This game was essentially an extension of the Elite Eight games for both teams. Louisville struggled for a half, but used a defense-led spurt to take control in the second half. Wichita State smacked the favorite in the mouth and built up a sizable second half lead before the favorite picked themselves off the floor and started clawing their way back. Unlike last weekend, Louisville wasn't able to pull away from their opponent in the second half. And unlike last weekend, Wichita State wasn't able to hit enough shots down the stretch to hang onto the lead.
Wichita State had a terrific game plan in this one: pack the lane, and make Louisville beat you from the outside, specifically Lousiville's 2 biggest threats: Peyton Siva and Russ Smith, neither of whom is a long-range marksman. For over a half, it worked. Louisville tried to create offense through their two guards, but neither could really get going. Because Louisville's offense wasn't clicking, they weren't able to really impose their will on the game defensively.
But like I've said before, pressure defense (if done well) works, even when it's not working. Even if it's not creating turnovers, it's wearing down the opponent. Instead of getting 40 minutes of quality play, the opponent gets gassed and starts fading after 30-35 minutes. A tired team isn't quite as sharp, their shots hit the rim instead of swishing through the net. Their care of the ball is just that much looser. And then the turnovers pile up. The shots stop falling. And the lead crumbles. Wichita went more than 26 minutes without a turnover, then turned the ball over 6 times in the final 7 minutes (for 10 total).
The other reason Louisville got back into the game? They hit enough of their threes to force Wichita State to cover the perimeter, freeing up the lane for dribble penetration leading to easier points. This game turned when little-used Tim Henderson hit back-to-back threes with just over 12 minutes remaining. The threes came from Louisville's bench (the bench scored 34 points, almost 50%), and that's when Wichita State's defense started to crack.
I will say that Wichita State was robbed of a chance to tie this game in the final 8-9 seconds. After gaining a defensive rebound, the referee's called a very quick jump ball that probably should have been a foul, if anything. Twitter, for one, didn't like the cal very much:
MT @philjackson11: the definition of a jump ball is that there must be a two 'tugging' the ball.
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) April 7, 2013
He knows a little something about basketball.
Bad call. Foul, not a tie-up.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) April 7, 2013
One of Sports Illustrated's former college basketball writers
@dannyoneil Do you think Golden Tate thought that was a jump ball?
— NGISB (@NGISB) April 7, 2013
This guy...wait...what??? How dare you! Who authorized this tweet?
All in all, a heck of a run for the 9th-seeded Shockers. Not only did they make the Final Four, they played some very entertaining ball to get there.
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