Louisville NCAA Rewind: March 15th

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 15th NCAA Tournament Record: 6-2

1968: Houston defeats Louisville 91-75

Louisville's hopes an aspirations for a national title in 1968 ran into a massive roadblock right out of the gates, as the Cardinals drew an opening round matchup against the AP No. 1 Houston Cougars and were soundly defeated 91-75 in Wichita, KS.

Houston was led by future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Elvin Hayes, who killed the Cardinals both down low in the post and away from the basket. Hayes came away with a game high 35 points, and hauled in 24 of the Cougars' 50 rebounds.

"He's the best I've ever seen," Louisville head coach John Dromo said about Hayes. "That son-of-a-gun is fantastic the way he kisses the ball off the backboard into the basket."

Though Hayes had himself a good matchup. UofL center Wes Unseld also had himself a double double, this one for 23 points and 22 rebounds. Butch Beard also had himself a double digit scoring effort with 21 points, but also had 6 assists and 7 rebounds to boot.

A nine minute Houston run in the first half was the difference maker in the game for the Cardinals. Louisville possessed a 13-11 lead with 14:34 left in the first half, then the Cougars exploded for a 26-4 run to give themselves the hefty advantage for good.

1975: Louisville defeats Rutgers 91-78

A quick start from the Scarlet Knights was countered with a Cardinals comeback, as the the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals utilized a second half rally to avoid upset against the No. 16 Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers used their athleticism and speed to lock down the Cardinals guard on the offensive end, primarily in the first half where they took a 46-44 half-time lead and led by as much as 8.

"We haven't seen a quicker team all year," head coach Denny Crum said. "We didn't take them for granted at all. If anything, we were just too, too tight, especially in the first 10 minutes."

Louisville outscored Rutgers by 15 in the second half, and finally put some distance between themselves and the Knights thanks to a 12-2 run late in the second half. For the game, the Cardinals were led by senior forward Junior Bridgeman, who scored a career high 36 points and came away with 11 rebounds.

1979: Arkansas defeats Louisville 73-62

Despite mounting a furious comeback attempt, the No. 3 seeded Louisville Cardinals could not complete the the job, falling 73-62 to the No. 2 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in front of 17,252 fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

The Razorbacks took a 38-26 lead into halftime, and with 12 minutes left in the game Louisville trailed 51-34, and was almost certainly heading for a blowout defeat. However, the Cardinals fired off a 22-4 run to seize a 56-55 lead a little more than six minutes later.

But down the stretch, Arkansas senior guard and future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Sidney Moncrief took over and sealed the deal for the Hogs, eventually coming away with a game high 27 points and 12 rebounds. He would go 7-12 from the field with a near perfect mark of 13-14 from the free throw line, scoring a personal NCAA Tournament career high.

Louisville had a much more balanced scoring effort, with five players scoring in double figures. Scooter McCray led the way with 14, with leading scorer for the season Darrell Griffith coming away with just 12.

1986: Louisville defeats Bradley 82-68

A top 15 matchup according to the Associated Press, the No. 2 seeded Louisville Cardinals carried on their 1986 title run with an 82-68 win over the No. 7 seeded Bradley Braves to advance to the Sweet 16.

The Cards were led by a pair of 16 point scoring efforts from Pervis Ellison and Milt Wagner, with the latter making a key play that both coach Bradley coach Dick Versace & Louisville coach Denny Crum believed was the turning point.

With the game tied at 55 and less than nine minutes to go, Wagner came flying through the air to swat a jump shot from Bradley's Jim Les out of the air, was fouled on the other end and sank a pair of free throws.

"Psychologically, that turned the game," Versace said.

"I thought that gave us some momentum there," Crum said.

The game was tied twice more over the next two minutes, with the final one coming at 59 at piece with 6:55 to go. But over the next six and a half minutes, the Braves could only manage one field goal while the Cards hit 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch.

1990: Louisville defeats Idaho 78-59

A slow start from Louisville and gutsy performance from Idaho's Riley Smith was not enough for the upset bid, as the No. 4 seeded Cardinals blew out the No. 13 seeded Vandals 78-59 in the NCAA Tournament opener at Salt Lake City.

Idaho opened up the game on a 16-8 run primarily thanks to Louisville allowed whatever the Vandals wanted on the inside. Center Riley Smith took full advantage of this, eventually coming away with a game high in points & rebounds wth 28 & 12 respectively.

But the Cards responded quickly and furiously, ending the second half on a 28-3 run to take a 17 point lead into halftime. In the second half, the Vandals never got closer than 11 points.

Four of UofL's starters scored in double digits, with guard Everick Sullivan leading the way with 18 points on 8-12 shooting. Jerome Harmon had a great day coming off the bench, as the guard went 6-9 from the field and 3-4 at the charity stripe for 15 points.

1996: Louisville defeats Tulsa 82-80 (OT)

Clutch defense towards the end of regulation and a heroic performance from DeJuan Wheat dragged Louisville to the finish line, as the No. 6 seeded Cardinals were nearly upset by Tulsa in the opening round of the tournament, defeating the Golden Hurricanes 82-80 in overtime.

Louisville's starting front court in Damion Dantzler, Alvin Sims & Beau Zach Smith combined for just 4 points, all on free throws as the trio went 0-9 from the field. The Cards' key sixth man in Brian Kiser also sank just 1 field goal.

"I don't think we played well, but at least we stepped up at the end when it counted," head coach Denny Crum said. "We were fortunate to win."

Tulsa seemed poised for the upset, as they had a 69-57 lead with just 3:34 left in regulation. But it was at this point that Louisville clamped down on the defensive end. By the time the final horn sounded, the Golden Hurricanes had committed 27 turnovers, with 18 of them steals forced by UofL.

DeJuan Wheat lead the charge for the Cards and his scoring effort was felt all over the floor, finishing with 33 points, which was two shy of his career high. He went 10-18 from the field including 6-11 from beyond the arc, as well as 7-9 from the free throw line.

2007: Louisville defeats Stanford 78-58

Playing just 90 miles from home at Rupp Arena, the No. 6 seeded Cardinals had no issue with the No. 11 seeded Cardinal, as Louisville took down Stanford 78-58 in a game that was over almost as soon as it started.

By the time the first media timeout came, Louisville was already up 17-6. At the half, the Cards were up 46-20 and had led by as much as 29.

They had no trouble dealing with Stanford's twin towers in the Lopez brothers. Brook & Robin combined for just 21 points & 11 rebounds, while Louisville's defensive ball pressure forced 21 Stanford turnovers. Center David Padgett was the catalyst for negating the duo, tying for a team high 16 points and putting the pressure on the Lopez twins.

Meanwhile, all four of Louisville's freshmen scored in double figures. Edgar Sosa tied for the team most with 16, Earl Clark & Derrick Caracter each had 12, and Jerry Smith chipped in with 10.

"I told the team before the game 'These freshmen are terrific' ", head coach Rick Pitino said. " 'but I guarantee one thing: No one will outplay David Padgett.' And when the game was on the line for the first 30 minutes, they did not."

2012: Louisville defeats Davidson 69-62

Kicking off their 2012 Final Four run, the No. 4 seeded Louisville Cardinals cruised to a 69-62 victory over the No. 13 seeded Davidson Wildcats, earning their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2009.

The Wildcats had trouble dealing with Peyton Siva, as the guard sliced through Davidson's defense for a team high 17 points and a game high 6 assists.

"They just played on our shooters, and Coach [Rick Pitino] kept telling me to stay in attack mode," Siva said. "That's what I kept trying to do."

Complimenting his performance was a 14 point/11 rebound double double from freshman Chane Behanan. Combined with holding the Wildcats to a season low 35.0% shooting percentage, Louisville easily coasted along, possessing a 59-44 lead with 3:22 to go.

Davidson had trimmed the lead to just 5 with nine seconds to go, but at that point fatigue had already long kicked in and the Wildcats had nothing left in the tank.

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