David DeJulius scored 26 points and Landers Nolley II added 21 as Cincinnati pulled away in the second half for an 81-62 win over Louisville in the seventh-place game at the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Wednesday.
DeJulius shot 10 of 19 from the field, including making a career-high six 3-pointers on 14 attempts, while Nolley went 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 8 from deep. Viktor Lakhin chipped in 12 points and four rebounds for Cincinnati (4-3), with Mika Adams-Woods finishing with 10 points and five assists.
The Bearcats led by a point at halftime before outscoring the Cardinals 50-32 in the final 20 minutes to end a three-game losing streak.
Cincinnati shot 33-for-62 (53.2 percent) from the field, including 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Louisville (0-6), which is off to its worst start since opening the 1940-41 season 0-11, was led by Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who had 15 points. El Ellis added 13 points and six assists.
The Cardinals shot 22-for-51 (43.1 percent) from the field, including 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Leading 31-30 at halftime, the Bearcats opened the second half on an 18-5 run to take a 14-point lead following Lakhin’s dunk with 13:09 left in the game. The Cardinals didn’t get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Neither team led by more than four points during a tightly contested first half that ended with DeJulius hitting a 3-pointer as time expired to put the Bearcats on top.
DeJulius scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes for Cincinnati, which shot 12-for-28 (42.9 percent) from the field prior to the break, including 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
Louisville was led by Huntley-Hatfield’s nine points, while Ellis added seven in the first half.
The Cardinals shot 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) from the field prior to intermission, including missing all six of their shots from long distance.
–Field Level Media
