USF made it close for a half, but the Bulls couldn't keep up with Louisville, falling 73-52 on Wednesday night at Freedom Hall in the Big East opener for both schools.

The Bulls (10-3, 0-1) got double-doubles from junior Jarrid Famous (12 points, 10 rebounds) and freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (11, 11) but saw guard Dominique Jones limited by foul trouble to just five points. USF hit less than half of its free throws (13-for-27) and went 1-for-9 on 3-pointers, with walk-on Ryan Kardok hitting the only one while playing 27 minutes. Louisville, which led by just one point at halftime, got 16 points and five assists from senior guard Edgar Sosa.

We reported in Wednesday's paper that point guard Justin Leemow hadn't practiced with the team since before Christmas, and he made it to Louisville on Wednesday afternoon. Coach Stan Heath had said he didn't expect Leemow to play, but with depth issues, the sophomore played nine minutes, with five turnovers and two points.

Here's a link to our full story from Louisville and correspondent Steve Bittenbender, and here's the box score from ESPN.com. ...