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PHOENIX -- Louisville coach Rick Pitino has played in the most difficult arenas in college basketball. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina.Hes faced some of the games best guards through the years. Bobby Hurley, John Wall, Sherman Douglass.Never before had he seen a combination like DeWayne Russell and the rowdy Grand Canyon Havocs.Overcoming a dominating performance by Russell and Grand Canyons boisterous student section, No. 14 Louisville escaped with a harder-than-expected, 79-70 win over the Antelopes Saturday night.It made us a much better team tonight, Pitino said. Whether we go to Duke or Kentucky, nothing will be as tough an environment as this.Pitino agreed to this rare road game against a small, private school out of respect for GCU coach Dan Majerle.The Cardinals (7-1) won in a blowout the first game of the series a year ago at home, but faced a much more difficult challenge heading to the desert.Grand Canyons student section is secretly one of the best in college basketball, racing to their seats before the game to create a rave-like atmosphere .The Cardinals knew Russell, the Antelopes blur of a point guard, would be able to score, yet had no way of stopping him, no matter what they did.And as Russell continued to pour in shots on his way to a career-high 42 points, the students known as the Havocs pushed the Antelopes within reach of the biggest win in school history.Ive never seen anything like it, Majerle said. Ive seen some great performances and thats the most amazing thing Ive seen.After struggling to find an offensive rhythm in the first half, Louisville started to find the mark with good passing. The Cardinals hit 17 of 31 shots in the second half and had a 22-point advantage in the paint to pull away.Deng Adel scored 15 points, while V.J. King and Ray Spalding added 14 each for Louisville, which played without 7-foot center Anas Muhmoud (concussion).Our passing was great in the second half, Pitino said. That was the difference.Missing three starters, Grand Canyon (3-4) led Louisville at halftime and kept the Cardinals close until the midpoint of the second half.Russell was the reason.The wispy 5-foot-11 senior weaved his way through Louisvilles defense despite facing constant traps and double teams, scoring on pull-up jumpers and a pair of 3-pointers for 18 points by halftime. Russell closed it with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Grand Canyon up 37-36 at halftime.Russell kept his one-man show rolling in the second half, bringing the crowd to its feet again and again, including a baseline teardrop shot that appeared to float as high as the shot clock.Coach Majerle told me where the traps were going to come from, how they were going to defend me and I just did the best I could to execute the plan, said Russell, who hit 14 of 27 shots.Louisville put together a short run midway through the second half to go up 10 and kept its cushion despite Russells performance.BIG PICTURELouisville had another rough night shooting from the perimeter and had a hard time shaking a small school that isnt in Division I yet. Not what the Cardinals had in mind on the trip to the desert, but there will be plenty for coach Rick Pitino to use in the film room and practice.Grand Canyon schedules games like this -- it also has Duke and Arizona on this seasons schedule -- to gain exposure and experience against big-time programs. The Lopes fell short, but will benefit in the long run.POLL IMPLICATIONSScraping past a the Lopes could cost the Cardinals a few spots in the poll Monday.UNEXPECTED LIFTWith the Cardinals struggling to get any kind of flow offensively in the first half, coach Rick Pitino turned to Matz Stockman.The junior from Norway played a total of 15 minutes through the first seven games, scoring five points. He came alive when given the chance against GCU, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds in the first half.I never I thought Id see the day where Id call timeouts and run plays for him, Pitino said. But thats what happened and he executed it beautifully.UP NEXTLouisville hosts Southern Illinois on Wednesday night.Grand Canyon hosts San Diego State on Wednesday night.Kenny Golladay Womens Jersey . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. T.J. Hockenson Jersey . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. http://www.lionsfanspro.com/Black-Barry-Sanders-Lions-Jersey.html?cat=861 . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Will Harris Youth Jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Austin Bryant Youth Jersey . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As the White Sox gauge the trade market for?Chris Sale, their decision to pursue a deal or stand pat will be rooted in baseball concerns rather than any lingering animosity from past confrontations with the teams ace.Sales ongoing differences with the Chicago front office came to the fore in July when he sliced up the teams throwback uniforms rather than wear them in a game. He received a five-game suspension for insubordination and destroying team equipment.But White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told ESPN.com on Tuesday that past rifts will play no part in the teams offseason deliberations.Its a nonfactor, Hahn said from the MLB general managers meetings. Its zero factor from our standpoint in terms of his fit with us or our belief that he can help be the anchor of a championship-caliber rotation.Whether it influences some other clubs view of him, I dont know. I dont think it should. I think a lot of what weve seen from Chris is part of what makes him great. Its that competitiveness, that fight, that sometimes spills over a little bit into areas outside the white lines. Its part of what makes him so good during the game.Sale, 27, is likely to be a hot commodity for teams in search of a front-line starter because of his track record and his contract. Since 2012, Sale ranks fifth among MLB starters with a 3.04 ERA, third in strikeouts (1,133) behind Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, and third in baseball-reference.coms wins above replacement (27.6) behind Kershaw and Scherrzer.ddddddddddddSale is under contract for $12 million next season, and the White Sox have club options for $12.5 million in 2018 and $13.5 million in 2019.Sale, Chris Archer, Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Sonny Gray are among the front-line starters who have been mentioned as potential trade targets in an extremely weak free-agent market. Rich Hill, Ivan Nova, Andrew Cashner and Jeremy Hellickson are the top available free agents.The White Sox finished fourth in the American League Central with a 78-84 record this past season and havent finished above .500 since 2012. Manager Robin Ventura resigned at the end of the season, and Rick Renteria was chosen to replace him.While a Sale trade would be a clear indication that the White Sox plan to rebuild rather than try to make a playoff push in 2017, Hahn declined to address which way the team might be leaning.We have a pretty firm sense internally about what we want to accomplish, Hahn said. But Ive been saying this for months back in Chicago: Theres just not any advantage to us to declare publicly exactly what were trying to accomplish.Once we start making deals, well explain precisely the rationale behind them. Are we looking to add and compete right now, or are we looking for a more long-term benefit? The last few years, weve taken a shorter-term, stopgap type of approach, and obviously that hasnt borne fruit. ' ' '