Louisville Solo Show Is Enough : West: Morton is the only Cardinal worth his salt, but his shooting stops Minnesota, 60-55.

Louisville’s Dwayne Morton was too much for Minnesota to handle on Sunday, leading the Cardinals to a 60-55 victory in the second round of the West Regional.

Morton tied an NCAA regional record by making all five of his three-point shots and led all scorers with 26 points.

Other than a free throw in the closing seconds, Morton did not miss, making all seven of his shots from the field and seven of eight free throws.

“There was only one guy on our team who played as well as he was capable of playing--that was Dwayne,” said Louisville Coach Denny Crum, whose team made 11 three-point shots.

Third-seeded Louisville (28-5) will play Arizona (27-5) on Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

The seesaw game saw many lead changes and featured 19 three-point baskets.

Morton’s final three-pointer gave Louisville the lead for good, 56-55, with 1:20 to play, and his two free throws iced the victory.

Voshon Lenard led sixth-seeded Minnesota (21-12) with 20 points, including four three-pointers.

With All-American and leading scorer Clifford Rozier being double- and triple-teamed, Crum ordered the offense redirected toward Morton, who averaged 14.9 points during the season. A senior from Louisville, Morton scored only 11 points and made only three of 10 shots in a first-round victory over Boise State.

Yet Crum said he told Rozier at halftime that he needed to pass the ball outside if Louisville was to score against Minnesota’s tough defense.

“Today was just my day,” Morton said. “I had to step up and be assertive.”

Jason Osborne was second among Louisville scorers with nine points.

Louisville set the tone by sinking three-point shots for its first two baskets.

Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said he was proud of his team, even though the Golden Gophers squandered a 34-22 halftime lead and scored only 21 points in the second half, when they shot only 32%.

“Leads in the college game today are not safe,” Haskins said. “With the three-pointers, you’ve got to play for a full 40 minutes.”

Minnesota shot 50% in the first half, then made only eight of 25 in the second.

“We didn’t show a lot of patience,” Haskins said. “We had our opportunities to win the game.”