Louisville Routs Georgia Tech

In a dominating performance from start to finish, Louisville glided past Georgia Tech with a 76-54 win on Sunday to advance into this week’s Sweet 16 against top-seeded Washington.

The Cardinals led by double digits less than five minutes into the game, quickly ending Georgia Tech’s hope for a repeat trip to the national-championship game.

“If somebody tells me [Louisville] is a 4 seed, you’re nuts,” Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt said. “You’re absolutely nuts.”

The Cardinals are indeed seeded fourth, but they certainly didn’t play like it Sunday. Forward Francisco Garcia scored 18 points in the first half, propelling his team into the regional semifinals for the first time since 1997.

A combination of rebounding and scoring kept Louisville in control of its lead throughout the game. The Cardinals made 62.5% of their shots and outrebounded the Yellow Jackets by 15.

“Our focus coming into the game was to just rebound the ball,” Garcia said.

“We knew coming into the game that they were strong and physical. We had to go to the boards.”

The best spurt Georgia Tech could muster came midway through the second half. The Yellow Jackets managed to cut the lead to nine points when forward B.J. Elder and guard Will Bynum made consecutive three-point baskets.

But that was as close as Georgia Tech would come, as the Cardinals quickly answered with a 13-2 run.

“Coach told us they were going to make a run,” Louisville senior Larry O’Bannon said. “We knew they were going to make a run and then we’d make our run. We just needed to play good defense.”

Louisville continued to prove it might have deserved a better seeding, which some expected after the team won the Conference USA tournament. The Cardinals will have a chance to prove that’s the case in Albuquerque, when they play Washington in the Sweet 16.