Instant Analysis from U of L-IU in New York

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- It was an enjoyable night of basketball here at Madison Square Garden, with Villanova eventually besting Illinois in an entertaining opening game and Louisville pulling away from Indiana in the night cap.

The Cards and Hoosiers engaged in an intense battle, but U of L eventually outlasted IU in a 94-74 win.

Here are three quick takeaways from the game:

Rozier and Jones play big. I tweeted this during the game, and it stands even larger now: We absolutely saw tonight why Louisville coach Rick Pitino loves his backcourt. Terry Rozier and Chris Jones had confident performances, with Jones taking over the game at a pivotal stretch in the second half when Louisville needed it most. Then Rozier hit a dagger or two to put it away. Both guys were everywhere, and they didn't settle for jumpers. That's a huge reason why Louisville won.

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Fantastic pace. This game got off to a magnificent start, with an up-and-down, frenetic pace, much like the Louisville-Ohio State and Louisville-Minnesota games. Limited whistles. Tons of back-and-forth. Lots of shots that felt like momentum swings. A few big dunks. It was great, and what (I think) college basketball fans want to see. And, the best part of it all, the referees (for the most part) let them play. Just 15 fouls at halftime. The second half lived up to that tempo for a while, but Louisville pulled away and sort of ended that vibe.

Harrell's huge game. Speaking of big games, Louisville's offense, at times, looked like a chuck-it-up-and-hope-Montrezl-Harrell-gets-it strategy. But it worked. Harrell was everywhere, at least when he wasn't in first-half foul trouble. He was assertive on offense, and his half-dozen offensive rebounds were monstrous in a game when Louisville needed to overwhelm Indiana inside to make up for Indiana's hot shooting.