SB Nation Louisville Basketball
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Yancy Gates scored 18 points with 11 rebounds, and Cincinnati staved off a brief comeback attempt for a 78-63 victory over Missouri to open the NCAA Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Bearcats moved on to face Big East rival and No. 3 seed Connecticut in the West Region on Saturday.
The Huskies, after winning five games in five days to capture the conference tournament last week, had little trouble in an 81-52 win over Bucknell earlier Thursday at the Verizon Center.
Gonzaga made the Red Storm’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in eight years a brief one, as Marquise Carter scored 24 points to lead the 11th-seeded Bulldogs to a convincing 86-71 drubbing of sixth-seeded St. John’s in second-round Southeast Region action.
The Bulldogs (25-9) shot 53 percent from the field and made 9-of-15 attempts from behind the arc, numbers they will look to replicate when they play third- seeded BYU on Saturday.
Steven Gray and Elias Harris chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Gonzaga, which has rattled off 10 straight wins, including a victory over Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference tourney final last week.
The Red Storm (21-12) couldn’t overcome the loss of injured senior D.J. Kennedy, getting embarrassed on the glass by a 42-17 margin without their leading rebounder.
Dwight Hardy led the way offensively with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough to extend Steve Lavin’s first season at the helm.
Cincinnati is controlling their second round match-up with Missouri, up 39-28 at halftime. They’ve broken the Tigers’ full-court with ease, only turning the ball over 5 times in the first half. The Bearcats went on a 23-9 run over the final 10 minutes of the first half to build their 11 point lead.
Cashmere Wright leads the Bearcats with 9 points and 3 assists, and Dion Dixon added 8, to go with 4 rebounds, 3 of which were offensive boards. The Tigers were led by Michael Dixon, who also had 9 points.
St. John’s got off to a quick start, making their first 3 shots to jump out to an 8-2 lead, but Gonzaga took over from there. The Bulldogs shot over 57% from the floor, including 4-7 from Three Point Range, to take a 43-32 lead into halftime. Gonzaga is owning the boards, outrebounding the Red Storm 19-7 in the first half.
SJU was led by Paris Horne, who had 10 points on 4-5 shooting, and Dwight Hardy had 9, but only shot 4-10 from the floor. Steven Gray had 10 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Want to see how No. 13 Morehead State upset No. 4 Louisville? Take a look at the last 15 seconds:
This was Demonte Harper's lone Three Pointer of the game, and it came at the best possible time for the Eagles. Judge for yourself as to whether Mike Marra was fouled on the last shot, but it certainly looks like Kenneth Faried was standing straight up.
Also, the Eagles defense defended Peyton Siva perfectly after catching the in-bounds pass, forcing him into a triple team and making him pass the ball.
Time and time again this season, Louisville came from behind to win in games they struggled early, and Thursday afternoon looked to be more of the same, going on a late 9-0 run to take a 4 point lead, thanks to three brilliant plays by PG Peyton Siva.
But two Morehead State free throws, and a dagger of a Three Pointer by Demonte Harper with 4.1 seconds remaining in the game gave the Eagles a 1 point lead. Harper had been 0-5 from beyond the arc before that shot. The Cardinals had one last chance, but Mike Marra was blocked cleanly by Kenneth Faried, giving them the upset over the Big East heavyweight.
Terrence Hill was the shooting hero for Morehead State, scoring 23 points, and shooting 5-6 from Three Point range. He also pulled down 8 rebounds, all from off the bench. Faried had his 85th career double-double, scoring 12 points to go with 17 rebounds in the win.
Louisville was led by Chris Smith, who had 17 points, but was the only Cardinal to score in double figures. Preston Knowles, who had 9 points, left the game mid-way through the second half with a left toe injury, and did not return. He had been the trigger man in most of their comeback victories this season. Smith and Kyle Kuric had 6 rebounds a piece for Louisville, who was outrebounded 36-27 on the day, including 14-5 on the offensive boards.
The Cardinals season ends at 25-10, while the Eagles will play Saturday against the winner of No. 5 Vanderbilt and No. 12 Richmond.
It took over 6 minutes to score, but Louisville finally found its range after missing their first 7 shots. They didn’t have trouble scoring after that, as they are tied with 13th seed Morehead State 33-33 at halftime of a Second Round game in Denver.
The Eagles jumped out to a 15-2 lead, thanks to 6 early Cardinal turnovers and their poor shooting. They let Louisville slowly creep back into the game, and took a 33-30 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the first half on a Kyle Kuric Three Pointer. Terrence Hill answered at the buzzer to tie it at 33.
Leading the Cardinals is Chris Smith, who has 8 points on 2-3 from beyond the arc. Preston Knowles has 6, and Peyton Siva, much like against Notre Dame, is in foul trouble and has 3 fouls at the half. Kenneth Faried has 7 points and 9 rebounds for the Eagles, but is only shooting 3-12 from the field. The teams combined for 21 turnovers in the first half.
2011 NCAA Tournament Second Round Preview: 4 Louisville Cardinals V. 13 Morehead State Eagles
The 4th seeded Louisville Cardinals won't have to wait long to jump into the 2011 NCAA Tournament, as they will kick off play in the Denver location Thursday afternoon at 11:40 local MT. The Cardinals will face another team from Kentucky, the Morehead State Eagles, who reside about 130 miles east of Louisville.
For the Eagles, this will be the third consecutive time they've played Louisville in the Tournament, as they were beaten by the Cardinals in both 1984 and 2009. The Eagles finished 24-9 on the season, winning 12 of their last 13 games, and the Ohio Valley Conference Championship game over Tennessee Tech. They are led by the NCAA's all-time leading rebounder Senior Kenneth Faried, who passed Tim Duncan recently for the all-time lead. He also sits tied for second all-time in double-doubles with 84, trailing only Duncan and tied with Ralph Sampson.
The Cardinals are coming off a runner-up finish in the Big East Tournament, losing to the red-hot Connecticut Huskies in the final. They are 25-9 on the season, and finished 12-6 in the Big East, good for 3rd place. Louisville hasn't been flashy much of the year, but they have several come-from-behind victories, and have becoming quite lethal in end-game scenarios. They are led by Senior Preston Knowles, who is averaging almost 15 points per game, and took over their semi-final win in the Big East Tournament over Notre Dame, willing them to victory, all while playing with four fouls, which he picked up with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
Morehead State is towards the bottom of the country in Three Point shooting defense, something that will definitely hurt them against the Cardinals, who get 35% of their points from Three Pointers. Expect quite a few turnovers in the game as well, as the Eagles have trouble holding onto the basketball, but are excellent in stealing the ball, ranked 9th in the country. They also pound the offensive boards hard, ranking 3rd best in the country, certainly due to Faried being a monster underneath the basket. Louisville must keep him in check, or else it could be a long day for the Cardinals.
The Eagles could stick around for a while, especially if they cause Sophomore PG Peyton Siva into some mistakes, which he is prone to do from time-to-time. However, Louisville's pressure defense will be too much for Morehead State to handle, as the Cardinals should move on to the Third Round to face the winner of 5th seed Vanderbilt, and 12th seed Richmond.
Tip is set for 1:40 ET, and you can watch it on TBS.
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Mar 18 12:52a by Matt Grecco