Blackshear's block a 'game-changing moment'

SEATTLE -- The block isn't even recorded in the box score, but Wayne Blackshear's hustle swat on Northern Iowa's Wes Washpun during a frenetic and pivotal sequence in the second half of Sunday's Round of 32 Louisville win was pivotal.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino called it the one key to the game. Louisville center Mangok Mathiang called it "a game-changing moment." Blackshear himself acknowledged that it was a "huge play."

What made it so important?

At one point in the second half, the pace of the slugfest picked up, and a frenetic sequence broke out. On one end, Louisville senior Wayne Blackshear turned the ball over. It came at a bad time for Louisville -- Northern Iowa had cut its deficit to six points -- and the Panthers had a run-out opportunity.

UNI's Jeremy Morgan broke loose, trailed by Louisville's Terry Rozier. As he approached the basket, Morgan dropped a behind-the-back pass to Washpun, who elevated for a dunk. That's when Blackshear arrived.

"I know I turned the ball over," Blackshear said. "My first thing is, you know, (Pitino) always tells you, 'If you turn it over, make sure you're the first guy back.' I was just trying to not let them get a layup.

"I think it was a huge play. They had a lot of momentum going, and luckily I came up with a big block that probably -- potentially -- saved the game right there."

In the cube next to Blackshear, Mathiang said the key to keeping Northern Iowa at bay during a second-half scoring drought was Louisville's defense, and Blackshear's play illustrated that.

"He erased everything," Mathiang said. "That was a game-changing moment. That really helped us as a team. It really lifted us up."

Minutes later, Pitino agreed.

"Awesome," Pitino said," big key of the game. If there's one key to the game, it was that."

And to cap off the defensive effort, Montrezl Harrell crammed in a Rozier alley-oop to squelch the Northern Iowa run.