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Posted on Thu, Mar. 27, 2008 10:15 PM
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Louisville pounds Tennessee out of the NCAA Tournament
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The Volunteers, once on top of the college basketball world, went out with a thud on Thursday, falling to Louisville 79-60 in an East Regional semifinal.
The outcome sets up a final between the Cardinals and North Carolina at 8:05 p.m. Saturday.
Louisville was in command most of the night, showing surprising dominance against the team that rolled to the Southeastern Conference championship.
But Tennessee wasn’t the same team after winning at top-ranked Memphis on Feb. 23. The Vols, ascending to No. 1 for the first time in the program’s history, lost their next game, at Vanderbilt, and lost in the SEC tournament to Arkansas. They needed overtime to beat Butler in the second round.
And Louisville, which finished second in the Big East, is playing its best ball of the season.
“The last three games our offense and defense have been clicking,” Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said.
Pitino improved his career record to 8-0 in regional semifinals, sweeping them at Providence, Kentucky and his second with the Cardinals, who reached the Final Four in 2005.
It was his stop at Kentucky that helped prepare his team for the Vols, who like to pressure the entire court.
“We’ve faced every kind of defense this year, except what Tennessee does,” Pitino said. “I used to see it at Kentucky when we coached against Arkansas and Nolan Richardson.”
Louisville befuddled Tennessee all night. Vols guard Chris Lofton, a three-point specialist, saw two of his deep shots blocked by Earl Clark.
“I just got up and jammed him and tried to make it difficult for him,” Clark said.
Lofton finished with 15 points but went two of 1t1 on three-pointers.
The Volunteers made the best charge cutting into a seven-point halftime deficit. They closed to 37-36, and a three-point play by Duke Crews made it 41-39.
But the Cardinals quickly ripped off eight straight points. Vols coach Bruce Pearl called a timeout, and during the stop Pitino received a technical foul.
No matter. Louisville kept up the pressure, and the margin grew on some fancy passing. Terrence Williams played magician on a couple of throws, including a behind-the-head dart to David Padgett for a slam.
The final brings together Padgett, the Cardinals’ scoring leader, with the coach who recruited him to play at Kansas. Padgett never played for Roy Williams, who took the North Carolina job.
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