Louisville NCAA Rewind: March 20th

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 20th NCAA Tournament Record: 10-2

1951: Kentucky defeats Louisville 79-68

Playing in their first ever NCAA Tournament game, the Louisville Cardinals nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the year in their March Madness debut, falling just short of the AP No. 1 and eventual national champion Kentucky Wildcats 79-68 at Madison Square Garden.

The game was noted by its incredibly high number of fouls calls, as a combined 48 personal fouls were called with 34 coming in the first half alone. The Cards were called for 27 while the Cats had 21 of their own.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop Louisville from giving Kentucky all they had and taking it down to the wire. Lead by double doubles from Bob Brown (15 & 11) and Bob Lochmueller (14 & 18), the Cardinals used some hot second half shooting to overcome a halftime deficit to take a 64-60 lead with 9:35 to go.

Unfortunately for Louisville, Kentucky started to hit their shoot they had been missing through the first 10 minutes of the second half, and picked up the pace to tire out Louisville's players. A 4 point lead at 9:35 quickly turned into a 9 point deficit at 2:41, and Louisville simply lacked the energy to continue the fight.

1959: West Virginia defeats Louisville 94-79

Louisville's first ever Final Four appearance came to an abrupt and screeching halt, as the unranked Cardinals ran into a roadblock in the form of the No. 10 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, falling 94-79 at Freedom Hall.

Despite the trio of Don Goldstein, Harold Andrews and John Turner combining for 58 points, West Virginia had an even more torrential scoring effort. 1959 NCAA Tournament MOP and future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West scored a game high 38 points on 12-21 shooting and 14-20 on free throw attempts, and hauled in a game high 15 rebounds as well.

Though West was just one of the storylines in this game. UofL's Don Goldstein and Fred Sawyer were assessed 4 fouls in the first half alone, with the Cardinals being called for 9 more fouls than their Mountaineer counterparts.

Well, I don't want this to sound like an alibi, but since you asked, you know these officials called them closer than we are accustomed to having a game called," head coach Bernard "Peck" Hickman said to the media after the loss.

1975: Louisville defeats Cincinnati 78-63

It was not a pretty game, but it still produced a blowout over a regional rival as the No. 4 ranked Louisville Cardinals thrashed the No. 12 Cincinnati Bearcats 78-63 in their 1974 Final Four run.

By looking at the box score, you might not be led to believe that this game was as lopsided as it was. Forward Wesley Cox was dealing with a hamstring issue and contributed just three points, while the Cardinals turned the ball a whopping 21 times.

Fortunately, the Bearcats could not cash in the turnovers they forced. Cincinnati made the same amount of field goals as the Cardinals did at 29, but did so on 20 more attempts for a 39.2% shooting. Louisville conversely shot at 53.7%, and also won the rebounding battle 43-30.

Junior Bridgeman led the charge with 20 points on 8-15 shooting, with Ricky Gallon also having a 7-11 night for 16 points.

1982: Louisville defeats Alabama-Birmingham 75-68

Playing in a true road game with a trip to the Final Four on the line, the No. 3 seeded Louisville Cardinals overcame the hostile environment at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center and defeated the No. 4 seeded Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Blazerz to advance to their 5th Final Four in school history.

The game was anything but pretty as UAB forced as astounding 23 UofL turnovers, with both Derek Smith and Wiley Brown feeling the full brunt of the game's physicality.

"I don't want to get hit in the mouth that many times ever again," Smith said.

Despite a defensive slugfest from the Blazers, Louisville countered it with a sharpshooting clinic as they shot 60.4% from the field. Whenever the ball wasn't falling into the hands of UAB, the Cards did a great job moving the ball as they assisted on 20 of their 29 made field goals.

Charles Jones came off the bench following Brown's brutal groin injury to lead Louisville in scoring with 19, with three other Cardinals chipping in with double digit performances.

1983: Louisville defeats Tennessee 70-57

Kicking off their 1983 Final Four run, the No. 1 seeded and AP No. 2 ranked Louisville Cardinals got things started with a 70-57 victory over the No. 8 seeded Tennessee Volunteers.

Strangely enough, the most noteworthy storyline for the game didn't even take place on the court. Some Louisville fans, who had anticipated that the game would take place at Freedom Hall, did not get the memo that the game was actually taking place at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, IN. This led to as many as 2,100 fans not being able to watch the team in person.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals carried on even without a large contingent of their fanbase watching. Louisville shot 57.4% from the field, with Rodney McCray being the only starter to not record double figures. Charles Jones was the primary Cardinals catalyst with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

1986: Louisville defeats North Carolina 94-79

Just five days after blowing out the AP No. 14 ranked Bradley Braves, the No. 2 seeded Louisville Cardinals followed that up with an equally as impressive 94-79 win over No. 3 seeded and AP No. 8 ranked North Carolina on their 1986 national championship run.

Every Louisville starter had double digit days, with Billy Thompson & Herbert Crook having 24 & 20 points respectively. Shooting was fairly even (UofL's 50.8% to UNC's 49.3%) with the Tar Heels sinking just 1 extra field goal than Louisville on 4 more attempts.

The critical difference was free throws. The Cardinals got to the foul line with ease, sinking 28 of their 33 attempts for an 84.8% clip, while the Tar Heels went just 11-18 (61.1%).

"Louisville had a great game," North Carolina head coach Dean Smith said after getting eliminated from the tournament. "They were tremendous, better than I'd seen on tape. I think we got their best shot."

1992: Louisville defeats Wake Forest 81-58

Thanks to a defensive set piece rarely used by head coach Denny Crum, the No. 8 seeded Louisville Cardinals played like a top-ranked seed, hammering the No. 9 seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons 81-58 in the opening round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.

Throughout his tenure as the head man in charge of Louisville, Crum has usually stuck with a switching man-to-man defense. Against Wake Forest, he made the call to use a 2-3 zone defense to combat the size advantage the Deacs had on the interior and force them to take outside shots.

Other than Wake Forest's Rodney Rogers who had 21 points on 9-13 shooting, the Demon Deacons as a whole failed to combat the zone with good shooting. They shot just 36.7% for the game and an even worse 26.3% from beyond the arc.

On the other end, Louisville got whatever they wanted as they shot 56.0%. Dwayne Morton had 20 points on 5-6 shooting & 9-10 at the charity stripe, while Everick Sullivan had 17 and a game best 4 assists.

1994: Louisville defeats Minnesota 60-55

Overcoming an abysmal first half of basketball, the No. 3 seeded Louisville Cardinals rallied back in the second half to win 60-55 and avoid upset against the No. 6 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Cards started off with a 13-9 lead in the Round of 32 matchup, but then the proverbial wheels fell off. Minnesota then fired off a 20-1 run, heading into halftime with a 34-22 advantage. It was the fewest points Louisville had scored in a first half all season. The Golden Gophers had also gone 14-28 from the field and won the rebounding battle 18-9 at that point.

But once the teams reconvened, an entirely different Louisville squad awaited Minnesota. Louisville's defense held the Gophers to just 8-25 on second half shooting, and won the rebounding battle 15-13 in the second half.

"All I can say is that I'm really proud of the guys," head coach Denny Crum said. "To come back from 12 points down, they really picked it up and played hard."

Dwayne Morton had a near-perfect shooting night as he was 7-7 from the field, 5-5 from the three point line and 7-8 on free throws for a game high 26 points.

2005: Louisville defeats Georgia Tech 76-54

A far cry from the opening game of their 2005 Final Four run where they barely squeaked past the Ragin' Cajuns, the No. 4 seeded Louisville Cardinals played a much more complete game against the No. 5 seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, taking them down 76-54 to advance to their first Sweet 16 in eight years.

The Ramblin' Wreck was no slouch, as they had made an appearance in the ACC Championship game just one week prior and had taken down AP No. 2 UNC in the process.

The Cards dominated the Jackets on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 33-16 and allowing just 5 Georgia Tech offensive rebounds while hauling in 24 defensive ones. Shooting was night-and-day as Louisville was 52.4% from the field while Tech was just 37.7%.

Louisville ended the night with four double digit scorers, including a game high 21 from Francisco Garcia and 12 points & 11 rebounds from Juan Palacios for the game's only double double.

2009: Louisville defeats Morehead State 74-54

Louisville's 2009 run to the Elite Eight got started off on the right foot, as the No. 1 overall Cardinals breezed past the Morehead State Eagles 74-54 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Both team didn't exactly have the greatest games as it pertained to taking care of the ball, with the Cardinals coughing it up 19 times and the Eagles doing so 20 times.

What separated these team was there abilities to actually put the ball in the hoop. Morehead State only connected on 38.5% of their shots while Louisville shot at a much higher 58.0% clip.

Terrence Williams, Edgar Sosa and Earl Clark combined for 40 of Louisville's 74 points, and sank 17 of their 29 field goals. Morehead State also had a trio of double digit scorers, but only 9 points from everyone else on the roster.

2014: Louisville defeats Manhattan 71-64

The Cardinals' 2014 NCAA Tournament opener was anything but smooth sailing, as No. 4 seeded Louisville held off the No. 13 Manhattan Jaspers just long enough to escape with a 71-64 victory.

Having to face Steve Masiello, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino's former assistant coach from 2005 to 2011 at Louisville, the Cards' usually stout pressure defense had trouble containing Manhattan's guards and struggled themselves from the perimeter.

Despite going 4-13 on three point attempts and 36.4% from the field, the rebounding battle won the day for Louisville. The Cards hauled in 14 more rebounds than the Jaspers, including 15 offensive boards.

Montrezl Harrell was the most dominant on the glass, hauling in more rebounds (13) than points (12). He was one of four Cardinals to have double figures, led by Russ Smith's 18.

2015: Louisville defeats UC Irvine 57-55

In what was billed on paper as a clear advantage for Louisville, heroic performances from Wayne Blackshear and Quentin Snider saved the day for the No. 4 seeded Cardinals and escaped with a 57-55 victory over the No. 13 seeded UC Irvine Anteaters.

With just 43 remaining in the game and trailing by two, Blackshear came through in the clutch and netted the equalizer for a game high 19 points. Following that up was a pair of free throws from Quentin Snider with 8.9 seconds remaining to take a two point lead and finish with 16 points in his first ever NCAA Tournament game.

Louisville's big men in Montrezl Harrell & Mangok Mathiang did not contribute much on the offensive side of things, but were invaluable on defense. Having the task of guarding UC Irvine's 7'6" center in Mamadou Ndiaye, they limited him to just 12 points and 5 rebounds.

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