Louisville NCAA Rewind: March 25th
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 24th NCAA Tournament Record: 0-2
1972: North Carolina defeats Louisville 105-91
Playing in the National Third Place game after falling in the Final Four to eventual national champion UCLA, the defensive pressure of the AP No. 4 ranked Cardinals could not overcome their poor shooting, as they fell to the No. 2 ranked Tar Heels to close out the season.
It was fast paced game, albeit an extremely sloppy one. Both team combined for 137 field goal attempts, 81 free throw attempts, 56 personal fouls and 52 turnovers. Both team played with reckless abandon from start to finish.
What turned out to be the difference maker, if there ever was one, was UNC's ability to capitalize on their shots whenever they were not giving the ball to Louisville. While Carolina turned it over 30 times, they shot 61.0% from the field and turned 31 Louisville fouls into 33 made free throws. Conversely, Louisville only shot 41.0%, while making 6 less free throws on 7 less attempts and getting out-rebounded 46-38.
"You can plan on UofL being back in this thing," Jim Price said. "Even though all of us seniors are leaving, Coach Denny Crum will get the people you need to win it."
Price finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-17 shooting. UNC's Bob McAdoo led all scorers with 30 points and 19 rebounds.
1993: Indiana defeats Louisville 82-69
Led by a near-perfect performance from their star player, the AP No. 1 and top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers went nearly wire-to-wire with the fourth-seeded Cardinals, bouncing them 82-69 in their Sweet 16 matchup in St. Louis.
The Cardinals led just once, possessing a 3-2 lead only minutes into the game. From then on out, it was the Calbert Chaney show. The IU senior guard was everywhere on the court, finishing with a game high 32 points on 10-12 both from the field and the free throw line while going 2-3 from beyond the arc. He also finished with a team high 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
"Calbert Chaney is awesome," Louisville coach Denny Crum said. "They do a great job getting the ball to him and he did a great job putting the ball in the basket. We didn't have anyone who could guard him."
Combined with Chaney's efforts, the Hoosiers shot a blazing 67.7% from the field and 7-14 on three point attempts, whereas Louisville shot 41.3% and 8-25 respectively. Clifford Rozier had a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for Louisville.
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