California Golden Bears at Louisville Cardinals

Edwards scores a career-best 35 points in No. 14 Louisville's 85-68 win over Cal

Edwards, the Sun Belt Player of the Year last season for James Madison, provided early offense as he made six of his first eight shots to give the Cardinals (24-6, 17-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 22-19 lead with 7:22 remaining before halftime.

Meanwhile, Edwards' teammates missed a combined 10 of 11 shots during that span. Edwards shot 11 of 19 overall from the field and set a career high with seven 3-pointers in 11 attempts.

Chucky Hepburn added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Louisville. J’Vonne Hadley finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 22 points for California (13-17, 6-13), which also got 11 from Jeremiah Wilkerson.

Louisville led by as much as 53-29 after Hepburn's three-point play with 17:20 left. The Bears drew as close as 13 at 64-51 after DJ Campbell's 3-pointer with 11:36 remaining, but the Cardinals pulled away again.

Takeaways California: The Bears, the ACC’s worst shooting team at just 42.1%, shot 29.6%. It’s their third time this season shooting worse than 30%.

Louisville: The Cardinals made 11 of 23 3-pointers, even as Reyne Smith, one of the nation’s top perimeter shooters, didn't play after injuring his right leg in the first half.

Key moment Mady Sissoko's jumper gave Cal a 19-16 lead with 8:06 left before halftime. That would be the Bears' last mad basket of the half as they missed their next 14 shots. Louisville went 8 for 12 in that stretch and took a 41-26 lead at the break.

Key stat Edwards joins Hepburn, Smith and Hadley as Cardinals have scored 30 points in a game this season.

Up next California wraps up the regular season Saturday at Notre Dame. Louisville hosts Stanford on Saturday.

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How can I watch California vs. Louisville?

• TV Channel: California at Louisville 2021 College Basketball, week 18, is broadcasted on ACC Network.
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