RAPID REACTION | Louisville shines early, but Duke turned its lights on late in 84-73 win

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For 20 minutes, Louisville basketball borrowed the keys to a very fast car.

The ball zipped. The shots fell. The Cardinals spread the floor, drove and kicked, and rained in 10 of 21 three-pointers like they were throwing darts in a pub league. At halftime, they led No. 6 Duke 47-38, and the KFC Yum! Center buzzed with that dangerous thought: What if?

Then Duke woke up.

And when Duke wakes up, it doesn't stretch. It hunts.

"In the second half," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. "That was Duke defense."

It was Duke's eighth straight win over Louisville, and third straight when it held a halftime lead only to get put away in the second.

The second half was a talent audit. Duke pressed out on shooters, turned jump shots into traffic jams, and began attacking the rim with the confidence of a team that knows the answer key. Culture can carry you far. But on this night, talent ate culture for dinner and asked for dessert.

Cameron Boozer scored 27 points with the calm of a player already operating on a higher plane. Isaiah Evans added 23. Caleb Foster got into the lane whenever he wanted and finished with 20. Together, they turned a nine-point halftime deficit into an 84-73 Duke win that felt larger than the final margin. Duke outscored Louisville by 20 in the second half, their eighth straight win over the Cardinals.

Louisville, after that first-half fireworks show, couldn't even get clean looks from deep, let alone make them. The Cardinals went 2-for-17 from three after the break. Duke owned the paint, 40-26, lived at the free-throw line, 19-9, and dictated every important possession.

The Blue Devils' offense simplified into screens and isolations, and Louisville simply had no defensive answer for Duke's length, speed and angles. It wasn't complicated. It was relentless. After shooting 17 threes in the first half, Duke took only six in the second, recommitted to playing inside-out, and wore Louisville down.

Ryan Conwell scored 24 points to lead Louisville. Aly Khalifa hit a career-high five three-pointers and finished with 17. Adrian Wooley added 11. But without freshman point guard Mikel Brown — now out for a fifth straight game — turnovers again told the story. Duke forced 14, eight of them steals in the second half, and turned those mistakes into a 16-6 edge in points off turnovers.

Brown, wearing a back brace, was engaged on the bench, living every possession. But Louisville is now 2-3 without him since he was first sidelined, and the margin for error grows thinner by the night.

For a half, Louisville played the game it wanted.

For the other half, Duke reminded everyone whose game it really was.

Next up for the Cardinals: Boston College on Saturday.