 |
 |
 |
|
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Andre McGee had the ball near halfcourt and he was dribbling it close to the ground. Really close the ground. Then he started spinning. For no reason. He just started spinning and grinning and he was still bouncing the ball, and he seemed happy and joyful and then, all of a sudden, serious.
|
|
| Reserve Earl Clark leads the Cardinals with 17 points and 12 rebounds. (US Presswire) |
Like a football player.
Right at the buzzer.
But it didn't seem like a celebratory spike. Honestly, it wasn't that kind of spike. It seemed more like a statement, like a dare, like a non-verbal message that, if translated, would sound something like, "OK, that's over. Who wants some of this now?"
"The Sweet 16 was sweet," Louisville wing Terrence Williams said. "Everybody enjoyed that."
Well, not everybody.
"We struggled all night long," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "Louisville deserves a great deal of credit for that."
From those two quotes you can probably guess Thursday's outcome, right?
Louisville 79.
Tennessee 60.
So the Cards have advanced to the East Region final.
They'll play North Carolina on Saturday here at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. It'll be a road game, if not officially then at least in terms of atmosphere. But at this point it's difficult to imagine Rick Pitino's team being bothered by a hostile crowd or anything else, really, because it is playing as well as it has played all season and better than most anybody else.
Seriously, do you realize what the Cards just did?
They just completely dominated Tennessee -- a team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation a month ago, a team that finished with the No. 1 RPI, a team that had beaten Memphis and Xavier and West Virginia and every other team it played (except Texas). In other words, these Vols were good and they had the credentials to prove it. But against Louisville they looked lost and silly and just plain ridiculous.
The Vols shot 33.9 percent from the field.
That's not good.
The Vols allowed Louisville to shoot 52 percent from the field.
That's not good either.
The Vols had 17 turnovers (compared to just 12 assists), missed 15 of 20 3-point attempts and were outrebounded by a 43-28 margin. Add it up, and this game was so one-sided against Tennessee you almost expected Danny Wuerffel to be involved. But he wasn't. Doing the damage instead was David Padgett (10 points and eight rebounds), Jerry Smith (13 points and four rebounds), McGee (13 points and three assists) and Williams (12 points and eight rebounds).
And Earl Clark.
Don't forget Earl Clark.
He had a monster game despite playing just 12 minutes in the first half. And if you're wondering why he only played 12 minutes in the first half, it's because Pitino temporarily benched Clark after he committed three turnovers in the opening six minutes.
"I took him out and I said 'You're going to set a turnover record here in Charlotte. I think Muggsy Bogues had seven or eight one game, and I think you're going to break it if you keep it up. Stop passing at his ankles,'" Pitino said. "But he's a great guy. Earl is a tremendous young man. You know, I take him out and I don't leave him out very long no matter how many turnovers he makes. I get him right back in the game."
That's why Pitino is a Hall of Famer, folks.
He put Clark right back in the game, and he finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while simultaneously finishing the Vols' season and Chris Lofton's college career, and it was too bad that Lofton went out like that. Far as farewells go, it was less-than-ideal for the SEC's all-time leading 3-point shooter. Lofton was just 3-of-15 from the field and 2-of-11 on 3-point attempts, and if the idea was to make Pitino regret not recruiting him -- Lofton is from a town 137 miles from Louisville -- this was not the way to go about it.
But that's old news.
The new news is Saturday's matchup.
"I think it's a Final Four matchup, no question about it," Pearl said. "Two great teams with great coaches."
And great players.
And great momentum.
And great expectations.
All of which should make for a great Elite Eight showdown.