (Adel) played great last game, tonight he did not. You just don't know what you're getting. It's a lack of consistency at times. I just think it's young players who will mature and get better and the consistency will follow."
The Cardinals' defense locked the Tigers down in the final 10 minutes of the first half as Texas Southern hit just five of its final 25 shots. As Louisville's defense improved, the Cardinals started getting more easy baskets at the other end.
Louisville hit 11 of its final 18 shots in the half, taking a 46-32 lead into the locker room.
Texas Southern stayed with the Cardinals in the first six minutes of the second half, cutting the deficit to 57-48 with 14:44 left. Louisville scored 22 of the next 27 points, building a 79-53 lead with just over seven minutes left.
"I think ball movement," Pitino said when asked about the second-half run. "Ball movement, lose balls. You know, conditioning plays a factor."
"It was really about defense," Griffin said. "They went on that run. Every game we have played on the road, we just have to pick up our defense in the second half. We stayed with them for a while, but when we caved in they passed out to the shooters. And they have really good shooters."
The Tigers got no closer than 20 points the rest of the game, but they still earned Pitino's respect.
"You know this amazing thing is Texas Southern is going to play 16 straight road games," Pitino said. "I have never. ... I have seen a lot of road games, but I have never seen 16 straight road games and if they stay together and get better, they are probably going to be a NCAA tournament team because they will win their conference and they are playing the likes of Arizona and us.
"They were 4-4. La Salle gave Villanova all they could handle. They beat La Salle. La Salle beat James Madison. They have outstanding talent. Really good talent and then I love that Derrick Griffin because, we always have an expression as an offensive rebounder that you have to consider every shot a pass to you and he does. He takes it literally. Every shot taken is a pass to him. So they are going to get a lot better, but that many road games, I have never heard of that in my life. Sixteen."
NOTES: Louisville has won 52 of its last 53 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center over the past seven seasons. ... In addition to his 400th win at Louisville, Pitino won his 750th career collegiate victory when the Cardinals beat Wichita State on Nov. 24. ... Texas Southern is in the middle of a 16-game road swing to start the season.
