Louisville, KY -- (Sports Network) - Samardo Samuels had 15 points as the ninth- ranked Louisville Cardinals used a balanced attack to down the Lamar Cardinals by a 78-56 final, capping a perfect run in the Marques Maybin Classic from Freedom Hall.

Jerry Smith netted 12 points and Terrence Williams hauled down a game-high 13 boards to go along with five points for Louisville (5-1), which hosted the event and had no trouble in disposing of Indiana State and Ohio in the first two rounds, respectively.

The Marques Maybin Classic is a four-team, round robin tournament held over a three-day stretch -- honoring Louisville's No. 13 all-time leading scorer, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident in 2003.

Louisville's recent success, however, came on the heels of a stunning loss to Western Kentucky in late November. Louisville remained perfect at home, getting 31 points from the bench in the win, having notched each of its five victories at Freedom Hall.

"It was a good basketball game -- it wasn't a great basketball game for us," Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. "I think we're continuing to get better defensively. I think we're executing on our half court offense. We're playing better defense and we're rebounding better."

Jay Brown led the way with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Lamar (6-3), which was coming off a heart-breaking loss, falling to Indiana State on a last-second shot on Sunday.

Kenny Dawkins chipped in with 13 points and six boards as Lamar hit at only a 35.2 percent clip from the field, including a dismal 4-of-19 showing from beyond the arc.

"They're number nine in the country for a reason. They play with a lot of energy. They do a lot of things and they put a lot of pressure on you. We had a hard time executing on offense with their pressure," Lamar head coach Steve Roccaforte said.

Lamar held its own early on with Brown's jumper good for a 10-9 lead but Louisville turned it on with a 14-2 run with a bucket from Earl Clark making it a 23-12 affair. A three-pointer from Andre McGee made it 34-19 just inside two minutes left in the half but a pair of free throws from Brown and a subsequent jumper left Lamar down by only 11 points, 34-23, at the break.

Louisville, though, scored the first 12 points of the second half and a slam by Terrence Jennings made it a 20-point game in the early going. Will Scott's triple with just under 4 1/2 minutes remaining made it a 70-46 contest and the outcome was never in question down the stretch.

Game Notes:

Lamar had dropped its only two previous encounters with Louisville on the hardwood, with Monday's game the first meeting between the programs in 26 years...Louisville shot 46.8 percent from the floor but was only 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the free throw line...McGee had nine points and Clark six to go along with six boards and five assists for Louisville...Jennings also had six points.