Louisville’s Russ Smith Goes For Career-High 31

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTGVVglQGEI]

New York City native Russ Smith scored a career-high 31 points and No. 5 Louisville cruised past Missouri-Kansas City 99-47 on Saturday.

Smith was 12 of 18 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range in surpassing his previous high of 30 last year against Kentucky. He led Louisville (8-1) in scoring for the sixth time in nine games, while also adding seven rebounds.

“There’s been a lot game that I’ve shown great effort,” Smith told Jody Demling in the above video. “I think tonight I felt like it was more great maturity. I’ve seen myself mature as far as not actually going out to hunt shots, but letting it all come to me.”

The AP contributed reporting.

Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.