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BOX SCORE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville coach Denny Crum knew his team would have to slow down Kenyon Martin and Pete Mickeal in order to beat top-ranked Cincinnati.
He didn't count on a lights-out performance from freshman DerMarr Johnson, who scored all 21 of his points in the first half and the Bearcats beat the Cardinals 75-65 Thursday night, their sixth straight win in the series.
|  | | Cincinnati freshman DerMarr Johnson drives for two of his game-high 21 points. He hit five of eight 3-pointers. |
Johnson, a 6-foot-9 shooting guard, hit his first eight shots,
including five 3-pointers, as Cincinnati led by as many as 18
points in the first half.
"We didn't have an answer for Johnson in the first half," Crum said. "He hit everything he threw up there. I know I'm going to suggest to everyone that he go to the next level."
Johnson didn't score in the second half but Martin, a senior
center, and freshman point guard Kenny Satterfield were there to
pick up the slack for the Bearcats, (19-1, 7-0 Conference USA), who won their 11th consecutive game since a 66-64 loss to
crosstown-rival Xavier on Dec. 18.
Martin scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half and
finished with seven rebounds and five blocks. Satterfield,
Conference USA's assist leader, scored nine of his 11 points after
halftime and added 10 assists and five rebounds.
Mickeal had 11 points.
"I haven't seen any teams as physical or with better athletes than Cincinnati," Crum said. "The guy that really hurt us was
Satterfield. He had 10 assists and no turnovers. When your point
guard plays that well, you're going to be hard to beat."
Nate Johnson scored 19 points, Reece Gaines had 11 and Tony Williams 10 for the Cardinals (11-7, 3-4), who lost for the fourth time in five games.
"We didn't expect Johnson to shoot like that," said Williams, who added five rebounds and five assists. "We wanted to take away the inside with Mickeal and Martin and just keyed on the wrong people.
"We told ourselves before the game that we weren't going to let them beat us inside. They'd have to beat us from the outside, and that's what they did."
A 14-2 run, sparked by two 3-pointers by Johnson, put the
Bearcats up 37-19 with 3:57 to play in the half. A 9-2 Louisville
run cut the margin to 39-27 at halftime.
Cincinnati was 15-of-23 from the field in the first half,
including 7-of-10 from 3-point range. Johnson was 8-of-9, including
all five of his 3-point attempts.
"I just wish he'd played two halves," Cincinnati coach Bob
Huggins said. "We've been waiting for him to do that. He's done it
in practice but hasn't done it in a game."
Until Thursday night.
"I needed that," said Johnson, who scored two shy of his
career high. "I had a good shootaround today and felt good before
the game.
"I usually shoot it pretty good in practice. But most of my
shots tonight were contested. I was just feeling it."
Cincinnati led by as many as 18 midway through the second half. Ryan Fletcher's 3-pointer gave the Bearcats a 61-45 lead with 7:20 remaining.
A 9-2 Louisville run cut the margin to nine and forced a
Cincinnati timeout with 4:43 to play. The Cardinals pulled within
67-60 on consecutive 3-pointers by Williams, but would get no
closer.
The Bearcats shot 63 percent (30-of-48) from the field,
including 9-of-19 from 3-point range.
Louisville made 49 percent of its shots (28-of-57), including 7-of-14 from 3-point range, and outrebounded the much taller Bearcats 26-23.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Louisville Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kenyon Martin throws a "block" party.
avi: 825 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Cincy's DerMarr Johnson has an "all-around" game.
avi: 1284 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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