No. 11 Louisville Lethargic in Win

At halftime of Louisville’s game against Detroit, a video of the Cardinal players’ singing a particularly cringe-inducing version of the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” ran on the Freedom Hall scoreboard.

It was the only really good laugh the No. 11 Cardinals enjoyed during their 56-48 victory Saturday.

Although the Cardinals (9-1) won their 12th consecutive home game thanks to 15 points from Taquan Dean and 12 from Brandon Jenkins, it was hardly the kind of dominant buzzer-to-buzzer performance Coach Rick Pitino said his team needs to compete in the Big East Conference.

“I’m not pleased with our improvement,” Pitino said. “All of our guys are having a difficult time playing for 40 minutes.”

The Cardinals really needed only 11 solid minutes at the end of the first half and a 16-5 advantage at the free-throw line to beat the Titans (6-7), who were led by Brandon Cotton’s 17 points.

Louisville won despite shooting 27% from the field in the second half and failing to use its size advantage inside. Detroit outscored the Cardinals, 20-12, in the lane and matched Louisville’s 29 rebounds. The Titans could have pulled the upset if not for 16 turnovers.

“We were our own worst enemy at times,” Detroit Coach Perry Watson said. “We put ourselves in position to win but put them on the line too much.”

The free throws were the only real offense the Cardinals could muster in the second half, when poor shot selection and almost zero ball movement gave Pitino flashbacks of a 12-point loss at Kentucky on Dec. 17.

“At times in the second half we reverted back to what we did against Kentucky, that was playing too much one-on-one,” Pitino said.

“We’re not a great one-on-one basketball team, we’ve got do to it with passing, screening and rebounding.”

Or, as the Cardinals did in the second half against the Titans, with defense. For all their offensive struggles, the Cardinals kept the Titans from getting close enough to make it scary.

Detroit never made it a one-possession game, although they did cut it to five with 38 seconds left.

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Former Saint Joseph’s coach Jim Boyle died of lung cancer at his suburban Philadelphia home Friday. He was 63. He coached Saint Joseph’s from 1981 to 1989, leading the Hawks to two NCAA tournament appearances and a 151-114 record.... Curtis Stinson scored 22 points to lead six Iowa State players in double figures and the Cyclones (9-3) defeated Colorado State, 87-80, to win the Rainbow Classic title late Friday. Michael Harrison led Colorado State (9-2) with 25 points on eight-for-nine shooting.