Louisville surges past NC State
Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y.
Montrezl Harrell is not ready for the end of his college career at Louisville just yet. Anton Gill helped make sure it continues at least one more game.
Harrell scored 24 points, Gill keyed a late-game surge with seven points off the bench, and Louisville beat North Carolina State 75-65 on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
“We don’t want to go home,” said Harrell, a junior who plans to enter the NBA Draft. “We took our bumps and bruises throughout the season, but we came together at the right time. Everything just gelled at the right time.”
Louisville (27-8), the fourth seed in the East and seeking to make its third Final Four in four years, will play seventh-seeded Michigan State in the East final on Sunday.
After toppling top-seeded Villanova, North Carolina State (22-14), the eighth seed, saw its postseason run end against a team that refused to quit.
“Late in the game they made some plays there that were the difference,” N.C. state coach Mark Gottfried said. “He [Gill] made a couple of tough shots there. I thought it was that little stretch that gave them the cushion, and it was the difference in the game.”
Louisville wasn’t given much chance of playing in late March after it lost two of three entering the NCAA Tournament, but gritty wins over UC Irvine and Northern Iowa had the Cardinals brimming with confidence.
Guard Terry Rozier, a Youngstown native who played at Shaker Heights High, had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and freshman guard Quentin Snider added 14 points for the Cardinals.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino has a 12-1 record in Sweet 16 games, 6-1 with the Cardinals.
Trevor Lacey led the Wolfpack with 18 points, while Ralston Turner had 12 and Kyle Washington 11.
Speedy guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, the spark of the Wolfpack’s attack, finished with eight points on 3-of-14 shooting, only briefly getting untracked early in the second half.
Before the game, Pitino promised a surprise and Gill delivered. Gill, who averaged 9.5 minutes and 2.4 points during the season, hit a runner and a 3 from the right corner in a span of a minute as Louisville regained the lead late in a seesaw game. He followed with a tough baseline drive through traffic for a 62-57 lead with 3:33 left.
“Anton and I had an interesting conversation the other day,” Pitino said. “I said, ‘You’re going to get your opportunity, son.’ He went in and basically won the game for us.”
And he did it against his hometown team.
“It’s kind of weird. I didn’t really realize we were playing N.C. State,” Gill said. “We’ve been so focused on what we need to do as a team. It’s funny how things work.”