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Boise State falls to Cardinals in first round, 79-61
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Louisville Cardinals (25-8) gave the Boise State(25-9) men’s basketball team all it could handle Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Louisville handed the Broncos a 61-79 defeat, which eliminates the Broncos from the tournament.
What hurt the most for the Broncos, perhaps, wasn’t just that they lost, but more so the way that they lost. Despite being known more for their big men and inside game, the Cardinals shot lights out from the field Friday night. At halftime, they were 57.1 percent from the field and the 3-point line. On the night, they finished 50 percent from the 3-point line.
“I think we had a good game plan tonight, really,” BSU senior Matt Nelson said after the game. “We executed it well too. We just weren’t expecting them to shoot 50 percent from 3-point line.”
“We played that hard because of our respect level for Boise State,” Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino said. “When you win on the road triple overtime, beat BYU, shoot 51.4, our respect level for that team was off the charts. We were ready to play from the opening tip tonight.”
Entering Friday’s game, one of BSU’s main concerns was Cardinal center David Padgett. Padgett collected two early fouls in the first half and didn’t even score before the break. He finished the game with nine points.
“I was obviously glad when he got two fouls and was out,” BSU Head Coach Greg Graham said. “But I look at the stats here and one of our keys was, if we could control the paint. We controlled the paint from a scoring standpoint and a rebounding standpoint. Or [at least] we neutralized the paint. But the three point line just killed us tonight.”
Helping out from the three point line for the Cardinals, was Juan Palacios and Earl Clark.
Palacios didn’t miss a shot from the floor all night and had 13 points, while Clark added 15 points.
“That helped my confidence. I wasn’t shooting the three well this year.but I was open and I just went for it,” Clark said.
The Broncos could never really seem to find their rhythm and looked anxious and tense at times. BSU finished the game with 19 turnovers, while the Cards had 16.
“We’re a pretty confident team,” Nelson said. “We don’t ever think we’re going to lose or think we can’t compete with anyone. I think there was a little bit of jitters at the start of the game, just because we were over excited.”
Another dragger to the heart for the Broncos was the fact that they couldn’t seem to find their three point shot. Senior Tyler Tiedeman led the team as he went 2-for-6 from the three. Senior Matt Bauscher, who is know for his ability to shoot the three, only scored two points.
“We did a very good job of stopping a tremendous three point shooting team,” Pitino said.
“It’s been our strong suit all year [the three] and tonight it wasn’t. I thought that was the key to the game this evening,” Graham said.
The Broncos’ inside game did give some offense on the night, but wasn’t consistent enough to do any real damage. Senior Reggie Larry provided some monster dunks and finished off his career with 14 point and an seven rebound performance. The other big man for the Broncos, Nelson had a team high 17 points and also added seven rebounds in his final showing for BSU.
Box Score
Boise State313061
Louisville443579
Boise State (25-9)
Tiedeman 5-9 0-0 12, Nelson 7-12 3-6 17, Larry 6-13 2-6 14, Thomas 3-5 0-0 7, Bauscher 1-6 0-0 2, Greene 1-2 0-0 3, Garner 0-2 0-0 0, Larsen 0-0 0-0 0, Noonan 2-3 0-0 4, Sanchez 0-0 0-0 0, Cunningham 1-2 0-0 2.
Louisville (25-8)
Williams 3-12 2-4 9, Palacios 5-5 1-2 13, Padgett 3-4 3-4 9, McGee 2-7 0-0 6, Smith 4-9 0-0 12, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Knowles 1-1 0-0 3, Clark 6-8 2-2 15, Sosa 1-2 0-3 3, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Caracter 4-4 1-3 9, Farley 0-0 0-0 0.
3-Pointers-BSU-4-17 (Tiedeman 1-3 Larry 0-1 Thomas 1-3 Bauscher 0-3 Greene 1-2 Garner 0-1 Noonan 0-1). Louisville-12-24 (Williams 1-3 Palacios 2-2 McGee 2-7 Smith 4-8 Knowles 1-1 Clark 102 Sosa 1-1). Rebounds-BSU-31(Nelson, Larry 7) Louisville-27(Williams 8). Assists-BSU-15(Thomas 4) Louisville-15(Williams 6). Technical Fouls-None. Attendance- 14315.
MARY ALBL
Assistant Sports Editor
