By R.B. Fallstrom
The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - Louisville coach Rick Pitino knew he couldn't win them all, and there's no time to worry about the end of the nation's longest winning streak.

The second-ranked Cardinals, upset 59-58 at Saint Louis on Wednesday night, are busily preparing for another test - a stern one. They travel Saturday to play No. 11 Marquette.

"We knew we were going to have a lot of bumps in the road," Pitino said. "We've played a very tough schedule, and everything's been falling our way."

Louisville (18-2, 8-1 Conference USA) has been beating its opponents by an average of 19 points and has been particularly strong in the second half. But Pitino said the Cardinals could easily have lost a few times during their 17-game winning streak.

The loss to Saint Louis (9-12, 3-7) was their first since a two-point setback to Purdue in the second game of the season. The 18-1 start was the school's best since 1955-56, when the Cardinals were 19-1 on the way to a 26-3 finish and the NIT championship.

Louisville's 1979-80 NCAA championship team won a school-record 18 in a row.

"Indiana outplayed us, Ohio State outplayed us, Tennessee outplayed us," Pitino said. "This is a game we should have won, so you can't gripe about it.

"We're not a spectacular team that overpowers anyone, and we've got to really stay with what we do well and hope to wear people out."

Louisville got a season-high 28 points from Reece Gaines against Saint Louis, but had no other players in double figures. Center Marvin Stone, second on the team in scoring with a 13-point average, was shut out in 30 minutes and attempted only two shots.

The Cardinals were stymied by Saint Louis' deliberate, clock-milking style. The game plan for the Billikens was to stay within range by limiting Louisville's possessions.

"We had to have as few times defending Louisville as possible, and the best way we could do that was control the clock," coach Brad Soderberg said. "I give the guys credit because I know there were shots they wanted to take and they purposely pulled up and didn't take just so the clock could keep running."

But what bothered Pitino most was the way Louisville squandered a late lead. The Cardinals were in front 57-50 with 1:58 to go.

"I'm not happy about this loss," Pitino said. "But we've got some losses ahead."

Marque Perry's late heroics, with five of his 25 points in the final 13 seconds, was the difference for St. Louis. Perry hit a 5-footer in the lane with 3.2 seconds to go for the game-winner.