LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Omaha men's basketball surged late but fell short Friday night, dropping an 87-78 decision to No. 18 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. The Mavericks are now 0-4 on the season, while the Cardinals -- the highest-ranked opponent Omaha has faced in the Division I era -- improve to 2-0.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Senior Daniel Norl led the way for Omaha, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. Senior Lamar Wofford-Humphrey, making his first career start, achieved his first double-double with seasons bests of 14 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block.
 
Junior Zach Jackson put up 15 points with a season-high eight rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block. Sophomore KJ Robinson followed with seasons bests of 14 points, three boards, five assists and three steals.
 
Leaders for Louisville
The Cardinals got a double-double from Ray Spalding, who posted 19 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists. Deng Adel finished with a game-high 21 points with eight caroms and four assists, and Anas Mahmoud rounded it out with 10 points, eight boards and a game-high eight blocks. Dwayne Sutton also pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
Team Stats
Louisville shot .464 (32-of-69) to Omaha's .360 (31-of-86) and had a 53-41 rebounding advantage. The Mavericks had the edge in offensive boards, 22-18, and forced 17 Cardinal turnovers while committing just 10 miscues themselves to mark a season low.
 
Inside the First Half
Louisville shot .471 (16-of-34) behind 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting from Deng Adel in the first half. The Cardinals broke past a 9-9 tie and led from there, going up 40-25 by the break.
 
Inside the Second Half
Louisville took its largest lead of 20 early in the second stanza, but the Mavericks stormed back to single digits with a 13-1 run from 16:43 to 14:53, which made it 54-46. After the Cardinals went back up by double digits, Omaha again went on a 12-0 run punctuated with a Robinson triple to pull within 71-64 with 5:45 to go. UL answered with a 7-0 spurt and held Omaha off by at least eight the rest of the way.
 
Up Next
Omaha continues its seven-game road stretch on Monday, Nov. 20, visiting TCU as part of the Emerald Coast Classic. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Southwest Plus. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.