Jayden Reid and Tylik Weeks scored 24 each, including 18 apiece in the second half, as host Memphis survived a frigid start to blow out No. 10 Louisville 98-78 on Sunday.
Reid handed out a career-high-tying 10 assists while Julius Thedford scored 16 points and Rihards Vavers added 15 for the Tigers (3-1), who played without second-leading scorer Luke Almodovar (15.3 ppg).
The Tigers blistered the Cardinals 57-26 in the second half as they shot 20-for-27 (74.1%) in the second half, including 7-for-10 from the 3-point arc.
Jackson Shelstad and Seth Trimble paced the Cardinals (2-1) with 16 points apiece. Alvaro Folgueiras contributed 14 points before fouling out with 6:12 to go and Karter Knox added 11 points off the bench.
Louisville started out scorching as it led 20-4 less than six minutes into the contest. The Cardinals made 12 of their first 14 shots as the lead grew to 28-10 on a Shelstad 3-pointer with 12:18 remaining in the first half.
Memphis weathered that storm and whittled the Cardinals’ advantage to 52-41 by halftime. The Tigers started the second half with a 15-3 run as a Vavers 3-pointer gave the hosts a 56-55 lead with 15:24 remaining.
That was Memphis’ first lead since getting the opening basket, but the Tigers did not stop there.
Seth Trimble responded with a layup for the Cardinals, but Reid converted a 3-point play and sank a 3-pointer to trigger an 8-0 run that made it 75-65 with 10:34 to go.
Memphis finished shooting 57.6% (34-for-59) from the floor, with Thedford going 5-for-7 and Vavers making 5 of 8. Weeks went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc to lead the Tigers, who made 10 of 20 treys.
The Cardinals shot just 32.4% after halftime (11 of 34) to finish at 43.9% for the game.
Shelstad hit a 3-pointer with 4:37 left in the first half to make it 43-30 Louisville, but that was the Cardinals’ final 3-pointer. They missed their last 17 attempts from the perimeter to go 7-for-29 (24.1%) for the game.
–Field Level Media
