Anyway, it's halftime now. I saw West Virginia send the lead to 20, but Louisville has now cut it to 13 at halftime.
Well I doubt West Virginia can come out shooting like that again. 10-14 from the arc in the first half? Unreal. And shooting 65% from the field is akin to playing on NBA Live. (Which reminds me; when will EA Sports put NCAA March Madness on PC?)
Louisville is facing their biggest deficit of the season, and they have the firepower to come back from it. However, they need to step up and make plays early in the second half. They don't need to look at a 10-11 point deficit midway through the second half and think they are going to make their move then.
Anyway, I'll liveblog the second half, and the Illinois/Arizona battle later.
5:50: They're back for the second half, and Louisville is starting exactly the way they're supposed to, already making two defensive plays and attacking the basket. Now, if they can only make some free throws. Huge three cuts it to ten.
5:55: Man this is becoming a huge shootout, as both teams have hit a combined 19 three pointers in this game. For a while it looked like Louisville was going to cut further into this lead, but WV simply keeps drilling them. That's not good. 52-40 WV.
6:05: NOW we have a ball game. Louisville's defensive posture is impressive right now, and they are really frustrating West Virginia, who can't make a basket in the paint and aren't too confident on the arc right now. Huge threes by Louisville's Taquan Dean cuts this lead in half and is on an 8-2 run, 54-48 with 11:48 to go.
6:13: Just when you think Louisville was going to put West Virginia on the ropes, here comes Pittsnoggle and Gansey going back to their ole bread-and-butter: the three-pointer. Louisville briefly cut it to three, but it's now a nine point WV lead.
6:19: Louisville is pushing on, but everytime they get something started, here comes another WV three. And it isn't that they aren't playing perimeter defense, WV is just hitting their shots. And just as I said that, Pittsnoggle hits a three that hits the front rim and drops in. WV's up 68-58 with 6:41 left. Louisville better hope WV goes cold in these last minutes; they are 16-21 from the arc so far. Wow.
6:27: Kevin Pittsnoggle is becoming a March Madness legend before our eyes. He has played at a higher level than almost anyone in the tournament. Taquan Dean is back in the game after catching cramps. Louisville is starting to slashing the basket and place pressure on the defensive end. However, Francisco Garcia has fouled out. 71-67 with 4:00 left.
6:35. Louisville's trying to put up what could possibly be their last run. They are starting to hit the offensive glass and making plays. Now they are going to have to find a way to keep Pittsnoggle, Herber and Gansey off the arc. 74-71 WV with two and a half left.
6:38: Pittsnoggle AGAIN. This guy is unstoppable. Otis George made a great jumper just inside the line for Louisville. 77-73 WV with a minute and a half left.
Velacio gets one in the paint and cut it to two...one minute left.
6:39: Pittsnoggle MISSED a shot. Is that possible? Louisville gets the rebound and has the ball with 48.3 ticks left.
OVERTIME: What a game! Larry O'Bannon slashed to the basket to tie the game for the first time since early in the first half. They can't handle that kid's speed. Afterwards, Velacio got a huge shot block and Louisville got it with about six seconds left, but Dean couldn't convert on the other end and the clock runs out. Let's hop to it.
6:48: Tyrone Sally's fouled out for WV. Meanwhile Taquan Dean is placing this team on his back, as he hits a huge three pointer. Louisville fouled on the other end, WV hits the two fts, steals the ball on the other end and ties the game at 82 with 3:29 left in OT.
6:55: Louisville looks like they are on their way. O'Bannon and Velacio has stepped up while Garcia and Dean are off the court (Dean's still having problems with that leg). However, Velacio goes to the line and misses both fts. WV is still cold, though, and Louisville leads 88-83 with 1:05 left and at the line.
7:00: Why WV decided to slash the basket instead of shooting threes is beyond me. Maybe they thought they'd catch Louisville off guard, but they didn't, and they got a couple of blocks from that. You got to put that ball up beyond the arc, and although Louisville has not been hitting their fts, this game is over. 92-85 with 30 secs left.
- Louisville is the first entrant into the Final Four, 93-85.
A hell of a game for two halves. In overtime, WV simply had no juice left, and O'Bannon and Velacio played an inspired overtime overcoming the absence of their two leaders. It was sloppy at the end, with Louisville missing a lot of fts and WV missing a lot of shots, to which I can't understand why they didn't start trying to air it out within a minute and a half in OT.
Another thing to note: Louisville never took the lead in that game until overtime. Rick Petino has to be commended for getting his guys motivated enough to push their way back into this game after being down by 20 in the first half and enduring the hellacious shooting beyond the arc by WV.
West Virginia has nothing to be ashamed of. They played a hell of a game against a team that had much more talent than them. They simply couldn't send that sharpshooting into overtime, and they went cold. That's a tough way to lose, but nothing to be ashamed of.
I will start liveblogging Illinois/Arizona on another post in a few minutes.