Louisville-Washington Preview
March 23, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 22, 2005
GAME: No. 4 Louisville (31-4) vs. No. 1 Washington (29-5).
REGIONAL: Albuquerque, semifinals.
TIME: Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EST.
SITE: The Pit; Albuquerque, N.M.
Washington seems to have proven it deserved its No. 1 seed. The No. 4 that Louisville got still looks too low.
After impressive second-round victories, the Huskies and Cardinals meet Thursday night, with the winner emerging as the Albuquerque Regional's favorite to reach the Final Four.
The seedings given to Washington and Louisville were among the most heavily debated before the start of NCAA tournament play. The Huskies were a somewhat surprising choice as the final No. 1 seed, while the Cardinals thought they were in line for something much better than they got after winning the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles.
There no longer seems any reason to question Washington, but there still seems to be plenty of reason to argue that Louisville is too good a team to be a No. 1 seed's opponent in the third round.
"Washington got a bum steer getting two No. 1s in their bracket because these guys are a No. 1," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said of Louisville after the Cardinals beat his Yellow Jackets 76-54 in the second round.
"I don't want to tick anybody off, but somebody told me this is a four seed, you're nuts. You're absolutely nuts," Hewitt added. "They're as good as anybody we've played this year."
Washington looked just as sharp in its second-round game, pulling away from No. 8 Pacific for a 97-79 victory. The Huskies had five double-figure scorers in both games and averaged 92.5 points in the opening weekend, just shy of North Carolina for most in the tournament.
Now the Huskies will try to advance to the regional finals for the first time in 52 years. Since making its lone Final Four appearance in 1953, Washington's best result is round of 16 losses in 1984 and 1998.
Reaching the round of 16 once seemed like an annual occurrence for Louisville, but this is the first time the Cardinals have gotten this far since reaching the regional finals in 1997. To take the next step, they have to find a way to slow a speedy, balanced team that is second in the nation with 86.7 points per game, led by Nate Robinson's 16.6 per game.
"They're very quick. They're the toughest team, in terms of developing a defensive scheme for them," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.
"In preparing for them, you have great difficulty if you play man-to-man and you have even more difficulties if you play zone. They're a very difficult team to press, so it's not an easy matchup situation for us, but that's what happens when you get to the Sweet 16. You face a team like that."
Louisville might be one of the few teams playing well enough defensively to slow down Washington. The Cardinals have limited their first two tournament opponents to just 58 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting. And though Pitino built his reputation as a coach who relies on pressure defense, the Cardinals used a 2-3 zone to beat Georgia Tech and may use it again as a way to contain the Huskies.
"When you have five guys on the floor that are in sync and in unison on the defensive end, whatever defense you run is going to be effective," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "Right now, their guys are playing together, they understand their shifts, they understand their coverages in it."
Louisville may not have quite as much firepower as Washington, but the Cardinals still score plenty. They average more than 80 points and Juan Palacios' 9.8 per game is the lowest average among the starters. Their hottest player has been Larry O'Bannon, averaging 18 points and shooting 59.7 percent in the last seven games.
The Cardinals have won 11 straight and 20 of their last 21 games. Their 31 victories is their highest total since the 1986 national championship team won 32. Meanwhile, Washington is looking to notch the first 30-win season in school history.
The teams have split two meetings. Romar was 5-1 against Louisville when he coached at Saint Louis, including 2-0 against Pitino.
The winner will need to beat sixth-seeded Texas Tech or No. 7 West Virginia to reach the Final Four.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Louisville - F Palacios (9.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg), F Francisco Garcia (15.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg), F Ellis Myles (10.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg), G Taquan Dean (14.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G O'Bannon (14.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg). Washington - F Bobby Jones (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg), F Mike Jensen (6.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Tre Simmons (16.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg), G Nate Robinson (16.6 ppg, 4.6 apg), G Will Conroy (9.2 ppg, 6.4 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Louisville - Automatic bid, Conference USA tournament champion; beat No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette 68-62, first round; beat No. 5 Georgia Tech 76-54, second round. Washington - Automatic bid, Pac-10 tournament champion; beat No. 16 Montana 88-77, first round; beat No. 8 Pacific 97-79, second round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Louisville - 51-33, 32 years. Washington - 12-12, 12 years.
