Tonight, the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals will face off with the fourth-seeded Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA tournament's final game with the 2013 championship at stake. The game will be broadcast on CBS at 9:23 p.m., and can be live streamed here.
Louisville survived a stiff test from the Wichita State Shockers in the Final Four, on the strength of 21 points by Russ Smith and the sharp shooting of Luke Hancock off the bench. Hancock scored 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
The Michigan Wolverines had their hands full as well in their Final Four game against the Syracuse Orange and their fearsome 2-3 zone defense. Trey Burke, Michigan's star point guard and 2013 Wooden Award winner had a miserable shooting night, hitting just 1-of-9 shots and scoring seven points. Burke contributed in other ways, pulling down five rebounds, dishing four assists, and picking up three steals.
The Wolverines were carried by Mitch McGary, who posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Glenn Robinson III, who scored 10 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr., who poured in a team-high 13 points.
Louisville is known for its unrelenting pressure defense, but if any team is equipped to deal with a press, it is the Wolverines. They have one of the nation's best ball-handlers in Trey Burke, and they torched a similar defense in the third round of the tournament, when they blasted VCU 78-53.
If Burke faces serious ball pressure, he said he will be happy to let Hardaway Jr., Robinson III, and co. handle the scoring duties. ''Pretty much every time I got the ball, I had two people in my face,'' he said. ''I tried not to force anything, but I probably forced two or three shots. That 3 I hit wasn't a good shot. But I try not to force things and just look for different ways to find the open man.''
Michigan's trip to the Finals is the first for the school in 20 years, and the Wolverines haven't won in 24 seasons. Louisville hasn't won a title since 1986, an even longer drought.
Louisville's head coach, Rick Pitino, is the first coach to lead three different schools to the Final Four and now has an opportunity to be the first to win national championships with two different programs. He won with the Kentucky Wildcats in 1996.
When asked about the chance to make history, Pitino said, ''I haven't thought about it for one second,'' Pitino insisted. ''Everything we do is about the team, about the family. I'd be a total hypocrite if I said (winning another title is) really important. It really is not important. I want to win because I'm part of this team. That's it.''
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