Louisville downs Oregon, advances to Elite Eight

Published March 29, 2013

Sports Network

Indianapolis, IN –  Russ Smith scored 31 points in leading Louisville back to the Elite Eight, as the top-seeded Cardinals handled Oregon, 77-69, in the first Midwest Regional semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Louisville never trailed but had to fend off the 12th-seeded Ducks down the stretch to reach a regional final for the fourth time in the last six years, including last season's Final Four appearance.

Kevin Ware added 11 points while Gorgui Dieng chipped in 10 with nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who are riding a 13-game winning streak into Sunday's showdown between either Duke or Michigan State.

Rick Pitino, who was coaching in his 900th collegiate game, improved to 11-0 in Sweet 16 games, though this was the first victory by single digits.

Oregon (28-9) trailed by 18 at one point and fell short of a stunning comeback after pulling within six with five minutes to go. E.J. Singler's 15 points paced the Pac-12 Tournament champions, while Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson chipped in 12 apiece.

View the original article here

Louisville downs Purdue, earns spot in Sweet 16

Published March 26, 2013

Sports Network

Louisville, KY –  For the second time in the last three seasons the Louisville Cardinals will be in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament after they posted a 76-63 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers at the KFC Yum! Center.

Sara Hammond recorded a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace the fifth-seeded Cardinals (26-8) who advance to face either top-seed Baylor or eighth-seed Florida State in the next round. Antonita Slaughter contributed 16 points and seven boards and Shoni Schimmel tacked on 14 points but did have 10 turnovers. Louisville is returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.

Sam Ostarello registered 16 points and 12 rebounds and K.K. Housera added 10 points and five assists but also had nine turnovers for Purdue (25-9).

On their home floor, the Cardinals ran out to a 38-23 lead at halftime by shooting 43.3 percent from the field while connecting on 5-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. Purdue shot just 32.3 percent and had a single 3-pointer to fall behind.

The 3-point line was not so kind to Louisville after the break when it hit just 2-of-7 attempts but by shooting 50 percent overall was able to hold off the Boilermakers.

Louisville owned a 38-32 edge in rebounds. The two teams combined for 43 turnovers.

View the original article here

Michigan State downs Northwestern in regular-season finale

East Lansing, MI –  Keith Appling scored 16 points and Gary Harris added 12 to lead No. 10 Michigan State past Northwestern, 71-61, on Sunday.

Adreian Payne added 11 points and Derrick Nix finished with 10 points and six assists for the Spartans (24-7, 13-5 Big Ten), who will have the third seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Big Ten tournament.Michigan State will face the winner of Iowa and Northwestern on Friday.

Kale Abrahamson scored 16 points and Alex Marcotullio had 11 for the Wildcats (13-18, 4-14 Big Ten).

Northwestern, which will have the 11th seed in the conference tournament, will face sixth-seeded Iowa on Thursday. The Wildcats dropped both meetings with the Hawkeyes this season.

Alex Olah's dunk tied the game at 53-53 with 5:43 left, but the Spartans took over from there, outscoring Northwestern 18-8 the rest of the way.

Nix got things started with a layup nearly 30 seconds later and Branden Dawson sunk a pair of free throws to give MSU a four-point edge.

Appling scored the next four points, including a highlight reel slam with 1:40 left. Appling shook a defender at the top of the key and skyed to the rim before ferociously slamming it through the hoop.

Payne's free throws made it a 10-point game, 53-all, but the Wildcats wouldn't go away.

Marcotullio added a quick layup and, following a pair of Appling free throws, Abrahamson buried a trey with 41 seconds left to make it 65-58. Northwestern couldn't get closer than eight the rest of the way, though, as Spartans won their second straight game.

MSU held a 19-7 lead near the midway point of the first half and led 33-26 at the break.

Game Notes

Michigan State shot 65.8 percent (25-for-38) from the field ... Travis Trice had eight points off the bench for the Spartans ... MSU beat Iowa 62-59 on Jan 10 ... Marcotullio finished with 10 points for Northwestern.

View the original article here