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Smith, Siva assist Louisville in opening win

RUSS SMITH scored 23 points and Peyton Siva added 10 points and 10 assists as No. 2 Louisville pulled away from visiting Manhattan for a season-opening 79-51 victory on Sunday.

RUSS SMITH scored 23 points and Peyton Siva added 10 points and 10 assists as No. 2 Louisville pulled away from visiting Manhattan for a season-opening 79-51 victory on Sunday.

Chane Behanan had nine rebounds and eight points for the Cardinals as they won their ninth straight opener.

The Cardinals won despite continuing woes with their three-point shooting. They went 8-for-30, with Smith making four of 13.

Siva, the Most Outstanding Player in last season's Big East Conference tournament, matched his career high in assists while recording only his second double-double.

Rhamel Brown had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Manhattan and Michael Alverado added 13. George Beamon, the Jaspers' top scorer, did not play after injuring his ankle in practice on Friday.

The school played for the first time since the 2002-03 season. This was the first time Jaspers coach Steve Masiello coached against Louisville, where he was an assistant under Rick Pitino from 2005-11.

"That was some homecoming," Masiello joked. "We struggled to find our flow offensively."

Louisville forced 27 Manhattan turnovers and held the Jaspers to 36 percent shooting.

Manhattan had a rough lead-in on the season. The Jaspers were displaced by Superstorm Sandy, practiced in a borrowed gym and had an exhibition game against C.W. Post cancelled.

In other games:

* At Columbus, Deshaun Thomas scored 13 of his 19 points in a 17-2 run to end the half, leading No. 4 Ohio State to an 82-60 victory over Albany in the Buckeyes' season opener.

* At San Diego, C.J. Fair and Michael Carter-Williams each scored 16 points and No. 9 Syracuse blew past No. 20 San Diego State 62-49 on the flight deck of the USS Midway.

* At Chapel Hill, James Michael McAdoo had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 11 North Carolina beat Florida Atlantic, 80-56.

* At Gainesville, Kenny Boynton scored 22 points and No. 10 Florida cruised past Alabama State 84-35 in the Gators' opener.

* At Waco, Texas, Pierre Jackson had 25 points and seven assists for No. 19 Baylor, and the Bears rolled to a 78-47 victory over Jackson State.

* At Madison, junior Ben Brust had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 23 Wisconsin scored the first 19 points in an 87-47 rout of Southeastern Louisiana.

* At Cincinnati, Cashmere Wright scored 16 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 14 as No. 24 Cincinnati cruised to an 80-57 season-opening win over Tennessee-Martin.

* At Tucson, Mark Lyons scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half of his debut for Arizona and the 12th-ranked Wildcats escaped with an 82-73 victory over Charleston Southern.