Freshman Samardo Samuels was dominant for the second consecutive night, scoring 24 points yesterday to lead third-ranked Louisville to an 81-54 victory against South Alabama in the final of the Billy Minardi Classic in Louisville, Ky.

Samuels hit his first eight shots from the field -- all of them either dunks or layups in traffic -- and grabbed five rebounds as Louisville (2-0) capped an easy opening weekend by racing past the Jaguars (2-2) in the second half.

Terrence Williams had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Earl Clark added 12 points and five boards for the Cardinals, who used a suffocating defense to force 24 turnovers and hold the Jaguars to 36 percent shooting.

It's a good sign for coach Rick Pitino, who said he would judge his team's progress not by how many points it scored, but by how it did on the other end of the floor.

Brandon Davis led South Alabama with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Domonic Tilford added 16 points, but the Jaguars were no match for Louisville's size or depth. Eleven Cardinals played and all but two scored.

Louisville never trailed but needed a while to put away South Alabama. Tilford hit a fadeaway that pulled the Jaguars within 39-31 less than two minutes into the second half, but the Cardinals responded with a 22-5 run. Andre McGee got it going with a 3-pointer and Samuels finished it with two free throws that pushed the lead to 61-36 with 10:15 remaining.

Samuels' hopes for a perfect night from the field, however, ended when Davis stuffed him while going up for a dunk with the Cardinals up 24. No biggie.

Samuels finished his game with one more jam and walked off to a standing ovation after a sparkling debut at Freedom Hall.

• Connecticut 76, Miami 63: Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and A.J. Price added 13 points and 11 rebounds in second-ranked Connecticut's victory against No. 17 Miami in the Paradise Jam at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Island. The Huskies (4-0) will face Wisconsin today in the final of the eight-team tournament. Miami (2-1) will face San Diego in the consolation. The Huskies had a 48-30 advantage in points in the paint.

• DePaul 67, Ill.-Chicago 63: Freshman Jeremiah Kelly hit a 3 to break a 59-59 tie with 2:02 left and Will Walker scored 17 points as DePaul (2-0) held on to defeat Illinois-Chicago (1-2).

• Seton Hall 77, Virginia Tech 73: Jeremy Hazell scored 23 points to lead Seton Hall (4-1) past Virginia Tech (3-2) in the third-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip Off in San Juan.

• St. Bonaventure 64, Rutgers 63: Jonathan Hall scored 18 points and Chris Matthews' fastbreak layup with 2:35 left proved to be the winning points as St. Bonaventure defeated Rutgers in overtime in a Garden State Challenge game in Piscataway, N.J.