Louisville NCAA Rewind: March 14th

With the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament cancelled, Louisville Report will go back in time to recap all of the University of Louisville men's basketball's NCAA Tournament games from each date in March and early April. Special thanks to Sports-Reference.com for boxscores and the Courier-Journal for newspaper archives.

Louisville's March 14th NCAA Tournament Record: 4-2

1959: Louisville defeats Michigan State 88-81

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1961: Louisville defeats Ohio 76-70

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1974: Oral Roberts defeats Louisville 96-93

A 30 point double double from Sam McCants and a pair of clutch plays from Greg McDougald down the stretch were enough for the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles to pull off the upset over No. 16 Louisville, with the Cardinals falling 96-93 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

With 28 seconds remaining in the game, McDougald hit a basket to give Oral Roberts a 94-91 edge, with UofL's Wesley Cox cutting the deficit to just 1 on the other end with a pair of free throws. The Golden Eagles threw the ball away on their ensuing possession, but McDougald came in the clutch once again with a block on Danny Brown, and an Oral Roberts teammate coming away with the blocked shot. Free throws on the other end would ice the game.

While Louisville out-shot Oral Roberts 53.6% to 41.4%, the Golden Eagles attempted 30 more shots than their Cardinal counterparts and were one shy of the century mark. This was due to UofL being slowed down by Oral Roberts' full court press that was applied for most of the night.

Allen Murphy finished with a 26 point double-double, with Wesley Cox being one rebound shy of one as well (22 points). MVC Player of the Year Junior Bridgeman finished with just 4, as got in foul trouble midway through the first half with three fouls.

1980: Louisville defeats Texas A&M 66-55 (OT)

Continuing on a run towards their first national championship, the No 2. seeded Louisville Cardinals needed extra time to overcome Texas A&M, thwarting the Aggies 66-55 in overtime at The Summit in Houston, TX.

Facing a 47-43 deficit in the final minutes of regulation and on the brink of elimination, Wiley Brown scored 7 of UofL's next 10 points, helping send the game into overtime and finishing with 15 points overall.

"I reckon they scouted us better than we scouted them," Texas A&M head coach Shelby Metcalf said. "I didn't realize how good a basketball player that ol' No. 41 [Brown] was."

Though the Cardinals shot just 39.7 for the game as opposed to the Aggies' 42.9%, the free throw line was the difference maker as Louisville sank 20 on 29 shots to Texas A&M's 7 on 8. Defense also played a factor, as Louisville forced 22 turnover, including 10 alone on A&M guard David Britton.

Darrell Griffith led all scorers with 24 on a pedestrian 9-24 shooting, although 4 of his 6 free throws for the game came in overtime, where Louisville outscored Texas A&M 13-2.

1981: Arkansas defeats Louisville 74-73

The Cardinals' quest to repeat as national champions fell short in the most heart-breaking of fashions, falling 74-73 to the Arkansas Razorbacks on a last-second half court heave.

Moments after Derek Smith seized a 1 point lead for Louisville on a putback jumper with 5 seconds to go, Arkansas' U.S Reed hit the shot of a lifetime. The guard inbounded the ball, took it to half court where he was met by Poncho Wright & Jerry Eaves, and subsequently released & hit a 49-foot shot.

"I threw a prayer, and to the glory of God, I hit the shot," Reed said.

The Cardinals had been fighting an uphill battle for the majority of the game. They committed 21 turnovers (14 in the first half), and were only able to attempt 18 field goal attempts in the first half due to the defensive efforts of Arkansas. Though Louisville had some fight in them in the closing moments before inevitably falling, as they trailed by 7 with 3:06 to go.

Louisville finished with five double figure scorers, as Rodney & Scooter McCray each posted 11, with Derek Smith, Charles Jones and Poncho Wright each scoring 10.

1997: Louisville defeats Massachusetts 65-57

Overcoming a slow start, the No. 6 seeded Louisville Cardinals avoided upset against No. 11 seeded UMass, capitalizing on a strong second half to tale down the Minutemen 65-57.

A team that had reached the Final Four a year ago, UMass quickly jumped out to an 18-9 advantage in the game's opening minutes. However in a period of six minutes that spanned over both halves, Louisville turned the tide with a 17-2 run to take a 36-30 lead just past halftime. The Cards and Minuteman would jockey for the lead through much of the latter half, before UofL eventually broke through down the stretch.

This was due to the efforts of freshman forward Nate Johnson, who went 5-7 from the field and a perfect 10-10 at the line for a game high 21 points. Also assisting in the win was DeJuan Wheat, who chipped in with 16 points and points. As a result of his scoring efforts, he would pass Pervis Ellison as Louisville's second-leading career scorer with 2,152 points. He would finish his career at 2,183.

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