Louisville holds off UC Irvine 57-55 to advance
SEATTLE — Louisville freshman guard Quentin Snider hit a pair of free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining, then teammate Terry Rozier broke up a pass near midcourt in the final seconds as the fourth-seeded Cardinals avoided the upset with a 57-55 win over No. 13 UC Irvine in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Senior Wayne Blackshear led Louisville (25-8) with 19 points, including the tying basket with 42 seconds to go, while Snider added 16.
Will Davis II led UC Irvine (21-13) with 14 points, while 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye added 12.
UC Irvine, which never trailed by more than five points in the second half, rallied to take a 51-50 lead on sophomore guard Luke Nelson’s jumper from the wing with 3:53 remaining. Nelson struck again with a floater over two defenders to put the Anteaters up 55-53 with 1:00 left, but Blackshear tied the score on a drive 18 seconds later.
With the score tied 55-55, Nelson took a long 3-point attempt with 11 seconds left but missed badly. A scramble for the rebound resulted in Snider getting fouled. Snider hit both free throws with 8.9 seconds left, giving the Cardinals a 57-55 lead.
UC Irvine’s Alex Young had the ball near midcourt in the final seconds but had a pass tipped away by Rozier, resulting in a game-ending turnover.
Blackshear scored nine first-half points to lead the Cardinals to a 30-28 lead at the break. The Anteaters made 4 of 9 shots from 3-point range in the first half to keep the game close.
NOTES: Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s son, Rick Jr., was among the people in attendance at Seattle’s Key Arena. Pitino Jr. is the head coach of the University of Minnesota basketball team. … Louisville freshman F Chinanu Onuaku hurt his back on a fall to the floor with 18 minutes remaining in the game and did not return, leaving an already-thin Louisville team without another contributor.
