LAIE, Hawaii - Louisville coach Rick Pitino wanted a tuneup for the Maui Invitational. Division II Brigham Young-Hawaii provided much more.
Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon each scored 18, and No. 14 Louisville rallied to beat BYUH 89-79 Saturday in its season opener.
"I wanted this game to prepare us for the Maui Classic," Pitino said. "They were a scary opponent to play with your first game. We knew we had to play our hearts out to get a victory."
The game marked the return of Pitino to Hawaii. He began his career at Hawaii as a graduate assistant in 1974-75 and was an assistant coach in 1975-76.
The Cardinals rallied with tough defense and the scoring of Dean, who had 11 of his 18 in the final 20 minutes. Louisville forced 24 turnovers and scored 15 off 12 turnovers in the second half.
More C-USA
DePAUL 69, BOWLING GREEN 59: Sammy Mejia scored a career-high 22 and Marlon Brumfield had a career-best 15 rebounds for the host DePaul. Drake Diener scored all 14 of his points in the second half as DePaul rallied.
MARQUETTE 66, KENT ST. 61: Steve Novak scored 21, including six 3-pointers, and Travis Diener added 14 for the Golden Eagles in the championship game of the Blue and Gold Pepsi Classic in Milwaukee.
NO. 9 UK 77, COPPIN ST. 46: Guards Patrick Sparks and Rajon Rondo combined for 21 points and led a strong defensive effort for the Wildcats. Chuck Hayes added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the host Wildcats.
NO. 11 DUKE 88, UT-MARTIN 46: J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing each had 20 points for the host Blue Devils. Sheldon Williams added 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Blue Devils broke away after a fairly tight first half to open coach Mike Krzyzewski's 25th season in style.
Top 25
NO. 8 UCONN 90, BUFFALO 68: Rashad Anderson scored 23 and Josh Boone added 18 as the host Huskies began defense of their NCAA title with overpowering post play and a crisp transition game. The sharp-shooting Anderson dominated from the perimeter, hitting 4 of 9 3-point attempts.
NO. 17 PITT 81, HOWARD 55: Chevon Troutman scored 18 for the host Panthers, and freshman Ronald Ramon was 4-of-6 in 3-pointers as Pitt made 6 of 12 attempts.
NO. 21 WISCONSIN 77, PENN 44: Mike Wilkinson scored all but two of his 19 in the second half, and Brian Butch, a 6-foot-11 redshirt freshman who spent last season bulking up, had 10 points and four rebounds for the host Badgers.
State
MIAMI 67, WOFFORD 64: Anthony King grabbed 19 rebounds and added eight points as the host 'Canes held off a late rally.
UCF 55, UTAH ST. 52: Kingsley Edwards hit the winning 3-pointer for the Knights in the Top of the World Classic at Fairbanks, Alaska.
