Cardinals Playing Their Best When It Matters Most
March 23, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2005
By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Louisville Cardinals are relaxed and playing their best basketball of the season.
Just ask Georgia Tech.
Last year's national runner-up watched a team unhappy at being seeded fourth hit its first six shots Sunday, including four from 3-point range, as the Cardinals routed Georgia Tech 76-54 and reached their first regional semifinal since 1997.
"They just played an exquisite basketball game," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "They passed the ball well. They spread us out. When we took away the 3, they went to the basket. They got to the foul line. They played an unbelievable basketball game."
The Cardinals (31-4) agree.
"By far, it was our best performance of the year," Louisville senior forward Ellis Myles said. "Defensively, we dominated. We got out of the gate hot, and we never let them get back into. That's what you have to do in this tournament."
In the other game at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, fifth-seeded Villanova downed No. 4 seed Florida 76-65 and advanced to its first regional semifinal since 1988 - despite a poor game from its leading scorer and its second-best benched by an injured knee.
The Wildcats will play No. 1 seed North Carolina on Friday night in Syracuse.
This is the best season record-wise for the Cardinals (31-4) since 1983, when they reached the Final Four and lost to Houston in the national semifinals.
The Cardinals now have the chance to prove whether or not they deserved the No. 1 seed they thought they earned winning both the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles. They will play surprise No. 1 seed Washington on Thursday night in Albuquerque.
"A 4 seed, I don't buy it," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "That's OK. We never focused in on it. We never talked about it again. We've done our job, and now we're in the Sweet 16."
Pitino had worried that the 6-foot-7 Myles couldn't compete against 7-1 Luke Schenscher under the basket.
Unfortunately for Georgia Tech, it was Schenscher who struggled, unable to handle the physical Myles who constantly stopped the Australian simply by putting his arms in the air. Schenscher had seven points and only two rebounds in the first half, finishing with an ineffective 13 points and five rebounds.
Francisco Garcia keyed the Cardinals' fast start with 18 of his 21 points in a first half in which Louisville built a double-digit lead within the first five minutes. When Georgia Tech got within nine in the second half, Taquan Dean responded with three consecutive 3s and capped a 16-2 run with a layup.
Larry O'Bannon had 16 points, Dean finished with 14, and Juan Palacios added 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
"They were shooting lights-out," Georgia Tech guard Will Bynum said. "All four perimeter players. There is nothing we can do about that."
Jarrett Jack added 11 points, while Bynum and B.J. Elder combined to go 4-of-15 from the floor for the Yellow Jackets (20-12).
Villanova had everything seemingly going wrong. Leading scorer Allan Ray couldn't score, and Curtis Sumpter turned into a cheerleader after crumpling to the floor twice and grabbing his left knee.
"If there was one guy that I thought we couldn't win without, it was Curtis Sumpter," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "And I can't believe these guys did this. I really can't. It was an incredible effort by these guys."
Backup Jason Fraser simply took over with 21 points and 15 rebounds. He went 11-of-17 at the line, and Villanova (24-7) revived memories of its 1985 run to the national championship by dismantling Florida, the Southeastern Conference tournament champ.
Florida had its chance after pulling within 44-43 early in the second half. Then, the Gators (24-8) went on a seven-minute scoring drought, and their chances of getting past the second round for the first time since 2000 disappeared in a 10-0 run by the Wildcats.
Anthony Roberson averaged an SEC-high 18.2 points in the regular season, but was just 1-of-8 against Villanova as his shooting slump extended a second straight game. Matt Walsh finished with 12 points, but wasn't much better at 4-of-13.
Randy Foye scored 18 for Villanova, and Kyle Lowry contributed a career-high 15 off the bench.
That prompted a courtside celebration with the Villanova fans who were chanting, "We want N.C."
"We must have confident fans," Lowry said.
