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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisvilles frontcourt led the way over an outmatched opponent.Mangok Mathiang scored 15 points to help No. 11 Louisville to a 74-51 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night.The 6-foot-10 senior got the Cardinals (8-1) off to a hot start as he scored the teams first seven points, and Louisville settled in from there, extending the lead 21-4 in the games first 8 minutes.Sophomore Deng Adel, who finished with his first career double-double, said the team came out focused at the start.I think it was just our ball movement, said the 6-7 forward, who finished with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, besting the seven he grabbed against Boston College last February. Guys were looking to run. A lot of it was easy points. We threw it into the bigs a lot. Mangok ignited that run got a couple day post-ups.In making six of nine shots, Mathiang finished two points shy of his career high in just 22 minutes.As Southern Illinois (5-4) came to the Yum! Center with no one taller than 6-9, Louisville used its size to its advantage. The Cardinals blocked nine shots and outrebounded the Salukis 43-31.Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson said he knew there would be a bit of a shock factor in play, and he thought his team got over that as they cut the Louisville lead to 37-26 at halftime, thanks to an 8-0 run over the final 1:32. However, in the first 4 minutes of the second half, Louisville built the lead back to 18 points.Their length, obviously, their size bothered us, specifically in the first half, Hinson said. Youve got to give credit to coach (Rick) Pitino. They went down at us. We knew they were going to.Jaylen Johnson, a 6-9 junior, finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Mathiang, Johnson, 7-footer Matz Stockman and 6-10 Ray Spalding combined to shoot 15 of 20, with all the baskets coming inside the paint.We have size, Pitino said. We throw to the low post. If theyre not doubling, then were going to get easy shots.Sean OBrien led the Salukis with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Mike Rodriguez added 15 points.BIG PICTURESouthern Illinois: For the third time this season, the Salukis fell to a Power Five foe on the road and all of the losses have been by double digits. Not only could the Salukis not deal with Louisvilles size, they also failed to stretch out the Cardinals defense as they made just 5 of 24 3-point shots.Louisville: For a team that has struggled at times on offense, the Cardinals looked strong in the first half. Even without Anas Mahmoud, their main big man who missed his second game because of a concussion, Louisvilles frontcourt more than held its own against the smaller Salukis. Four Cardinals who stand 6-9 or taller combined to go 8 of 10 from the field in the first half, helping the team shoot 55.2 percent in the first 20 minutes.HE SAID ITI dont think were great at anything. I think were good at a lot of things. I dont think were great at anything, but we hope to get there, though . in a hurry. Pitino, assessing his team in the post-game news conference. Two weeks from tonight, the Cardinals will host No. 6 Kentucky, starting a three-game, 10-day stretch against teams currently ranked 14th or higher.POLL IMPLICATIONSLouisville got out to a hot start, and while the shooting cooled to just 36.7 percent in the second half, the Cardinals still built the lead to as many as 25 points in the second half. The Cardinals did as most expected, enabling them to stay on the fringe of the Top 10, ready to re-enter should a higher ranked team fall this weekend.UP NEXTSouthern Illinois returns home to play Sam Houston State on Saturday.On Saturday afternoon, Louisville hosts Texas Southern, which lost 74-70 to the Salukis on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.Brian Burns Womens Jersey . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Sam Mills Womens Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-cam-newton-blue-jersey/ . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Christian Miller Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Curtis Samuel Panthers Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum is so close to returning from knee surgery that he can see the light.Beachum will make his Jaguars debut Sunday night against Cincinnati, starting at left tackle. It will be his first game action since the former Pittsburgh Steelers starter tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Arizona on Oct. 18.I dont know how close, but I really feel close to being similar to myself, said Beachum, who started 39 games in four seasons with the Steelers. And thats a good thing right now.After signing a five-year, $45 million contract with Jacksonville in free agency, Beachum sat out the teams entire offseason program while recovering from reconstructive surgery. He returned sooner than expected, getting back on the field during the first week of training camp, but then was shut down as a precaution. The brief stint on the field gave Beachum a chance to evaluate where he was at physically and mentally, and allowed him get a better feel for how far he had to go to get back to 100 percent.He missed Jacksonvilles first two preseason games, but returned to full practice this week in anticipation of playing against the Bengals.Ive had to have some conversations with a number of my colleagues and people that Im close to about this process, which has been a little rough at times, Beachum said. But, like I said, its closer than it was a month ago. Its closer than it was last week. Just taking it a day at a time and making sure that Im being patient, and thats hard to do at this point.Especially with the opener against Green Bay a little more than two weeks away.Beachum feels like he wont be fully back until he plays an entire game. He wont do that in the preseason, so his first channce will come Sept.dddddddddddd 11 against the Packers.In the meantime, he needs to get as acclimated as possible to new teammates as well as playing full speed with a knee brace. And he needs to finalize where hes going to line up.Beachum and Luke Joeckel, the second overall pick in the 2013 draft, shared repetitions at left tackle and left guard early in camp. With Beachum out, Joeckel started two preseason games at left tackle and played well.So coach Gus Bradley has to decide whether to keep Joeckel there and move Beachum inside. Or slide Joeckel over and put Beachum at the position he primarily played in four seasons with the Steelers.His attitude is great about it, Bradley said. Hes gaining confidence every day. ... Whatever hes going through, its great to work through it. I think that builds great mental toughness, great confidence in what he can do, and you just see him every day progressing. That part is good. Im very pleased that we didnt (bring him back) too fast.Solidifying the line is one of Jacksonvilles top priorities heading into the season. Blake Bortles was sacked 106 times in two seasons, an NFL record for quarterbacks in their first two years.Having center Brandon Linder healthy after missing all of last season with a shoulder injury should be part of the solution. Getting Beachum back is a key, too.I pushed the needle and kind of pressed the envelope to try to get out there and get rolling, Beachum said. But I think they did a great job of managing the situation at the time. Feeling good right now. ... I can see the light.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '