Jordan Nwora scored 22 points and Louisville hung on after squandering a 12-point, second-half lead to defeat the visiting Lipscomb Bisons 72-68 on Wednesday night.

Nwora's free throw with 14:35 left in the game put Louisville up, 50-38. But Lipscomb, which came back from a 19-point deficit in the final 10 minutes against Belmont earlier in the season, had plenty of fight left.

Garrison Mathews connected on two free throws to cut the Louisville lead to 66-63 with two minutes to play. Moments later, Mathews went back to free-throw line and cut the deficit to 66-65 with 1:28 left.

Malik Williams made 1 of 2 from the line for the Cardinals, and then the Bisons turned the ball over without taking a shot. Cristen Cunningham's only basket of the game sealed the win for Louisville (7-3) as Lipscomb turned the ball over again.

Matt Rose connected on a 3 with 4.3 seconds left to get Lipscomb within three. But Williams once again made one of two free throws, making it a two-possession game.

Mathews keyed a 14-2 second-half run with a pair of 3-pointers as the Bisons (7-3) tied the game at 52-all.

Dwayne Sutton's layup put the Cardinals back up for good. Ryan McMahon made two free throws, and Williams scored the next five Louisville points as the Cardinals went up eight with under seven to go.

Sutton finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Mathews finished with 20 points and made 5 of 11 from beyond the arc for the Bisons. Rob Marberry, the Bisons' leading scorer coming in, was held to 11 points.

Nwora, who came into the game as the Cardinals' leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, scored the team's first 11 points and then capped a 9-0 run early in the second half with a dunk as Louisville opened a 48-38 lead with under 15 minutes to go.

The Bisons held the Cardinals scoreless over the final 3:02 of the first half and scored eight straight to trail 34-33 at intermission.

Louisville outshot and outrebounded Lipscomb in the first half, but the Cardinals committed 10 turnovers to allow the Bisons to keep it close.

-Field Level Media