(Updated 12:01 am Tuesday). There is only one area regional college basketball team left in NCAA tournament competition and that is the Louisville women.
On Saturday, the top seeded Cardinals defeated fourth seeded Tennessee 76-64 in the Sweet 16. The Vols outrebounded the Cards 52-36 but also committed 18 turnovers. Louisville had 11 steals and only committed seven miscues.
And Monday in an Elite Eight match, Louisville defeated the three seed Michigan 62-50. The Cardinals scored the game’s final 10 points and outscored the Wolverines 17-7 in the final frame.
Louisville turned Michigan over 22 times which helped lead to 12 additional shot attempts.
The Cardinals head to Minneapolis for the program’s fourth Final Four. Louisville gets fellow one seed South Carolina on Friday in one national semifinal.
The other semi Friday will pit No. 2 Connecticut against top seeded Stanford. The UConn Huskies outlasted the top seeded Wolfpack of NC State 91-87 in double overtime Monday. This nailbiter had 18 ties and 26 lead changes.
Connecticut will be making its 14th straight Final Four appearance.
The Huskies knocked out Indiana Saturday 75-58. It was just a four-point game at halftime. IU was outrebounded by 12 and lost the turnover battle by six.
The Wolfpack of NC State eliminated fifth seeded Notre Dame 66-63 Saturday. The Irish were outscored 20-10 in the fourth quarter because they couldn’t hang on to the ball. Seven, fourth quarter turnovers were their undoing, the last of which led to the go-ahead basket with 15 seconds to play.
The final regional men’s team in the field, Purdue, was ousted Friday by St. Peter’s. The 15th seeded Cinderella Peacocks pulled off their third upset of the tournament by defeating the third seeded Boilermakers 67-64.
St. Peter’s, a 13-point underdog, was money from the stripe making 19-of-21. The Peacocks hit 11 straight in the final four minutes.
Purdue struggled to hit a bucket down the stretch going five full minutes during the last six without hitting a field goal.
St. Peter’s went on to lose to eighth seeded North Carolina 69-49 Sunday but made tournament history by becoming the first 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight.