Jared Swopshire collected 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench and No. 8 Louisville used a strong defensive effort to take down visiting Lamar, 68-48, on Sunday.

Freshman Chane Behanan added 10 points and 13 boards for Louisville (2-0), which will face its only true road test until New Year’s eve when it visits Butler on Saturday.

Louisville held Lamar to 23 percent (15 of 65) shooting, including 3 of 19 from 3-point range with its pressure defense. Lamar forward Charlie Harper had a particularly rough afternoon, shooting 1 of 11 before fouling out.

Louisville set the tone in the first half, jumping out to a 36-23 lead at the break while holding Lamar to 6 of 33 from the field.

Lamar (1-1) converted only one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second half, falling behind by as much as 17 points, 45-28. The Southland Conference Cardinals cut the lead to single digits with 6:01 left.

But Louisville regrouped, getting two free throws from Peyton Siva and a 3-pointer from Chris Smith to spark a run to the finish.