No. 14 Louisville beats Stanford 68-48 for its ninth straight victory

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn scored 16 points apiece, and No. 14 Louisville ended the regular season Saturday with a 68-48 victory over Stanford.

The Cardinals (25-6, 18-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) used their defense to earn their ninth straight victory and 19th in 20 games. Stanford went nearly eight minutes between baskets, missing 11 shots in a row. That allowed Louisville to go on a 14-1 run and take a 29-11 lead after Hepburn's layup with 5:04 left before halftime.

J’Vonne Hadley added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who played without starting guard and third-leading scorer Reyne Smith (ankle).

Maxime Raynaud recorded his 23rd double-double for the Cardinal (19-12, 11-9), scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Takeaways

Stanford: The Cardinal's drought led to a season-low 18 points in the first half, and the 48 points was their worst performance this season.

Louisville: The 2024-25 Cardinals matched the victory total the program amassed over the previous three seasons.

Key moment

With 32.5 seconds left on Senior Day, Hepburn, Edwards, Noah Waterman, Aboubacar Traore and Frank Anselem-Ibe were subbed out for their final time at the KFC Yum Center and received a standing ovation. Hepburn kissed the court to show his appreciation.

Key stat

Three days after holding California to just 29.6% shooting, Louisville held the Cardinal to 30.4% from the floor. Aside from the season-opening win against Morehead State (23.1%), those are the best defensive performances of the season.

Up next

Both teams advance to next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte. Stanford will begin play in the second round on Tuesday, and Louisville starts in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball