PHOENIX — Louisville figured its game against Michigan State to be low-scoring, a natural expectation with two of the nation’s best defenses butting heads.
The Cardinals had one big advantage: Gorgui Dieng.
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Dominating inside, Dieng blocked seven shots and altered several others to anchor a stifling defense Thursday night that helped Louisville knock off top-seeded Michigan State 57-44 in the West Regional semifinals.
”He was very disruptive,” Draymond Green of Michigan State said.
“We’re not going to back down from anyone. We took it at him. He pulled off some great blocked shots. That’s what he does. That’s his strength.”
The Cardinals (29-9) relied on 3-point shooting in the first half and moved inside in the second to befuddle the Spartans.
Their defense gave Michigan State fits all night.
Instead of trapping like it normally does, Louisville played a bait-and-switch game with the Spartans and Green, their multitalented forward. The idea was to jump out on screens and to make the Spartans work on every possession and, hopefully, wear them out.
It worked, in large part because Dieng was in the back to clean things up.
Tent-pole thin when he arrived at Louisville, the Senegalese center worked hard on his body and his game, developing into the one player the Cardinals had to have on the floor during his sophomore season. When he got in foul trouble, Louisville labored, so one of the key parts of Coach Rick Pitino’s game plan was to make sure the Cardinals protected him.
They did and he protected the rim in return, getting five of his blocked shots in the second half to prevent Michigan State from mounting any kind of rally. The Cardinals move on to the West final on Saturday.
“When we came here, we know (what) we’re going to face,” said Dieng, who also had five points, nine rebounds and three steals while matching the school record for blocked shots in an NCAA tournament game.
“We knew we were going to come to a war. We need to be tougher than them to win this game.”
Michigan State (29-8) started slow and never got going against Louisville’s amoebic defense.
The Spartans got shots they wanted and usually make, but couldn’t get many to fall against Dieng or anyone else, shooting 28 percent while being outscored 20-14 inside by the leaner Cardinals.
Green had 13 points and 16 rebounds in his final game for Michigan State. Brandon Wood added 14 points for the Spartans, who were outscored 17-4 off the bench.
“They disrupted us a little bit and we didn’t have enough guys who could play well,” Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said.
This sweet matchup of top programs featured two of college basketball’s best short-preparation coaches.
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