Louisville needed a career game from Chucky Hepburn to get a home victory over the valiant Pittsburgh Panthers and Hepburn delivered in style as the Cardinals prevailed 79-68.No. 19 Louisville (23-6, 16-2 in the ACC) remained in the conference title race due to a couple of explosive Hepburn-led runs that made the difference in the game. Pittsburgh (16-13, 7-11) lost an excellent opportunity to post a resume-boosting win in the opening game of March.After Pitt took a 22-21 lead with 5:36 to play in the first half on a 3-pointer from Guillermo Diaz Graham, Hepburn took over. In Louisville’s next seven possessions, Hepburn drained six 3-pointers. The only possession in the run that didn’t include a Hepburn bomb came when the Cardinals were fouled before Hepburn could get a shot away. The sixth Hepburn 3-pointer gave him 24 points in the half and staked Louisville to a 39-29 lead.Pittsburgh rallied and claimed a 62-59 advantage on a Zack Austin 3-pointer with 7:39 to play, but Hepburn contributed five more points to a 9-0 Louisville run to open up a six-point advantage that proved decisive. Pitt shot just 10-for-32 (31 percent) in the second half.Hepburn finished with a career-high 37 points, shooting 9-for-11 overall, including 6-for-6 from 3-point range, and sinking 13 of 17 free throws. Terrence Edwards Jr. added 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals.