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Louisville-North Carolina A&T Postgame Notes
March 21, 2013 | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2013
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Louisville Postgame Notes
Louisville 79, North Carolina A&T 48
March 21, 2013
Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky. (16,632)
TEAM NOTES
With the win:
- Louisville has been victorious in its last 11 games.
- The Cardinals are now 65-40 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
- Louisville improved to 42-8 all-time as the higher seed in NCAA Tournament games.
- Head coach Rick Pitino improved his record to 43-16 in NCAA Tournament play.
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- Pitino now has a 19-3 career record as the No. 1 seed.
- Louisville improved its record to 26-0 this season when leading at the half.
- The Cardinals improved to 48-18 in the month of March and head coach Rick Pitino improved to 116-40 overall and 59-25 in 12 seasons at Louisville in the calendar's third month.
- Louisville improved its record to 5-11 as a No. 1 seed.
- It marked the senior class' 105th victory to put their record at 105-38. It is tied fourth-most wins by a senior class in school history.
- Louisville now owns a 2-0 all-time record against North Carolina A&T.
This was Louisville's largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game since it posted a 39-point defeat over Arizona, winning 103-64 on March 27, 2009, in the NCAA Midwest Region semifinal.
Louisville held North Carolina A&T without a field goal for a nine-minute stretch during the first half (19:29-9:06), the longest drought by an opponent this season.
Louisville's bench scored 22 points, led by Montrezl Harrell's eight points. It marked the 17th time this season the bench has scored at least 20 points in a game.
It is the third time in the last five games that Louisville never trailed in a contest.
The Cardinals knocked down a season-best 57.4 percent of their field goals in the win, marking the highest shooting percentage in an NCAA Tournament game since March 27, 2009, when the Cardinals shot 57.6 percent from the field in a 103-64 victory over Arizona in the NCAA Sweet 16.
In the first half, Louisville connected on 18 of its 27 shots, or 67 percent of its field goals. That total tied for a season-best after previously hitting 67 percent in the win over Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Louisville's defense forced North Carolina A&T into 27 turnovers, the most by the Aggies this season. It is the 14th time this season Louisville has forced an opponent into 20 or more turnovers in a game.
The Cardinals have now connected on double-digit free throws in 16 games this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Russ Smith finished with a game-high 23 points, marking an NCAA Tournament best for him. His previous high was 19 against Florida in last year's NCAA Elite Eight on March 24, 2012.
Smith scored 23 points, giving him 637 for the season. That total moved him to seventh on the single-season charts, as he passed Clifford Rozier (1993-94; 616 points) and Pervis Ellison (1987-88; 617 points).
Smith had eight steals, the most in an NCAA Tournament game in school history and the fourth most in a single game in school history. He tied four other players for the most in a Division I NCAA Tournament game, and it was most recently achieved by North Carolina's Ty Lawson against Michigan State on April 6, 2009, in the NCAA Championship game.
Gorgui Dieng had eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, and he surpassed the 800-point career plateau in the win.
Dieng swatted one shot in the game to give him 69 for the season. Despite playing in just 28 games this year, that mark ties Felton Spencer (1989-90) for ninth on the single-season chart.
Peyton Siva had eight assists, putting him at 208 for the season. He needs just three more to tie last season's total of 211, which ranks second most in a single season. Labradford Smith holds the single-season record with 226, achieved in 1989-90.
Siva, who played in his 139th career game, a total that is tied with Tony Kimbro (1985-89) for seventh all-time, had four steals of the team's 20 steals. The senior now has 80 on the season, four shy of Alvin Sims' sixth-place total of 84 that was achieved during the 1995-96 season.
