U of L deals Pitt worst ACC home loss ever

PITTSBURGH – The last time Louisville and Pittsburgh met, the Cards built a large first-half lead and held on as Pitt stormed back and lost by just five points at the KFC Yum! Center.

That was not the case Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center. No. 14 Louisville took a 33-point lead into halftime and extended it into the 50s before finishing with a 106-51 victory, passing Duke's 53-point win over Georgia Tech as the most lopsided game in ACC play this season.

In fact, it was the largest margin of victory for a road team in ACC history, beating Duke's 46-point win at Virginia in 1999, according to the ACC.

U of L (17-4, 5-3 ACC) has now beaten Pittsburgh 10 consecutive times, spanning back to their time in the Big East. The Cards handed the Panthers their worst defeat in 110 years. Pittsburgh lost to Westminster College by 93 points in 1906.

"It was one of those nights," U of L coach Rick Pitino said. "I've experienced a lot of them in professional basketball, where everything goes right for one team and everything goes wrong for another team."

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►Game Rewind | U of L 106, Pittsburgh 51
►Greer | Historic win, but it was just one game
►View the box score here

Pitino’s team did it with the best offensive performance of the campaign, shooting 58.2 percent overall and 71.4 percent in the first half. The Cards scored on 46 of their 73 possessions and notched 52 points in the paint.

They were 12-of-22 from 3-point range, their highest number of 3s in a game this season.

Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 29 points, the most a Louisville player has totaled in a game this season. He made a career-high six 3-pointers in the process, going 6-of-8 from long distance. The sophomore also had three assists and two rebounds.

Anas Mahmoud came close to his career high, notching 14 points. The 7-foot junior blocked two shots, the 24th time in his three-season career at U of L that he has collected multiple swats in a game.

Tony Hicks, in his first start for U of L, tallied 10 points and a season-high four assists in 20 minutes. Fellow starter Deng Adel added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Ryan McMahon, playing mostly in the later stages of the rout, scored 15 points off the bench, all from 3-pointers.

For Pittsburgh, the night started poorly and the Panthers never recovered. They were 4-of-25 from the field in the first half and 0-for-12 from 3-point range. First-year Pitt coach Kevin Stallings, who previously spent 17 seasons at Vanderbilt, was ejected midway through the second half.

The Panthers (12-8, 1-6) have lost five consecutive league games and are tied for last in the ACC.