Louisville 80, South Florida 60

1/23/2008 8:57 PM

By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Earl Clark came off the bench to score 18 points and grab eight rebounds Wednesday night, leading Louisville to an 80-60 rout of South Florida.

The Cardinals (14-5, 4-2) rebounded from a 10-point loss at Seton Hall to win for the fifth time in six games. USF (10-10, 1-6) has lost six straight - all in the Big East by double-digits - after winning its conference opener against Rutgers.

Jerry Smith and David Padgett scored 12 apiece for Louisville, which led 45-26 at the half and used a 10-0 run to end any threat for a USF comeback after the Bulls trimmed their deficit to 63-49 with eight minutes left.

The Cardinals methodically built their 19-point halftime lead, with Clark making 6 of 9 shots and scoring 14 points. Leading scorer Terrence Williams didn't even attempt a shot in the opening half, but got his teammates involved in the offense with 10 assists.

Louisville, second in the conference in scoring defense after giving up 92 in its loss at Seton Hall, limited the Bulls to 39 percent shooting and used a variety of fullcourt defensive pressure to force 15 turnovers.

Once again, Kentrell Gransberry was a virtual one-man show for USF until freshman Dominique Jones got on track in the second half. The 6-foot-9 center scored 14 of his team's first 18 points and finished with 22 on 10-for-16 shooting.

Jones scored all 15 of his points in the second half.

Louisville squandered a 14-point second-half lead against Seton Hall, but USF doesn't have nearly enough offensive punch to overcome such a deficit.

Williams, coming off his second triple-double of the season, finished with seven points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.