LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Unranked William & Mary was hanging with No. 13 Louisville until a 16-0 run blew the game open near the end of the first half.

Sophomore small forward Deng Adel, who had eight points during the run, finished with 16 in Louisville's 91-58 win on Monday night in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

"Well, it turned the game completely in that last two minutes of the first half it was 34-31, if I remember correctly, and we missed two free throws and then we just unraveled," William & Mary coach Tony Shaver said.

"Again, I'll give them a lot of credit for that. Their pressure - I use to be a pressure coach - it takes its toll on you as a team as the game goes on a little bit. Our execution the last two minutes of the half was terrible. And we paid the price for that really."

"You get into runs because you score, then you get into your press, then you get loose balls, then you get the other team to shoot quickly, and then it has that boom effect," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.

The Cardinals' aggressive defense seemed to frustrate William & Mary the last two minutes of the first half and throughout the second as Louisville built a three-point lead into a 33-point win.

"I think we were just being aggressive," Adel said. "I think it was out defense that stepped up. We kept them off the 3-point line and we limited their shot attempts. Our bigs and their great shot blocking ability scares them. We saw them a lot of times just dribble it out. I think out defense sparked the run."

V.J. King finished with 17 points, Adel had 16 and Quentin Snider and Jaylen Johnson had 13 apiece. Ray Spalding had 10 points. Nathan Knight and Omar Prewitt led the Tribe with 14 points apiece.

The Cardinals seemed to be rolling early, building a quick 12-6 lead and pushing ahead 19-8 by the 12:34 mark. Louisville led by double digits three times during the first half, but each time William & Mary cut the lead back to a reasonable margin.

The closest the Tribe got was within a possession, 34-31. A dunk by freshman forward Nathan Knight cut Louisville's lead to three points with just over two minutes remaining before halftime.

After the Tribe mounted that last challenge of the half, Louisville countered with a 9-0 run to take a 44-31 lead into the locker room. A trio of free throws by Adel ended the Tribe run, two more free throws a possession later pushed the Louisville lead back to eight points and a layup by sophomore power forward Ray Spalding put the Cardinals ahead 41-31. Adel added a 3-pointer just before halftime.

Louisville scored the first six points of the second half, building a 50-31 lead before a pair of free throws by William & Mary senior guard Daniel Dixon finally stopped the 16-0 run.

The Cardinals didn't stop pressing, taking their first 20-point lead on a layup by Johnson with 15:15 left to go ahead 54-33.

"I think it's their defense, and the fact the pressure builds as the game goes on, it wears your legs out," Shaver said. "A lot of it had to do with poor shot selection, too. Again, we were just unraveled offensively and our execution was not even close to what we would like have ... we are not in their class right now."

Louisville held the Tribe to just one field goal in the first nine minutes of the second half and never came within 19 points the rest of the game.

"I know because it is a lopsided victory you may not understand this, but this will be one of the toughest teams we have to prepare for all season because of the way they play. Because they can put four shooters on the floor at any time. They backdoor you to death, they are like Notre Dame shooting the ball and like the old Georgetown teams with the backdoor cuts. They are very difficult to guard," Pitino said. "We really did a great job of putting the pressure on without fouling."

NOTES: Louisville has won its last 40 consecutive home games in November spanning the last 25 years, including a perfect 27-0 record in the KFC Yum! Center. ... Louisville forced William & Mary into 11 turnovers in the first half. ... The Tribe recorded a school-record 22 steals in its season-opening win vs. D-III Bridgewater. William & Mary had just one steal in the first half vs. Louisville, and two for the game. ... William & Mary led for 19 seconds in the first half.