Rozier, Harrell lead Louisville over Indiana

NEW YORK – The University of Louisville basketball team came here to the Big Apple and to this revered basketball stage at Madison Square Garden and took a punch.

But just like the Cardinals did in wins against Minnesota and Ohio State earlier this season, and like they have in their eight previous trips to MSG, they landed the knockout blows and left here victorious.

Louisville (8-0) staved off feisty Indiana and pulled away to a 94-74 win in Tuesday night's Jimmy V Classic in Midtown Manhattan, using offensive rebounding and impressive showings from Chris Jones, Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell to run past the Hoosiers.

The game's pace was frenetic from the start, and the vibe in the arena — albeit with a smaller crowd — matched the Louisville-Ohio State environment last week at the KFC Yum! Center.

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It felt like an NCAA tournament game, and Louisville's best players came to play.

"Our backcourt played a great game," U of L coach Rick Pitino said. "Montrezl Harrell, I think, is the best player in the nation. He has a skill set ... playing every possession as if he hasn't eaten in a week. It's quite special."

Harrell thundered in a half-dozen dunks and finished with his fourth double-double of the season, totaling 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The 6-foot-8 forward was the best player on the floor for much of the game, and Indiana made its biggest push when Louisville's All-American junior was on the bench with two fouls.

The Hoosiers' 14-2 run over a six-minute period spanning the end of the first half and the early part of the second half gave them their first lead in some 20 minutes.

"You're not only losing your best player, you're losing your most intelligent player," Pitino said of Harrell. "Montrezl is the heart of our team emotionally, but he's also the smartest guy on the team when it comes to getting the team in the right defenses and talking to the guys."

That 52-50 Indiana lead would be its last.

With Louisville's offense in flux for the first few minutes of the second half, Jones took the reins, slashing to the basket, making shots and stabilizing the Cardinals' attack.

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The 5-foot-10 senior, once mired in a shooting slump that significantly frustrated him earlier this season, was efficient in every facet of the game. He tallied 24 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals against three turnovers.

His corner 3-pointer with 16 minutes left in the game snapped Louisville back into a 53-52 lead, and it was the key basket in a seven-point, one-assist stretch for Jones.

"I think I found my get-back, I think it's the best all-around game I've had all year," Jones said. "This game, by far, was my best game since I've been here. It'll only get better from here. I can't get satisfied with this game. I have to do what I've been doing to get out of my slump and stick to it."

From there, Louisville's pressure and relentless attack on offense wore down Indiana, with Rozier surging late to score 26 points and six rebounds.

​For what it's worth, Indiana (7-2) played well for a team that attracted so much negative attention just before the season began and has struggled at times in the early going of the campaign.

The Hoosiers shot well from the field, making 47.5 percent of their field-goal attempts. Especially early in each half, they went right at Louisville's defense.

"They are very difficult to defend because they play five people on the perimeter and drive on you," Pitino said. "You can't help because they shoot it so well, but in the second half, we did an outstanding job."

Turnovers and defensive rebounding did Indiana in.

Harrell grabbed six offensive rebounds, and his team got 24 of them from 43 missed shots. The Cards had 15 second-chance points and 28 points in the paint by halftime.

"I told (Pitino) in the first half that I didn't want to keep coming to the high post and set pick and rolls," Harrell said. "I wanted to get on the baseline and roam. Coach always teaches us to start on the baseline from down low to out, so when the shot was taken, I was always in position to get myself outwards and get the rebound."

Indiana didn't help itself with 19 turnovers that led to 19 points off turnovers for Louisville. And those 25 second-chance points Louisville scored helped land those repeated knockout blows in the second half to pull away, just like it had in those eight previous wins at the famous Madison Square Garden.

"It was a lot of fun," Rozier said, smiling. "It's something I'll always be able to talk about."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).