Louisville, Ky. ? Rick Pitino inserted guard Brad Gianiny into Louisville’s starting lineup to give Taquan Dean some freedom and ended up liberating Brandon Jenkins.

Jenkins scored a career-high 20 points, including a key three-pointer with 3:13 to go, to lead the 11th-ranked Cardinals (7-1) to a 76-68 victory over Middle Tennessee State in the opening round of the Billy Minardi Classic on Tuesday night.

After watching his team, Dean in particular, struggle in a loss Saturday at Kentucky, Pitino decided to give the steady Gianiny his first career start. Dean hardly looked relieved, struggling to finish with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting and turning the ball over three times.

Jenkins, who scored just six points in the loss at Kentucky, filled the void. After the Blue Raiders pulled within 66-63, he calmly drained an open three-pointer to push the lead to six. A minute later, his driving layup gave the Cardinals a 71-64 lead and they improved to 7-0 in the four-year history of the tournament.

“Taquan was rusty, couldn’t find his groove, so I just tried to attack the basket,” said Jenkins, who had five assists. “It was a bizarre game. If we could have played defense in the second half, we would have put them away.”

Louisville's David Padgett, left, and Middle Tennessee State's Kyle Young battle for a rebound as Louisville's Juan Palacios look on in the background. Padgett, a transfer from Kansas, scored 18 points, and Louisville defeated Middle Tennessee, 76-68, Tuesday night in Louisville, Ky.

Adam Vogelsberg led five Middle Tennessee players in double figures with 14 points, and the Blue Raiders rallied after coach Kermit Davis was ejected after picking up two technical fouls with 15:55 to play.

No. 4 Memphis 76, Louisiana Tech 58

Memphis, Tenn. – Rodney Carney scored a career-high 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Memphis over Louisiana Tech.

Carney, a senior forward, was 14-of-25 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, as the Tigers (9-1) won their sixth straight since losing to Duke in the finals of the Preseason NIT. Memphis led by as many as 21 points in the second half and was up at least 10 points over the final 12 minutes.

Freshman forward Shawne Williams added 17 points for the Tigers, who shot 40 percent and committed 18 turnovers.

Paul Millsap led Louisiana Tech (6-5) with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Millsap, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, was 10-of-19 from the field, but there was little support for him as no other Louisiana Tech player scored more than eight points.

No. 25 Iowa 65, Drake 60

Iowa City, Iowa – Adam Haluska hit two three-pointers in the final 1:37, and Iowa survived a late scare from Drake before beating the Bulldogs for the 27th straight time.

Greg Brunner had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa (9-3), which won its second straight without injured point guard Jeff Horner and improved to 11-0 against Drake at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.