Air Force Academy
Louisville
Air Force Upended By Louisville In Season Opener
11/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 23, 2002
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Reece Gaines scored 22 points and Ellis Myles pulled down 16 rebounds to lead Louisville to a 65-47 win over Air Force on Saturday night.
Luke Whitehead added 17 points for the Cardinals (1-0), who forced 17 turnovers and outrebounded the undersized Falcons 39-20.
Louisville won its opener for the ninth time in 10 seasons and improved to 17-3 at Freedom Hall under second-year coach Rick Pitino.
Joel Gerlach scored 15, but was the only player in double figures for Air Force (0-1).
The Cardinals were out of synch early, committing four turnovers in the first five minutes. They led only 13-11 when freshman Francisco Garcia sank a 3-pointer at the 9-minute mark of the first half to start a 10-0 run.
Louisville pushed the lead to 14 as Air Force went without a field goal for the last four minutes before halftime.
Gaines, who averaged 21 points last season, got two early fouls and sat out most of the first half. Garcia and Whitehead picked up the scoring slack, combining for 16 of Louisville's 31 first-half points. Garcia finished with 7 points.
Gaines returned at the start of the second half and hit a pull-up jumper to start a 7-0 Louisville spurt. The Falcons missed their first four shots of the second half and fell behind by as many as 18.
Louisville maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way with withering full-court pressure and continued dominance on the boards.
