Obinna Ekezie Jr. Scores 20 as No. 11 Louisville Beats Morehead State 107-57

Kicker: NCAA (men's college)

Photo: The Dyme

Obinna Ekezie Jr. scored 20 points off the bench as No. 11 Louisville beat Morehead State 107-57 on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Ekezie shot 8-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from three and 1-of-2 at the line in 25 minutes, with 13 rebounds, one assist, two blocks and no turnovers, per the ESPN box score. Attendance was 13,188. The game aired on ACCNX. Louisville moved to 2-0 (2-0 at home). Morehead State fell to 1-2 (0-2 on the road).

Karter Knox scored 15 on 4-of-7 shooting, 1-of-3 from three and 6-of-6 at the line in 21 minutes, with six rebounds. Adrian Wooley scored 12 on 3-of-5 from the field and 5-of-7 at the line, with five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 23 minutes. Seth Trimble scored 11 on 5-of-9, with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 24 minutes. Alvaro Folgueiras scored 10 with five rebounds and six assists on 4-of-6 and 2-of-4 from three in 22 minutes. Flory Bidunga scored 10 on 3-of-3 from the field and 4-of-6 at the line, with seven rebounds, one steal and two blocks in 17 minutes. Isaac Ellis scored 10 on 3-of-7 and 2-of-6 from three, with six rebounds in 17 minutes. Jackson Shelstad scored eight on 3-of-11 and 2-of-8 from three, with six rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes. Seven Cardinals reached double figures, by our count from the ESPN player box.

Clayton Parker led Morehead State with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 4-of-7 from three and 3-of-3 at the line in 28 minutes, with three rebounds. Izaiah Day scored nine on 4-of-7. Kyrell Shaw scored seven with nine rebounds on 3-of-10. Tayvion Tangiora and Jace Winkleman each scored five. Chase Dawson and Justin Payne each scored three. One Eagle reached double figures, by our count.

Louisville held the No. 11 spot in the Associated Press Top 25, per the NCAA.com AP poll and ESPN's game ranking. Morehead State was unranked.

Led 46-33 at the half, then a 61-24 second half

Izaiah Day opened the scoring with a 9-foot floating jump shot at 19:35 of the first half for a 2-0 Morehead State lead, per the ESPN play-by-play. Vince Dawson III's 10-foot jumper at 19:10 and Dalman Alexander's 10-foot jumper at 18:06 stretched that start to 6-0, by our count. Adrian Wooley scored Louisville's first points on a 3-foot jumper at 17:19 that made it 2-6. Clayton Parker's 25-foot three at 16:21 put Morehead State ahead 9-2, matching ESPN's listed largest Morehead State lead of seven, by our count. Karter Knox's 26-foot three, assisted by Alvaro Folgueiras, tied the game at 9-9 at 15:05.

Folgueiras' 23-foot three, assisted by Ekezie, at 12:23 gave Louisville its first lead at 15-14, by our count. Tayvion Tangiora's layup tied the game at 17-17 at 11:23, and his free throw put the Eagles ahead 18-17, the last Morehead State lead of the day, by our count. ESPN listed three lead changes, a seven-point Morehead State largest lead and a 17% Morehead State lead share.

Isaac Ellis' 23-foot three, assisted by Seth Trimble, at 11:12 made it 20-18. Louisville scored 10 unanswered points from 25-22 to 35-22, by our count from the play-by-play, on a Trimble turnaround, a Wooley layup, a Knox layup, Shelstad's layup at 7:33 that made it 33-22 (Louisville's first 10-plus-point lead) and two Knox free throws at 5:17. Trimble's 24-foot three, assisted by Shelstad, at 3:10 made it 42-25. Flory Bidunga's free throw at 0:03 closed the first-half scoring at 46-33, per ESPN linescores.

Ekezie scored seven first-half points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a 24-foot three and a dunk, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. He added 13 second-half points on 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 1-of-2 at the line, by our count.

Louisville opened the second half with a 7-0 run to 53-33, by our count, on Shelstad's 22-foot three, Bidunga's dunk and two Wooley free throws at 18:12 that made it 53-33, Louisville's first 20-point lead. After Chase Dawson's driving layup at 17:49 made it 53-35, Louisville answered with a 33-0 run to 86-35, by our count from the play-by-play, starting with Bidunga's free throw at 17:34. Wooley's 25-foot three, assisted by Shelstad, at 15:00 made it 65-35, the first 30-point lead. Boyuan Zhang's 25-foot three, assisted by Shelstad, at 10:59 made it 75-35, the first 40-point lead. Wooley's free throw at 7:17 made it 85-35, the first 50-point lead, and his second free throw finished the 33-0 run at 86-35. Clayton Parker's 7-foot hook shot at 6:48 ended the run at 86-37.

Ekezie's 25-foot three, assisted by Isaac Ellis, at 0:29 made it 107-54, matching ESPN's listed largest lead of 53, by our count. Jace Winkleman's 24-foot three at 0:22 set the 107-57 final.

Louisville outscored Morehead State 61-24 after halftime, per the ESPN linescores (Louisville 46-61, Morehead State 33-24). The final margin was 50 points, by our count (107-57). ESPN listed Louisville leading for 80% of the game.

54% shooting, 13 threes and 59 rebounds

Louisville shot 37-of-69 from the field (54%), 13-of-38 from three (34%) and 20-of-28 at the line (71%), per ESPN. Morehead State shot 21-of-63 (33%), 6-of-18 from three (33%) and 9-of-14 at the line (64%). The Cardinals outrebounded the Eagles 59-23, including a 20-7 edge on the offensive glass and a 39-16 edge on the defensive glass. Assists went 21-9. Turnovers went 7-8. Steals went 7-3. Blocks went 6-1.

Louisville scored 48 points in the paint to Morehead State's 24, per ESPN. Points off turnovers went 10-7. Fast-break points went 10-0. Personal fouls went 17-20. Ekezie's 13 rebounds led the game. Folgueiras' six assists led Louisville. Wooley and Trimble each had two steals.

Louisville made 24 two-pointers for 48 points; Morehead State made 15 for 30, by our count from the ESPN team box. The Cardinals scored 39 points on threes to Morehead State's 18, and 20 at the line to 9. That splits the 50-point margin into 18 on two-pointers, 21 on threes and 11 at the line, by our count.

The box score, side by side

Full-game team numbers, per the ESPN box and checked against the CBS Sports gametracker box for Morehead State at Louisville:

Category	Louisville	Morehead State
Field goals	37-69 (54%)	21-63 (33%)
3-pointers	13-38 (34%)	6-18 (33%)
Free throws	20-28 (71%)	9-14 (64%)
Rebounds	59	23
Offensive rebounds	20	7
Defensive rebounds	39	16
Assists	21	9
Turnovers	7	8
Steals	7	3
Blocks	6	1
Points in the paint	48	24
Points off turnovers	10	7
Fast-break points	10	0
Largest lead	53	7
Percent of game led	80%	17%
Lead changes	3	3
Personal fouls	17	20

Half scoring, per the ESPN linescores:

Half	Louisville	Morehead State
1	46	33
2	61	24
Final	107	57

Seven Louisville scorers reached double figures (20, 15, 12, 11, 10, 10, 10). One Morehead State scorer reached double figures (19). Ekezie, Knox and Wooley combined for 47 of Louisville's 107 on 15-of-24 shooting, by our count.

What the box leaves next

Louisville's 33-0 second-half stretch supplied 33 of the final 50 points of separation, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. The run expanded a 53-35 lead to 86-35, putting most of the winning margin in place before Morehead State scored again. The Cardinals play at Memphis on Sunday, Nov. 15, per the ESPN schedule, with the tip listed at 1 p.m. ET. Louisville beat Chattanooga 84-70 in its previous game. Morehead State is 1-2.

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Sources:

• ESPN: Morehead State vs. Louisville box score
• ESPN: Morehead State vs. Louisville play-by-play
• ESPN: Morehead State vs. Louisville game page
• CBS Sports: Morehead State at Louisville gametracker box score
• NCAA.com: AP Top 25 men's basketball poll
• Louisville Athletics: Obinna Ekezie Jr. roster page
• ESPN: Louisville at Memphis schedule listing (event 401918949)