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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The defending national champion Louisville Cardinals didn't waste any time proving they will can get back to the same stage. Louisville opened the game on a 22-2 run and never let up, topping Cornell 99-54 on Friday evening at the KFC Yum! Center. The third-ranked Cardinals improved to 3-0, while Cornell fell to 0-4.

Sophomore Nolan Cressler tallied 10 points and eight rebouinds to lead the Big Red, who suffered its worst loss since the 1995-96 season (100-46 vs. No. 4 Kansas). Senior forward Dwight Tarwater chipped in with nine points and five rebounds and classmate Dominick Scelfo had five points, three rebounds and three assists. Deion Giddens had five points and four rebounds and Robert Mischler hit a pair of 3-pointers for a career-best six points. The Big Red committed 19 turnovers and shot just 29 percent from the floor.

Louisville had five double figure scorers with Wayne Blackshear leading the way with 20 points. Chane Behanan notched 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Luke Hancock had 12 and both Russ Smith and Stephan Van Treese had 10 apiece. Montrezl Harrell registered seven points and 15 rebounds. Louisville shot 59 percent from the field and connected on 43 percent from beyond the arc.

The lights went out during introductions and took 15 minutes to come back on, and by the time they did, Louisville was ready to roll. Freshman David Onuorah put Cornell on the board with a big dunk less than a minute into the game to tie it at 2-2, but that was about as good as the Big Red would have it. Louisville put a 20-0 run on the visitors and forced a pair of Big Red timeouts before the first media timeout.

The Cardinals continued to build on its lead with great ball movement for open shots and pressure defense that forced three straight live ball turnovers for run-out baskets in less than a minute. By halftime it was a 53-14 game. Louisville led by as many as 49 before Cornell found a rhythm as part of a 12-0 Big Red run. Tarwater hit a pair of 3-pointers to highlight the spurt and the home team's second half advantage was just 46-40 with both teams liberally going to their benches in the final 20 minutes.

After playing two 2013 NCAA Final Four teams in its first week of the season, Cornell will attempt to pick up its first win of the year when it visits Colgate on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Cotterell Court.