Defense helps No. 4 Louisville tops Chattanooga 63-47

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jeff Walz's belief his team can always play better didn't stop the Louisville coach from finding positives in a victory that welcomed another player into an exclusive club.

Mariya Moore scored nine points to surpass 1,000 career and No. 4 Louisville held Chattanooga to 30 percent shooting for a 63-47 victory on Monday night to wrap up site play in the Hall of Fame Challenge.

Playing their third game in as many days, the Cardinals (6-0) were never threatened in their tuneup ahead of Sunday's Challenge matchup against third-ranked South Carolina. They controlled the pace, spread the ball around and held Chattanooga (3-3) to 17 of 57 shooting from the field in ending its two-game winning streak.

"I thought we did a lot of really good things in that first part of the game," said Walz, whose team shot 44 percent and made 18 assists on its 25 baskets. "We got the pace going that we wanted, we executed well, and we passed the ball, a lot of good things.

"When we subbed, we kind of took a step back and that's something I talked to our bench players about. ... We should go forward. That part was a little bit of a concern for me, but overall our effort was good."

Besides becoming Louisville's 27th player to break 1,000 points, Moore had seven assists and four rebounds. Myisha Hines-Allen had 10 boards along with seven points.

Moore was presented with a specially-designed ball after the game and said of her milestone, "It's a blessing. It just shows hard work, I guess, but I'm more happy that we're 6-0."

Queen Alford scored 20 points and Jasmine Joyner had 15 rebounds and seven blocks for Chattanooga. The Mocs committed 19 turnovers in its third game of the Challenge, an eight-team, round-robin competition being played at several sites. The event continues Sunday in Springfield, Massachusetts.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Louisville followed up its one-spot rise in the poll with an easy win ahead of Sunday's showdown against third-ranked South Carolina that will affect its ranking.

THE BIG PICTURE

Chattanooga: The Mocs' 1-of-8 start from the field helped dig 25-12 first-quarter hole that they spent the rest of the game trying to climb out of. "We came out tentative in a way that surprised me," coach Jim Foster said. "We played with effort, but we needed 40 minutes of effort and just got 30. For the first 10 minutes, it wasn't where it needed to be."

The Mocs finished even on the boards (36-36) and blocked three more shots than Louisville (8-5) thanks to Joyner, who has 29 rebounds and 16 rejections the past two games.

Louisville: The Cardinals shot 50 percent in the first half before cooling off to 44 percent for the game. While their scoring total was the lowest this season, 11 of 13 players scored while playing for the third straight day. Louisville also made all 10 free throws, its best single-game percentage with double-digit attempts going back to 2000. The Cardinals entered the game averaging 65 percent from the line.

UP NEXT

Chattanooga: The Mocs return home from their weekend in Louisville to host Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday.

Louisville: The Cardinals face their first major test this season against No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday when the Hall of Fame Challenge moves to Springfield, Massachusetts. It will mark the first game between the schools since the Cardinals won 74-47 Nov. 29, 1991, one of just four wins over the Gamecocks in 20 meetings.

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