LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville's (7-3) pressure forced Western Kentucky University (5-4) into a season-high 25 turnovers as the Cardinals used a 13-1 run late in the first half to hand the Hilltoppers a 102-75 setback at Freedom Hall on Saturday afternoon. As a national TV audience on ESPN2 tuned in, the Toppers were unable to extend both their overall and road winning streaks against the Cardinals.

WKU was forced to play without starting forward Sergio Kerusch, the team's leading rebounding (6.9 rpg) and second-leading scorer (13.4 ppg), who is out after sustaining a foot injury in practice on Friday.

The Hilltoppers looked good early in the hostile environment of more than 19,000, getting a three-pointer from Anthony Sally to take a 12-10 lead with 14:50 left in the first half. But it was the last lead for WKU, as Jerry Smith countered with a three of his own on the ensuing possession to ignite a 14-2 run as the Cardinals pushed their spread into double figures at 24-14 with 10:10 on the clock.

Nine of the 14 points in the run came off WKU turnovers. Louisville finished the game with an outstanding 36-18 edge in points off miscues, forcing WKU into 25 turnovers for the first time since an 86-81 overtime loss at Arizona on December 21, 2005.

WKU did claw back to pull within four at 28-24 with 5:48 remaining thanks to a 10-4 spurt fueled by five from Steffphon Pettigrew and a three from AJ Slaughter. Pettigrew finished with a game-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds while Slaughter added 16 points and five assists.

The key run, however, came in the closing five minutes of the half as Samardo Samuels converted a free throw and Smith drilled another triple, the start of a 13-1 run that ballooned the lead to 41-25 with 2:07 on the clock, taking a 45-30 advantage into the locker room at the break.

Smith and Edgar Sosa each had 17 to lead the Cardinals while Samuels chipped in 14.

In the second half, after a Jeremy Evans' bucket 20 seconds into the final frame, Louisville scored 19 of the next 24 points to open up a 64-37 spread on Jared Swopshire's fastbreak dunk with 13:41 to play.

The 102 points scored by Louisville was just the second time the Cardinals had achieved that feat in the 73-game series, with the other occurence coming 25 years ago. Louisville won the battle of the boards 37-28, shot 55.6 percent from the field (35-of-63), and owned the paint 52-20.

WKU did get 19 points off its bench, 18 of which came from freshmen. Jordan Swing and Caden Dickerson each had career-highs with eight points a piece. Sally also finished with eight for the Toppers who connected on a season-best 10-of-24 three-pointers (41.7 percent).

WKU returns home to host Murray State on Tuesday, December 21 at 8:00 PM CT at Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers and Racers will meet for the 147th time, second only to WKU and Eastern Kentucky (154 meetings) for most games against one opponent.

TEAM NOTES:
• Tonight WKU played in its fifth-straight of 27 consecutive TV games
• Tonight crowd of 19,531 was the fifth of more than 8,000 fans that the Hilltoppers have played in front of this season
• WKU has now made a three-pointer in 680-straight games (dating back to the inaugural season for the shot in 1986-87), ranking sixth all-time
• WKU (.723) and Louisville (.730) are among the top 20 programs in winning percentage over the past nine seasons
• WKU entered the game ranked 59th in RPI; Louisville was 95th
• WKU falls to 39-34 all-time against Louisville; the 73 meetings between the programs ranks as the sixth-most the Hilltoppers have faced an opponent
• WKU falls to 78-78 all-time (.500) against the 16 current members of the Big East Conference
• Louisville scored 100 points or more for the first time this season; the Cardinals improve to 85-6 under Rick Pitino when scoring at least 80 points
• Louisville scored 100 points against WKU for just the second time in the 73-game series (other was a 107-81 loss at Freedom Hall on December 26, 1974)
• WKU committed a season-high 25 turnovers, the most since committing 25 in an overtime loss at Arizona 86-81 on December 21, 2005
• WKU connected on a season-best 10 three-pointers
• WKU trailed at the half for the seventh time in nine games this season (4-3 in those contests)