The Louisville Cardinals grabbed nearly every offensive rebound in the world in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament and never trailed the No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles in an 84-71 victory. Louisville probably moved up a seed or two in the NCAA Tournament with the win, which was powered by point guard Peyton Siva and the long arms of their frontcourt.
Big East Tournament Bracket Update: Louisville Knocks Off Marquette To Reach Semifinals
The Cardinals came out of the gates on fire, jumping out to a 21-6 lead on the shoulders of Siva and big man Chane Behanan. Defensive stalwart Gorgui Dieng was making it difficult for Marquette to do anything inside, but he went out soon after with foul trouble, when Marquette started to climb back in it.
Marquette began to chip away at the lead in the second half despite foul trouble by Big East Player of the Year Jae Crowder and, well, pretty much everyone. Louisville was in the bonus with 12 minutes left in the game, making it even more difficult for Marquette to come back. The Golden Eagles brought the game to within four points, but couldn’t get any closer than that.
The Cardinals pulled down 23 offensive rebounds in all, leading to far too many second-chance points. Seven of Dieng's 10 rebounds were on the offensive glass. Siva, however, was the engine of the Cardinals' attack all game long, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Kyle Kuric, despite struggling from the three-point line, led the Cardinals with 20 points. They'll face the winner of Notre Dame and South Florida in the semifinals.
Speaking of struggling from deep, the Golden Eagles shot just 2-13 from distance, but they really lost this one with the turnovers. They had 26 as a team, and point guard Junior Cadougan, largely because of Siva's defense, had eight all by himself. Marquette head coach Buzz Williams is going to be going over the tape of Louisville's press a lot before the NCAA Tournament.
For more on these two teams, visit Louisville blog Card Chronicle, Marquette blog Anonymous Eagle, and Big East Coast Bias. For a complete bracket of the Big East tournament, click here.
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