MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Rick Pitino's deep bench is paying off in the rugged Big East. With heralded freshman Wayne Blackshear back in the mix, No. 24 Louisville is riding a six-game winning streak.
Kyle Kuric scored 17 points to lead five Louisville players in double figures and Louisville used a late 9-0 run to rally past slumping West Virginia 77-74 on Saturday.
The Cardinals (20-5, 8-4 Big East) have had five different leading scorers during the winning streak and added depth with Blackshear.
Article Photos
AP Photos
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins argues with a referee in the second half against Louisville at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The Cardinals won, 77-74.
The McDonald's All-American played his first game of the season and finished with 13 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting. He suffered a right shoulder injury in October and wore a protective sleeve in the game Saturday, his 20th birthday.
Pitino said he planned all week to play Blackshear, but didn't want West Virginia to know about it.
"Wayne Blackshear came in and gave us a really big lift," Pitino said. "He gave us 20 good minutes. The one thing that was evident when Wayne came back was that he really knows how to play the game. His mental capabilities on the floor are terrific."
Russ Smith had 16 points off the bench for the Cardinals. Chris Smith added 13 points and Peyton Siva scored 10.
It was another close battle of Big East rivals whose four previous meetings were decided by a combined nine points.
And it marked the latest meltdown for the Mountaineers (16-10, 6-7), who lost for the fifth time in six games and need a quick turnaround to secure a fifth straight NCAA tournament bid.
"We've just got to keep fighting," said West Virginia forward Kevin Jones. "That's all we can do. We can't worry about the last game, win or lose."
Jones had 22 points and 11 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season after having a nine-game streak snapped in a home loss to Notre Dame on Wednesday.
Deniz Kilicli added 17 points and Darryl "Truck" Bryant scored 13 for the Mountaineers.
But Bryant, who had 32 points at Providence last Sunday only to get shut out against Notre Dame on Wednesday, went just 3-of-17 from the floor.
West Virginia led 63-54 after a Kilicli basket with 10:49 left, but he didn't score again and eventually fouled out. Louisville went to a full-court press to force turnovers and seize the momentum.
"I thought our depth helped our pressure," Pitino said. "I thought we had fresh bodies. We've played a lot of games where we were the tired team because guys were playing 37-38 minutes. We didn't know if we were going to win, but we felt that we had our legs all the way to the end."
