LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a decisive matchup, Terrence Edwards Jr. led the way with 18 points as the 21st-ranked Louisville Cardinals secured a comfortable 72-59 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday evening.
A pivotal 12-0 scoring spree in the first half propelled Louisville (16-5, 9-1 ACC) to a commanding 26-11 advantage with 8:26 remaining. They maintained a significant lead, which ballooned to as much as 29 points in the second half.
Contributions came from Reyne Smith, who chipped in 16 points, and Chucky Hepburn, who added 14 points along with eight assists. This triumph marked the Cardinals’ tenth consecutive win, further establishing their dominance in the conference.
On the other side, Wake Forest (15-6, 7-3) saw Hunter Salis, who ranks third in the ACC with an average of 18.9 points per game, score 13 points before being ejected due to a second technical foul with 14:47 left in the game.
Key insights included Wake Forest’s struggle to maintain their defensive performance. Just two days prior, they limited the No. 2 Duke to a mere 63 points in a close loss, yet found themselves down 67-41 against Louisville with 7:45 remaining. The Demon Deacons have been allowing an average of only 65.6 points per game this season.
Conversely, Louisville demonstrated their strength a week after a comprehensive win against SMU by convincingly defeating another possible NCAA Tournament contender from the ACC.
A critical moment in the game occurred when Wake Forest’s Tre’Von Spillers halted Louisville’s momentum with a three-point play at 8:09 left in the first half. Shortly thereafter, Ty-Laur Johnson attempted to capitalize on a steal with a dunk but lost control of the ball, denying the Demon Deacons an opportunity to shift the game’s momentum.
One notable statistic from the game was Edwards’ shooting performance. He entered the night shooting only 26.2% from three-point range this season and had struggled even more recently with just 15.4% (6 for 39) over his previous seven games. However, he turned it around slightly by shooting 4 for 11 (36.4%) from beyond the arc on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, Wake Forest is set to return home to challenge Pittsburgh on Saturday, while Louisville will travel to face Georgia Tech on the same day.
