Sananda Fru scored a season-best 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting and matched his high of eight rebounds to lead No. 11 Louisville to a 94-54 nonconference victory over visiting Montana on Saturday afternoon.
Isaac McKneely made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points, and Ryan Conwell added 14 points and three steals for the Cardinals (10-2). J’Vonne Hadley added 13 points and Khani Rooths had 10 for Louisville, which rebounded from Tuesday’s 83-62 loss against No. 20 Tennessee.
Cardinals standout freshman Mikel Brown Jr. (back) missed his second straight game.
Grant Kepley scored 15 points and Tyler Thompson added 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Grizzlies (6-7), who lost their second straight game.
Montana dropped to 5-49 all-time against ranked foes and has lost all 12 such encounters under coach Travis DeCuire, who is in his 12th season at the school.
The Grizzlies last beat a ranked team when they took down Nevada in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals shot 52.3% from the field, including 12 of 34 from 3-point range. Louisville held a commanding 48-25 advantage on the boards.
Montana made 32.1% of its attempts and was 7 of 24 from behind the arc. Grizzlies leading scorer Money Williams (19.4 points per game) missed all six of his field-goal attempts and scored just four points in 24 minutes.
Montana was within 25-20 on a basket by Kenyon Aguino with 4:39 left in the first half before Louisville ended the half with 17 consecutive points.
McKneely scored the first eight on a layup and two 3-pointers. Fru ended the half with back-to-back baskets to give the Cardinals a 42-20 halftime advantage.
Fru scored 14 in the half and McKneely added 11.
The assault continued in the second half. Fru’s dunk was followed by consecutive baskets by Hadley to push the lead to 54-27 with 14:16 remaining.
The Cardinals ran off 12 straight later in the half. Conwell, Rooths and Aly Khalifa each hit treys and Adrian Wooley ended it by making three of four throws to make it 75-40 with 7:34 to play and Louisville cruised to the finish.
–Field Level Media
