Louisville - Tennessee Preview

Sweet 16
Louisville Cardinals (3) Vs. Tennessee Volunteers (2)
Thursday, March 27 @ 9:57 pm

On Sunday, the Louisville Cardinals beat Okalahoma sooner than later, as they went ahead 44- 22 by the half, going on to win 78- 48. Louisville kept the ball moving, earning 24 assists with forward Terrence Williams getting 5. Williams also had 8 rebounds and 7 points.

The Cardinals spread the scoring around. Swingman Earl Clark led the team with 14 points. Guard Jerry Smith was good for a dozen, including hitting two of four from the arc. The team hit 53% from the three-point mark and 59% from the field.

The Cardinal defense held the Sooners’ shooting success to 32%, while blocking 7 shots and stealing the ball 3 times. If there’s a concern for the team, it’s at the foul line. Louisville shot just 33% from the penalty stripe. If that poor shooting rate continues, it could hurt the Cardinals in the future.

In their round two contest, the 2nd seed Tennessee Volunteers couldn’t shake the 7th seed Butler Bulldogs. It took an OT for the Vols to finally win the battle 76- 71.

Tennessee had its problems controlling the ball, losing it 20 times to turnovers and having it stolen 11 times. The team hit only 26% of its threes.

On the boards, the Vols grabbed 43 rebounds, while the Bulldogs brought down just 34. Forward Tyler Smith had 8 of those rebbies while putting in 15 points, including going 7 of 8 from the foul line. Forward Wayne Chism led all Vols with 16 points and point guard J.P. Prince dished off 7 assists. Forward Duke Crews came off the bench and brought in 6 rebounds.

Tennessee had a tough time playing consistent hoop against Butler. When they meet Louisville, they’ll have to be more careful with the ball and connect better on passes. The Cardinals will be difficult to contain. They’re running on all cylinders. Although, they must shoot better from the foul line where games are often won and lost.