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Louisville-Oregon Postgame Notes
March 29, 2013 | Men's Basketball
March 29, 2013
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Louisville Postgame Notes
Louisville 77, Oregon 69
March 29, 2013
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
TEAM NOTES
With the win:
- The Cardinals achieved their 32nd victory of the season, one short of the school record that was recorded twice (1979-80, 33-3; 2004-05, 33-5).
- Louisville has been victorious in its last 13 games.
- Louisville is advancing to its 13th NCAA Elite Eight.
- The Cardinals are now 67-40 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
- Louisville improved to 44-8 all-time as the higher seed in NCAA Tournament games.
- Head coach Rick Pitino improved his record to 45-16 in NCAA Tournament play.
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- Pitino now has a 21-3 career record as the No. 1 seed.
- Pitino's record moved to 5-0 in Sweet 16 games with Louisville. His career record is 11-0 in regional semifinal games.
- Louisville improved its record to 28-0 this season when leading at the half.
- The Cardinals improved to 50-18 in the month of March and head coach Rick Pitino improved to 118-40 overall and 61-25 in 12 seasons at Louisville in the calendar's third month.
- Louisville improved its record to 9-2 as a No. 1 seed.
- It marked the senior class' 107th victory to put their record at 107-38. It is tied for the second-most wins by a senior class in school history.
- Louisville's tournament record in Indianapolis moved to 8-1, with a 2-1 mark in Lucas Oil Stadium.
- Louisville now owns a 2-2 all-time record against Oregon.
Louisville never trailed in four of its last seven games.
Louisville shot knocked down 17 of its 28 shots in the first half, or 60.7 percent. That is the third-highest first half percentage this season.
The Cardinals made 14 trips to the free throw line in the first half, tied for the second most in an opening period this season.
Louisville's 45 first-half points are tied for the third-most in the opening period this season.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 53.8 percent from the field, marking the third-straight NCAA Tournament contest Louisville has connected on more than 50 percent of its shots. The last time Louisville knocked down at least 50 percent in consecutive NCAA Tournament contests was in the 2007-08 season. Louisville connected on 55.8 percent against Boise State, 59.3 percent against Oklahoma, 52 percent against Tennessee, and 52.7 against North Carolina.
Louisville's bench scored 20 points, led by Kevin Ware's 11. It marked the 19th time this season the bench has scored at least 20 points in a game.
The Cardinals have now connected on double-digit free throws in 18 games this season.
Louisville finished with one more turnover than Oregon (13-12), marking just the second time the Cardinals have had more turnovers than their opponents. The first time came against Duke (15-14 in turnovers) on Nov. 24.
Oregon dropped its first game of the year when collecting more assists than its opposition, putting the Ducks at 21-1 for the year.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Russ Smith totaled a game-high 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting, tying a career best he set against Missouri-Kansas City on Dec. 8, 2012. Smith's point total is tied for the fifth-highest all-time in an NCAA Tournament game in school history. Edgar Sosa registered 31 in 2007 against Texas A&M.
Smith's points are the most in a college basketball game held in Lucas Oil Stadium. Ohio State's Evan Turner held the previous record, scoring 28 against Notre Dame on Dec. 6, 2008.
Following the win over Oregon, Smith is averaging 17.9 points for his NCAA Tournament career. Through three games this season, he is averaging 27 points.
Smith's one steal in the win put him at 11 for the NCAA Tournament this year, tying the single-season mark set by Lancaster Gordon in 1983.
Kevin Ware played 25 minutes off the bench, scoring a career-best 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Peyton Siva totaled three assists in the game, putting his NCAA Tournament career total at 51. He passed Phillip Bond's total of 49, putting Siva at second for most NCAA Tournament career assists. Milt Wagner holds the school-record with 69.
Smith has registered consecutive 20-point performances in three-straight NCAA Tournament games. The last Louisville player to accomplish the feat was Francisco Garcia in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, as he tallied 27 against Louisiana Lafayette, 21 against Georgia Tech, and 23 against Washington.
Smith's 31 points give him 695 for the season. That total moved him to second on the single-season charts. He still trails Darrell Griffith's 825-point total that was set in the 1979-80 season.
Dieng swatted four shots in the game to give him 74 for the season. Despite playing in just 30 games this year, he ranks ninth on the single-season charts. He needs just two more blocks to tie Clifford Rozier's eighth-place total of 76 (1993-94).
Siva played in his 141st career game, a total that ranks fifth most in school history. With one steal in the win, the senior now has 83 steals on the season, one shy of Alvin Sims' sixth-place total of 84 that was achieved during the 1995-96 season.
