Cards’ Defense, Interior Dominate Oklahoma
This time, turnovers would be no problem for the Louisville Cardinals. Led by sure ball-handling from their guards (even the 7-foot one) and a strong interior presence, Louisville avenged a 20-year-old loss to Oklahoma and earned the right to move on in the NCAA Tournament. The Cards committed just 12 turnovers, ten fewer than in the 1988 team’s 108-98 NCAA loss to the Sooners, to earn their first victory over Oklahoma and a trip to the Sweet 16. Louisville scored 44 points in the paint, led by Earl Clark’s 14 points and 5 rebounds, in a dominating 78-48 win. Jerry Smith added 12 points and 3 assists while Andre McGee had 7 points, 4 assists, and 5 steals.
“Offensively and defensively, we did a beautiful job,” said head coach Rick Pitino. “You really can’t find a weakness in the way the guys played.”
It was quite the turnaround from Louisville’s last matchup with Oklahoma, who used their own high-powered front line and aggressive defense to force 22 Louisville turnovers and get a combined 58 points from forwards Stacey King and Harvey Grant en route to a title game appearance. This time the Cards were the ones to turn up the pressure, forcing 16 turnovers (including 5 steals by Andre McGee) and hounding the Sooners into rushed possessions and forced shots from tip to buzzer.
“It was like deer in the headlights,” said McGee. “Guys didn’t want to handle the ball. They were dribbling off their foot, throwing it out of bounds.”
“We were just rushed and hurried all night,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “Since we found out we were playing Louisville, we talked with our guys about playing poised and being strong. We didn’t do that.”
Blake Griffin, the highly heralded OU freshman, scored just 8 points on 4-of-6 shooting before fouling out with 5:48 remaining in what may be his final collegiate game. It was already a long-gone conclusion that the Cards would be moving on to the Sweet 16.
With continued hot shooting from the perimeter and strong play by Clark, Louisville quickly built a 23-14 lead they would never relinquish. Clark scored 5 points in the early going and Smith canned both of his three-pointers, including one with 8:22 to go in the opening half, to build the 9-point cushion. Louisville shot 9-for-17 (52.9%) from the 3-point line and nearly 60% (32-of-54) overall to follow up their hot shooting performance against Boise State in the opening round.
“We played a good game against Boise. Tonight, we played a great game,” Pitino said.
It would only get worse for the Sooners from there. McGee picked up a pair of steals shortly after, converting the first into a pair of free throws for Terrence Williams then a lay-up and foul for himself and a 27-16 edge. That would spark a 14-0 run for Louisville that effectively put the game out of reach. Points in the paint were the common theme, with break-away lay-ups and pretty post plays leading the way. When Will Scott retrieved a loose ball near mid-court and heaved a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the half, the Cards led 44-22 and all but knew a trip to Charlotte was in their future.
“It looked like it was going to be our night when that shot went in. Everything was going well for us. It was one of those nights,” Pitino said.
Added Scott, “Everybody has their 15 minutes of fame and I guess this is mine.”
“I wouldn’t really call that a shot. I just tried to chuck it up and it happened to go in.”
Oklahoma would close the deficit under 20 just briefly in the second half, getting a jumper from Tony Crocker with 16:39 remaining for a 49-31 Cardinal lead and a pair of free throws by Taylor Griffin for a 54-35 deficit with 14:07 left. The remainder of the game would be a challenge for Louisville to expand their lead, issuing a challenge to Tennessee that theirs will not be the only frenetic, high-pressure defense on the floor next Friday. The question, instead, will be whether the Volunteers can keep up with Louisville’s interior armada.
“I definitely think we’re playing our best ball right now,” said Jerry Smith. “We’re clicking right now, we’re really focusing in and we’re winning.”
Notes & Quotes
- This was the most lopsided loss ever for Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament. Their previous worst defeat was a 93-72 loss to Indiana State in the 1979 tournament. It was also the largest win ever by a Cardinal NCAA team, matching a 93-63 victory over Kansas State in the 1968 NCAA Midwest Consolation Game.
- Andre McGee’s 5 steals matched a Louisville record for steals in a tourney game. Charles Jones set the mark in a 1982 first-round win over Minnesota and DeJuan Wheat matched it in the team’s 1996 opening-round victory over Tulsa. McGee’s 6 total steals in the tourney already rank 10th on the Cardinal single-postseason list.
- These Cardinal shooters may not be the best to ever make the NCAA Tournament, but they leave Birmingham the owners of the top two three-point performances in Louisville history. The Cards tied the previous record Friday night, making 50% of their attempts against Boise State to match a 5-for-10 performance against Delaware in 1993. Sunday’s 52.9% (9-of-17) effort set a new best for any team in the NCAA Tourney.
- At the other end of the scale, Louisville’s performance from the charity stripe set an equally embarrassing mark for Louisville tourney teams. The Cards hit just 5 of their 15 attempts Sunday, highlighted by Terrance Farley’s late airball, to match the 1951 Cards for the worst single-game shooting performance from the free throw line. That team hit just 6-of-18 free throws against Kentucky for a pitiful 33.3% showing.
- The Cardinals’ 24 assists were the fifth-most by any tourney team and the most since Louisville dished out 28 assists in a 93-84 win over Arkansas on 3/18/89.
- More from Pitino: “I’m real proud of the way our guys gave their energy, it’s exciting to see you feed on it, you get easy shots and the good thing about this pressing team is that we don’t give up a whole lot with our press. We press with really good intelligence. We run and jump a lot rather than run and trap.”
- Sooners G Omar Leary: “We hate to end the season this way. It seemed almost impossible to stop them. We came out in the second half and thought we could make a run, but they were very fast.”
- Louisville F Terrence Williams: “It was our best performance this year because it came at the right time. If we would have played like that in November, it wouldn’t have been our best game. It doesn’t get any bigger than the NCAA Tournament.”
- More from OU Coach Jeff Capel: “Their zone really pressured our guards. We didn’t get any penetration. We settled for threes. We had opportunities to drive and flash, and we didn’t do that.”
“As much as you go over it in practice and watch tape, when that pressure and speed and athleticism hits you, it becomes more difficult to do what you’re supposed to do and think about how to get out of that pressure. Give them credit because they keep up the pressure.”
