Louisville is the overall No. 1 seed of the tournament, rolling into in-state rivals Kentucky's home arena, as the Wildcats are cleaning out their lockers. Irony. The Cardinals now begin their quest for the title as many experts have them picked as the tournament winners. They face sixteen seed North Carolina A&T.
North Carolina's reward for playing in their first NCAA Tournament is facing the top seeded team. Before winning against Liberty to get into the tournament, the team was 0-9 and now faces one of the nation's top defensive units. North Carolina A&T is averaging 15.0 turnovers per game which will not help facing Louisville. The Cardinals force turnovers on 27.6 percent of their opponents' possessions. That puts them second in the country in that stat, right after VCU.
Louisville has recovered from a mid-season struggle. They now enter the tournament having won 10 straight, including a 78-61 win over Syracuse to earn the Big East title. This put them at No. 1, ahead of other deserving teams like Indiana and Gonzaga. The Cardinals went 14-4 in the Big East this season, a conference filled with multiple tournament teams. North Carolina finished sixth in the MEAC, going 19-16 overall.
Gorgui Dieng enters as one of the nation's top defensive players, averaging 2.5 blocks per game and 9.9 rebounds. This will be the Cardinals 38th appearance in the tournament. They have recorded nine Final Four appearances and two Championship wins. If North Carolina A&T were to upset the Cardinals today, it would go down as one of the biggest wins in school history.
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