SportsLine.com Report
March 16, 2000

Round 1: Cardinals done in one

Much to Louisville's chagrin, history repeated itself Thursday night.

Like they did last year, the 10th-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-8) survived the first round. And, like they did last year, the seventh-seeded Cardinals were on the crying end of a seeding upset, falling 77-66 to the West Coast Conference champion in Tucson.

A year ago, Gonzaga defeated seventh-seeded Minnesota in the first round while No. 7 Louisville fell to No. 10 Creighton. This time, Gonzaga pulled through despite a season-high 24 turnovers thanks to a 57-percent shooting effort and the 31 points of Richie Frahm, one of the stars of last year's run to the regional final.

Louisville was led by Marques Maybin, who scored 21 points while Nate Johnson added 14. The Cardinals haven't won a tourney game since reaching the regional final in 1997.

How They Got There

The Cardinals were awarded an at-large berth after being upset in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament by North Carolina Charlotte. Louisville spent the better part of the last month of the regular-season playing superb basketball.

The Cardinals had quality wins over North Carolina and Utah and swept DePaul in the season series.

Starting Lineup

• PG Reece Gaines (6-6, 185, Fr.): A throwback to the days of Milt Wagner and Lancaster Gordon, Gaines is a big guard who navigates over defenses.
• SG Marques Maybin (6-3, 185, Jr.): During Louisville's six-game winning streak, Maybin made the Cardinals go by averaging 20 points; averages a team-best 14.5 for the season.
• SF Nate Johnson (6-6, 215, Sr.): A versatile scorer (13.9 ppg), Johnson finished the last month of the season strong.
• PF Tony Williams (6-7, 210, Sr.): Williams is the Cardinals best long-range threat (55 of 152 from 3-point range) and is active on the glass.
• C Dion Edward (6-9, 235, Sr.): Gives the Cardinals only occasional scoring, but his board work is excellent.

Keys to Success

The key is the play of senior Nate Johnson and junior Marques Maybin. They have played well over the past month and Louisville has won. It has been pretty much that simple at times.

The Coach

Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum is a master strategist and his record is proven. This season, he took a team with little inside presence and a freshman point guard and won. Under Crum, Louisville has won 71 percent of its games (127-45), during the month of March.

The Bench

The Cardinals' bench continues to struggle. The only reserve making significant contributions is sophomore guard Quintin Bailey, and occasionally senior forward Tobiah Hopper with a jumper or rebound. Excluding Bailey, Louisville's reserves were a combined 2 for 8 for seven points in the past two games (a win and a loss).

Offense

Everything revolves around Johnson and Maybin. Gaines, only the 12th freshman to ever start under Crum, is good at setting the table but is not much of a penetrator. Louisville has improved in its ability to capitalize on opponents' mistakes. The Cardinals have scored 30 percent of their points off takeaways.

Defense

The defense helps provide the Cardinals offense. They shoot a respectable .471 from the floor but a lot of their offense comes from points off turnovers.