The No. 1 seed Louisville Cardinals outlasted the No. 9 seed Wichita State Shockers and advanced to the national championship game in the NCAA tournament Saturday evening, 72-68.
Although the Shockers were a decided underdog coming into the game, they quickly showed why they deserved to be in the Final Four. Wichita State started the game on an 8-0 run while the Cardinals could not score over the first five minutes.
Louisville found its rhythm and went on a 9-0 run. Although neither team could take a commanding lead the remainder of the first half, it was obvious that Wichita State had a game plan geared around clogging the lane on defense and forcing Louisville to take outside shots. The Shockers also aimed to control the ball and slow the game down on offense.
The game went back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half, and the Shockers took a one point lead into halftime, 26-25.
Wichita State came out on fire, going on a 21-10 run that gave the Shockers a 12 point lead, their largest of the game. Louisville found an answer when walk on Tim Henderson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers that sparked a 12-3 run by the Cardinals. Henderson, who had just 16 points total during the season, was forced into more playing time following Kevin Ware's injury in the Elite Eight game.
With six and a half minutes to go Peyton Siva stole the ball from Carl Hall, forcing Wichita State's first turnover in over 26 minutes of game time. The Shockers’ turnover resulted in the Cardinals’ first lead in the second half.
Cleanthony Early gave the Shockers another brief lead with a jumper and the and one free throw, but Louisville continued to turn up the defensive pressure. The Cardinals forced five more turnovers in the final six minutes, but the Shockers still had a chance with 12 seconds left in the game. Trailing by two points, the Shockers fouled Luke Hancock, who went to the line for two free throws. Hancock made the first free throw and missed the second free throw. The long rebound was grabbed by Wichita State guard Ron Baker, but Hancock rushed in and tied the ball up. The Cardinals retained possession and held on for the win.
Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 21 points but was 4-11 from the floor and only 5-12 from the free throw line. Chane Behanan added 10 points and nine rebounds. The real story for the Cardinals was 34 points from the bench. Luke Hancock contributed 20 points. Montrezl Harrell scored eight points and Henderson had back-to-back 3-pointers.
Cleanthony Early led the Shockers with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He was 8-14 shooting from the floor. Carl Hall added 13 points, and Ron Baker contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
Louisville will face the winner of No. 4 seed Michigan vs. No. 4 Syracuse in the national championship game on Monday at 9:23 p.m. (ET).
For more information, visit www.NCAA.com.
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