No. 8 Louisville beats Jacksonville State 88-39

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville basketball team lingered in the hallways of the KFC Yum! Center during halftime of Monday night's 88-39 win over Jacksonville State, and Chris Jones had a question.

"What's the record for steals in a game at Louisville?" asked the 5-foot-10 point guard, quick to smile and quicker to turn anything and everything into a competition.

An off-the-cuff guess was eight, though the real answer is 10.

"Then I'm going to get 10," Jones said, grinning, before he trotted back toward the court.

Jones didn't quite get there – he logged five steals along with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in 22 minutes – but his approach to Monday's game illustrated the full experience for Louisville in its 2014-15 home opener.

Louisville (2-0) did just about everything right, dominating the rebound fight and forcing 20 Jacksonville State turnovers to run away with the game before anyone had time to discover Jacksonville State's most famous alum.

(It's probably Randy Owen, the lead singer of the country band Alabama.)

The Cards took a 50-20 lead into halftime and turn a blowout into an annihilation with a 23-0 spurt in the second half.

"This might be the best team we've played anywhere I've ever been," said Jacksonville State coach James Green, who coached Southern Miss for eight years and was an assistant coach at Texas A&M, Alabama and Iowa State, among other stops.

That's peak hyperbole, but it's also a sign of how well Louisville played.

Jones, Wayne Blackshear, Terry Rozier, Montrezl Harrell and Chinanu Onuaku looked like they were running a practice.

Each player tallied double-digit points, with the freshman Onuaku (12 points, 10 rebounds) notching a double-double in just his second career start. Blackshear totaled 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Harrell added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Rozier was his typical efficient self, making 5 of 7 from the field and posting 13 points and four rebounds.

"The best part of the game was the passing in the first half – it was as good as I've seen in a long time," U of L coach Rick Pitino said.

"Obviously we were physically overmatching them, so it's tough to tell a lot of good things, but the passing in the first half was brilliant and really pleasing to watch."

Louisville started the game with four assists on its first four baskets, and they were each highlights for the players involved.

Blackshear snatched an offensive rebound, one of 30 for Louisville on Monday night, and set up Jones for a corner 3-pointer.

On the next possession, Blackshear carved through Jacksonville State's defense before bouncing a pass right into Harrell's path as the 6-foot-8 forward leaped for a dunk.

Jones dished out the next two assists, foreshadowing his performance.

At a slimmed-down 175 pounds, Jones seems quicker than he did last season. Yet it's his maturity that has Pitino raving about Jones's early-season play.

Last season, Jones would've been frustrated by his 4-of-13 shooting performance on Monday and his sluggish start with scoring. He's 8 of 26 from the field, which is 30.8 percent, but he's hustled and cobbled together two strong games in other categories.

Jones already has the confidence part down. His hunt for that single-game steals mark showed it, as did his vow after the game to break it someday.

The maturity thing? It's a work in progress, and it's coming along as Pitino hoped it would.

"Now I just have to continue to do that and keep my poise," Jones said.

Jeff Greer writes for the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal.