ORLANDO, Fla. — Before Louisville played its third-round NCAA Tournament game against Saint Louis, the Cardinals had to wait for Florida and Pittsburgh to clear the Amway Center floor.
So, while they waited, they watched.
“I said, ‘Guys, that’s the exact game you’re going to play, you’re going to have to be the prettiest team in an ugly game because that’s the way it’s going to be,’ ” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.
And that’s the way it was.
For the second straight game, No. 4 Louisville did little to support an argument of underseeding in the Midwest Regional, but the defending national champions advanced to their third straight Sweet 16 with a 66-51 win over No. 5 Saint Louis on Saturday.
The Cardinals (30-5), who have lost only once since Jan. 30, will meet the winner of No. 1 Wichita State/No. 8 Kentucky on Friday in Indianapolis, the second straight year Louisville will play the second week of the tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium, where Kevin Ware horrifically shattered his leg in last year’s Elite Eight.
“We just wanted to grind out a ‘W.’ It’s not every game you can run up and down,” Pitino said. “We were real proud of our effort defensively. We grinded out a win and that’s what the NCAA Tournament is all about.”
After trailing 25-16 at halftime, Saint Louis (27-7) opened the second half with a 13-2 run — led by Dwayne Evans (16 points, 10 rebounds) — and took a 29-27 lead with just over 14 minutes remaining, as the Cardinals missed their first 10 shots of the half.
But the lead would be short-lived, as Russ Smith (11 points) scored four straight points — in the Brooklyn native’s second straight subpar game — to put Louisville in front for good, while Luke Hancock heeded Pitino’s advice on taking open shots, scoring a game-high 21 points on 15 shots.
“He’s really smart. He reads the screens, so it’s cat and mouse,” Saint Louis coach Jim Crews said of Hancock, last year’s Most Outstanding Player. “Most guys just watch the ball, he watches the defender. It’s like playing tag with your little sister or little brother growing up. If they go under the table, you go over the table. If you go right, he goes left. He does a great job.”
Saint Louis, which shot under 40 percent from the field, struggled from the start, making the first half look like a PAL game with exceptional athletes. After more than 13 minutes, the Billikens had eight fouls and six points.
With Saint Louis shooting threat Rob Loe — who had 22 points and 15 rebounds in Thursday’s win over N.C. State — sidelined early with three fouls, Louisville’s zone defense put a spotlight on Saint Louis’ suspect shooting which never dimmed, as the team missed all 15 3-point attempts. It was Saint Louis’ first game all season without a made 3-pointer.
“I thought we took a lot of good shots today,” Evans said. “They just weren’t falling, but we had the right guys in the right spots. I guess you have days like that.”