CARDINALS

Sweet 16-bound U of L reaching its potential

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
U of L's Terry Rozier, #0, left, is congratulated by teammate Anton Gill, #1, after defeating Northern Iowa at the KeyArena in Seattle during the third round of the NCAA tournament.
March 22, 2015

SEATTLE -- Terry Rozier walked off the floor and embraced his coach. Jaylen Johnson danced his way to the locker room -- "that's called the Whip," he said later, grinning. Montrezl Harrell smiled as he left the locker room for interviews, post-game pizza in hand.

That was the scene here late Sunday night at KeyArena, a former NBA venue in the shadow of the Space Needle. It was a series of moments that, cobbled together, show what a jubilant, finally-clicking Louisville looks like.

Related:Louisville blows past Northern Iowa into Sweet 16

It all followed a close-to-perfect Round of 32 performance, a 66-53 cruise to victory against Northern Iowa, a team Louisville coach Rick Pitino and his players repeatedly compared to Virginia over the past 48 hours. Perhaps it's fate, then, that the last time this group of players -- and Pitino -- looked as happy as they did on Sunday night was back on March 7, when Mangok Mathiang's game-winning shot helped Louisville upend then-No. 2 Virginia in the regular-season finale.

After that game, Pitino spoke of an important conversation he had with one of his mentors, Hubie Brown.

"He said just concern yourself with reaching the team's potential," Pitino said. "Don't worry about number of wins, don't worry about what anyone thinks -- just get the team to reach its potential. That's all you can do as a coaching staff. If you feel the team reach its potential, then come playoff time, you're going to have a nice run."

Is two wins and a trip to the Sweet 16 in Syracuse a "nice run"? Or how about a never-in-doubt win against a team with Final Four potential and 31 wins to its ledger? There is one thing that seems true right here, right now: Sunday night was Louisville (26-8) reaching its potential.

Related:Transcripts from the U of L-UNI press conferences

Terry Rozier had a monster game -- 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds. Montrezl Harrell added 14 points and six rebounds, and converted two rally-killing alley-oops in the second half. Wayne Blackshear scored 10 points, and his racing-back block on a fast break was perhaps the play of the game, even if he wasn't credited for it in the post-game box score. Quentin Snider put together 10 points and four rebounds, and Jaylen Johnson provided six energetic minutes off the bench. Mangok Mathiang helped Harrell in limiting Northern Iowa star Seth Tuttle to a quiet 14 points.

As a team, Louisville moved the ball well and attacked crevices in Northern Iowa's defense when necessary. The shots were open and the looks clean. The defense was smothering inside, and Northern Iowa's 3-point shooters, try as they did, never found a rhythm, making 6 of 19 from beyond the arc.

And even when Louisville encountered one of those here-they-go-again scoring droughts in the second half, the Cards figured out an escape, never allowing Northern Iowa closer than six points.

"The team is focused," Blackshear said. "We're doing what we're supposed to do and we're just clicking right now."

So it's on to Syracuse for the Sweet 16 and a rematch with North Carolina State, which came to Louisville on Valentine's Day and thumped the Cards on their home floor.

That was perhaps the peak of Pitino's frustration with his team this season. And the Virginia win was the peak of his satisfaction -- at least until Sunday night, when he saw his team reach its potential.

Now they'll try to make this run even nicer.

"The great thing about being in a place like Louisville is you're just not satisfied," Pitino said. "You have an insatiable desire to keep moving on, and I know these guys do."

Follow U of L beat writer Jeff Greer on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).