Louisville eases by Middle Tennessee in NIT's 2nd round

Mar 18, 2018, 09:10 pm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ray Spalding scored 18 points, Jordan Nwora added 17 and Louisville cruised into the NIT quarterfinals with an 84-68 victory over Middle Tennessee on Sunday.

Ryan McMahon chipped in with 15 points and V.J. King 13 for Louisville (22-13), which will face Mississippi State (24-11) on Tuesday night. Nwora and McMahon each made four of the Cardinals' 11 3-pointers.

Deng Adel, Louisville's leading scorer at 15.6 points, was scoreless in 21 minutes -- with just one shot attempt -- to remain 13 points shy of becoming the 69th 1,000-point scorer in program history.

McMahon and Spalding combined to score 23 of Louisville's 41 first-half points. The Cardinals shot 55 percent from the field in the half with 7-of-13 shooting from distance.

Conference USA player of the year Nick King scored 24 points and Brandon Walters added 16 for Middle Tennessee (25-8). Giddy Potts, who scored 25 points in the opening round, and Antwain Johnson each scored 10.

----

More AP college basketball: https://collegebasketball.ap.org; https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 and https://www.podcastone.com/ap-sports-special-events