The Louisville Cardinals defeated the 82-56 Colorado St. Rams as they continue rolling in the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. With the victory, they advanced to the Sweet 16. They can thank a strong offensive performance and of course, their defense.
Russ Smith led the way on offense scoring 27 points and was one of five Louisville players with steals in this game. The Louisville defense was just as good as their offense in this game. Colorado St. was able to get their baskets in, but their issues lied in maintaining possession of the ball as they finished the game with 18 turnovers.
This game was pretty much all Louisville and Smith helped set the tone early on.
Smith had 18 points by halftime after shooting 6-10 from the floor and 4-6 from three. Louisville was shooting over 55 percent and their press was creating chaos.
The issue for Colorado St. wasn't their shooting as they made 56 percent of their shots. Rick Pitino's press was creating all sorts of continuous issues. They would be able to get the ball inbounds, but the traps and press forced turnovers all throughout the game.
The Rams led 16-14 early on in the game, but the Cardinals finished the first half on a 31-15 run. Colorado St. just couldn't set their offense when they actually got the ball over center court. It was all Louisville in the first period.
Also an issue for the Colorado St., the Louisville bench scored 13 points in the first half and they also created issues on defense as they had four steals early on.
In the second half, the Cardinals didn't take anything for granted and that was Coach Pitino's plan from the beginning. He wanted his team to play as if the score was tied 0-0. And this is exactly what they did. With 16:45 left in the game, the Cardinals had a 19-point lead. Colorado had scored three points by then, but they had committed four turnovers as they saw Louisville increase their lead and continue the pressure.
