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NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Sweet 16 Game Notes
March 28, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 28, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
- Louisville leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-7, with five straight wins and triumphs in 12 of the last 13. The Cardinals won the last meeting prior to tonight, in Louisville, Ky., 85-62 Jan. 22, 2005.
- Tonight marked the second time the two schools have met in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals won the previous matchup, 70-57, during second round play in the 1983 Mideast Region in Evansville, Ind., March 20, 1983, on their way to the Final Four.
- Louisville has reached at least the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in school history while playing as a No. 3 seed and for the 16th time overall in school history. The only time the Cardinals have advanced beyond the Sweet 16 while a No. 3 seed, they captured the National Championship in 1982.
- The No. 3 seed by Louisville is its highest since 1994.
- Louisville advanced to an NCAA Tournament Regional Final game for the first time since 2005 when it defeated West Virginia, 93-85, March 26, 2005, in Albuquerque, N.M.
- The Cardinals have been victorious in eight of their last 10 NCAA Tournament games dating back to 2005.
- Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has led 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including five of the last six seasons while with the Cardinals.
- The last time a Pitino-coached team played a pair of Regional games in Charlotte, N.C., was during the 1993 tournament. Pitino led Kentucky to a 103-69 victory over Wake Forest in the Southeast Region semifinals March 25, 1993, and then proceeded to defeat Florida State 106-81 March 27, 1993, to advance to the Final Four.
- Louisville's Earl Clark registered his 10th double-double of the season and of his career with a 17-point, 12- rebound effort tonight against Tennessee.
- Louisville owns a 57-35 record all-time in 34 NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The Cardinals hold a 7-2 record during East Region play and a 9-14 mark when playing as the lower seed.
- Louisville carries a 9-5 record against 2008 NCAA Tournament participating teams.
- The Cardinals are 20-2 during 2007-08 when they hold a lead at halftime. Louisville was on top of Tennessee, 37-30, at halftime tonight.
- Louisville is 7-7 all-time in games played in Charlotte, N.C. All 13 of those previous games, prior to tonight, were played against former Metro Conference and Conference USA foe and host of the Regional, UNC Charlotte.
- The Cardinals own a 5-1 record against top-20 teams this season following their meeting with No. 5 (AP) Tennessee tonight.
- Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl joins North Carolina's Roy Williams in this Regional as two of the top three winningest active Division I head coaches for winning percentage. Williams is first on the list, followed by Gonzaga's Mark Few and then Pearl in third. Louisville's Rick Pitino is currently 10th on the list.
- Bruce Pearl has led 14 of his 16 teams as a head coach to the NCAA Tournament, covering his tenures at Division II Southern Indiana (1992-93 to 2000-01), UW-Milwaukee (2001-02 to 2004-05) and Tennessee (2005- 06 to present). The only seasons in which he did not reach the NCAA Tournament were 2001-02 and 2003-04 at UW-Milwaukee, although the 2003-04 squad participated in the NIT.
- Tennessee's Chris Lofton moved within four of second place Keydren Clark of St. Peter's, who had 435, on the NCAA all-time 3-pointers list, finishing with 431 in his career.
- Lofton became the school's all-time leading scorer with 130 points in NCAA Tournament action, passing the 116 by Dale Ellis (1980-83). He broke the record by tallying a pair of free throws in the first half.
- Lofton is also the program's all-time leader in steals during NCAA Tournament play with 15, extending his own mark with two tonight.
- The Volunteers hold a 13-17 all-time record in NCAA Tournament action extending into their 16th appearance in 2007-08.
- Tennessee is now 5-8 in overall games played in Charlotte, N.C. The Volunteers own a 2-3 record during NCAA Tournament action in the city, during 1976, 1981 and two games in 1999 plus tonight's action.
- Tennessee is 2-2 all-time as a No. 2 seed, playing in the position during the 2006 and 2008 tournaments. The Volunteers have never defeated a top-three seed in their NCAA Tournament history.
- JaJuan Smith of Tennessee tied a single-game school record during NCAA Tournament play with four steals.
- Tennessee is 4-4 this season when trailing at the half, after falling behind 37-30 tonight against Louisville.
- The Volunteers finished with 334 steals during the 2007-08 campaign, finishing just two shy of the singleseason school record of 336 set during the 2006-07 season.
- The Volunteers are 12-4 against the 2008 NCAA Tournament field, which includes a 4-1 mark against five opponents (Memphis, Texas, Western Kentucky, Xavier and West Virginia) who have reached the Sweet 16. The lone loss in the group was a 97-78 defeat versus Texas Nov. 24, 2007, in the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J.
- Tennessee is now 0-6 in NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal appearances.
Players Mentioned
G/F
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