The Associated Press

Francisco Garcia (right) swats down a shot by Cincinnati's James White Wednesday for one of his 24 blocks this season. (Ernest Coleman/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

LOUISVILLE - As the national anthem echoes through Freedom Hall before every Louisville home game, Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia sway in tandem, whisper and laugh.

They won't divulge what they say. It's one of many secrets between Louisville's two best players, whose friendship cuts much deeper than basketball.

"We talk about everything," said Garcia, Louisville's leading scorer.

Garcia had 19 points and seven assists and Dean scored 21 points as No. 5 Louisville beat previously undefeated and sixth-ranked Cincinnati 93-66 Wednesday night.

The sophomores are the undisputed leaders of the Cardinals (14-1, 5-0 Conference USA).

"Garcia and Dean will get into a player much harsher than me, then they'll also praise the same way," coach Rick Pitino said.

Dean and Garcia first met at a camp in the summer of 2001, shortly after each had committed to play for the Cardinals. The relationship strengthened the following spring, when they played in an all-star game in Louisville, and they became roommates.

"We've been through a lot of the same struggles," Dean said.

Dean grew up in Red Bank, N.J., surrounded by a culture of drugs and crime. But that wasn't his only challenge.

Dean's mother died when he was 6. By the time he was 9, he also had lost two grandparents and an uncle. He eventually moved to Neptune, N.J., where he was raised by his aunt.

Garcia grew up in the Dominican Republic, where money was similarly scarce. His mother, Miguelina Garcia Soto, moved Francisco and his brother, Hector Lopez, to an apartment in the crime-riddled Bronx.

"We look at each other and know we've both had to earn everything we have," Dean said.

The two also have established reputations as hard workers, showing up at the gym at daybreak for shooting contests.

"There are a lot of times where I didn't want to get up and he was like, 'Come on, we have to go. What are you talking about?' " said Garcia. "Now, when I see him doing push-ups on the floor, I have to do them, too. If he's getting better, I have to get better. But I do the same thing for him."

Pitino has raved that Garcia could make an early jump to the NBA if he bulks up by next season.

Garcia harbored NBA dreams from the time he arrived at college, hoping to secure his own future and pull his mother and brother out of the Bronx. But his brother was shot and killed there last month.

Garcia said Dean helped him through the ordeal.

"He told me I lost a brother, but I gained one, too," Garcia said. "When I needed him, he was there, with whatever I needed."

Dean learned two weeks ago, when he talked to Garcia's mother on the phone, that he had truly become a member of the family.

"It was the first time I'd talked to her since I heard about the tragedy," Dean said. "She said, 'You're my baby, now.' That was great to hear."