LOUISVILLE, Ky. Lamar Holmes . -- Louisvilles final home game for nearly a month was especially memorable because of its precision in a lopsided victory against Missouri State. Certainly, the sixth-ranked Cardinals have room to improve in many areas as they prepare for four road contests over 23 days including a Dec. 28 showdown against in-state rival No. 19 Kentucky in Lexington. For now, the defending national champions look forward to building on its best overall performance of the season. Montrezl Harrell had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Louisville manhandled the Bears 90-60 on Tuesday night. The Cardinals (10-1) took control early and never let up against the Bears (8-2). They combined dominant rebounding and offensive accuracy during a 16-0 first-half run for a 19-4 lead in the first meeting between the schools since 2006. Harrell was among four Cardinals with at least eight rebounds each, a combination that alone outdid MSU in Louisvilles 51-30 domination of the boards including 20-10 offensively. They also outscored the Bears 46-28 inside and held them to 38 per cent shooting to close a 5-0 home stand. Asked if this was Louisvilles best effort to date, Harrell answered, "Id say so. It was a great win. The first half we really got into it, (and it) got us going." Senior guard Russ Smith added 11 points and eight assists, while freshman Terry Rozier had 11 points and eight rebounds. Forwards Stephan Van Treese and Mangok Mathiang combined for 17 rebounds for Louisville, which shot 34 of 66 from the field (52 per cent). Louisville coach Rick Pitino agreed that it was the best he has seen his team play, adding, "I dont know what was better, the defence, the offence or the offensive rebounding. It was just awesome in the first half." Jarmar Gulleys 14 points led the Bears, whose two-game winning streak was thoroughly halted by a Cardinals squad that controlled every facet of the game. MSU led Louisville 4-3 before the Cardinals seized the pace with the big run. The Bears never got closer than 17 after that, spoiling Paul Lusks 100th career game as a coach. "They just dominated us on the glass," Lusk said. "Theyve got a lot of talent but they also play so darn hard. We just simply couldnt keep them off the glass. That was the telltale of the game." Missouri State brought some impressive credentials into its second meeting against Louisville and first since losing to the Cardinals in the 2006 NIT. The Bears were runners-up to Virginia in the Corpus Christi Challenge, a four-game run that included a win over previously unbeaten Texas A&M. They also boasted an impressive scoring combination in Gulley and Marcus Marshall, who had combined for nearly 27 points per game coming in and were developing into a strong scoring duo in just four games together. Against the Cardinals, though, they combined for only 22 points as Marshall finished with eight. MSUs bench was outscored 32-26, 10 points below their average. Louisville welcomed back point guard Chris Jones from a one-game absence because of a sprained right wrist. Rozier started but the 5-foot-10 junior came in five minutes later with the wrist bandaged and finished with nine points in 19 minutes. The Cardinals were in the midst of their key run when Jones entered. The sequence was highlighted by Chane Behanans thunderous one-handed dunk off of Van Treeses long lead pass and Roziers steal of the inbounds pass and layup seconds later. Louisville continued to overwhelm MSU, which was outrebounded 20-5 through 13 minutes and 27-10 overall in the first half. That statistic offered the best indicator of Louisvilles defensive effort, which disrupted the Bears dribbling, passing and shot selection. The Cardinals nearly matched their per-game blocks average (4.6) by the break alone, finishing with seven and answering everything MSU attempted. "They switched defences a lot," said MSU guard/forward Keith Pickens, who had four points. "It was sometimes hard to read. I think it came down to rebounding early. They killed us on the offensive glass." Louisvilles offence was just as effective, as the Cardinals dissected MSUs zone and muscled their way for baskets. Louisville also had 14 assists and recorded seven blocks. "If we play defence like that, we can beat any team in the country," Rozier said. Jon Asamoah . -- Amid stories about Jeremy Lin and the upcoming all-star game, the Detroit Pistons have quietly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Paul Worrilow . -- The Grenadiers de Chateauguay will play for gold after defeating the Toronto Young Nationals 6-1 on Saturday in the Telus Cup mens midget hockey championship semifinal.TAMPA, Fla. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves and the Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Thursday night. The second-place Lightning have a one-point lead over Toronto and Montreal, which beat Vancouver 5-2. "The last week and a half (has been tough)," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, whose team has lost four of five. "I dont mind where we are in the standings as of today. We kind of built a bulge in the standings, point-wise, and now weve lost some of it. But in saying that, I rather be where we are right now than where some other teams are." Mason Raymond, Jay McClement, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak scored for Toronto, which was coming of a 4-1 loss Tuesday night at Florida. "We needed a response from our effort the other night, and we got it tonight," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "If you dont have goaltending, you dont have a starting point in the NHL. Were not any different than any other hockey club. The goaltender is your last line of defence, and our guys have given us a chance for a better part of this year." The Maple Leafs are 10-2-1 over their last 13 games. "We want to finish strong before the (Olympic) break with as many points as possible," Bernier said. Bernier had a number of strong saves early when Tampa Bay dominated the first half of the first period, and he made a glove save on J.T. Brown during the second. "It didnt look like we had it early, and once again Bernie was ready to play and kept us in it," McClement said. "Then we were able to get our legs." Ondrej Palat had the lone goal for Tampa Bay. Lightning goalie Ben Bishoop left after two periods with an upper-body injury and was replaced by Cedrick Desjardins, and centre Valtteri Filppula also left due to a lower-body injury. Prince Shembo. Desjardins is filling in for backup Anders Lindback, who is sidelined by a lower-body injury. Both Bishop and Filppula will be evaluated Friday. McClement made it 2-0 on an in-close backhander that eluded Desjardins at 2:19 of the third. After Desjardins make a glove save a couple of minutes later on Troy Bodies breakaway shot, the Maple Leafs turned an errant pass by the Lightning into a 3-0 advantage on van Riemsdyks point-blank goal at 8:10. Bozak added an empty-net goal with 2:52 to play. Palat ended Berniers shutout bid and cut Tampa Bays deficit to 3-1 at 10:28 of the third. There was a scrum between the teams with 1:42 remaining after a Toronto defender made contact with Brown, who ended up colliding with Bernier. Five players received penalties on the play. Raymond opened the scoring 7:57 into the second when he skated in alone from the left wing boards and lifted a backhander over Bishop. Bishop kept the Lightning within a goal when he stopped a shot during a breakaway by Bozak with 4 minutes left in the second. The Maple Leafs, despite allowing eight of the first nine shots, outshot Tampa Bay 12-9 during a scoreless first period. NOTES: Tampa Bay RW Martin St. Louis will replace injured Lightning C Steven Stamkos on Canadas Olympic hockey team. Doctors ruled out Stamkos because he hasnt recovered sufficiently from a broken right leg. ... St. Louis has gone eight games without a goal since he tied a team record with four goals against St. Jose on Jan. 18. He had an assist Thursday. ... Toronto C Nazem Kadri had his six-game points streak end. ' ' '
