Four seed? Cardinals proving they deserved better
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Louisville Cardinals were right. The NCAA did do them wrong by giving them a No. 4 seed.
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| Rick Pitino has the Cardinals in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997. (Getty Images) |
The Cardinals are now 31-4, the second-best record in the country, and they disposed of a good Georgia Tech team Sunday as if they were playing a group from the local YMCA down the street. Louisville made its first four shots -- three of them from outside the 3-point line -- and were never really challenged by last year's tournament runner-up.
Louisville, thanks to a blistering shooting touch, blew out Tech 76-54 in a game that had the look of a Final Four showdown, only to disappoint as Louisville's convincing victory put the Cardinals into their first Sweet 16 since 1997. They will play top-seeded Washington in Albuquerque on Thursday in what should be a track-shoes type of game.
First one to 100 wins.
If the Cardinals shoot like they did against Georgia Tech, good luck Washington. Louisville shot 62 percent in the first half on their way to a 52.4-percent shooting night. They made 10 of 21 3-point shots, including six of 12 in the first half.
That's one thing about coach Rick Pitino: He gives his kids the green light. Miss, and it's OK. Make, and it's a killer. Never make them think about the open looks.
Bomb after bomb kept raining down on Tech, much to the delight of the Louisville-partisan crowd. The Cardinals can pitch a fit all they want about being a No.4 seed, but they essentially played a home game Sunday. Word is the roads down from Louisville -- a three-hour drive from the north -- were packed Sunday morning, and going home probably was the same, only with smiles on those faces from all the threes that went down.
"That's our system," Pitino said. "If we miss, we know we play good defense and get it back."
Like his previous teams at Kentucky, where he had plenty of tournament success, this is an athletic Louisville team that can run when it has to, can shoot it with anybody and has length and power inside to battle on the boards.
But this team doesn't run and press like Pitino's Kentucky teams. It isn't deep. So he's forced to play more zone to protect his short bench. Three of the five starters played 33 or more minutes Sunday, with Francisco Garcia, whose having an NBA-look-at-me tournament so far, topping them all with 40.
Garcia led the Cardinals with 21 points, including 3-for-7 behind the arc. Larry O'Bannon added 16 points, while Taquan Dean had 14, including 4-for-6 from 3-point land.
"We needed a special effort tonight, and we got it," Pitino said.
