The Louisville Cardinals held off a late rally by the resilient Seton Hall Pirates to score a 61-55 win and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Big East Tournament.
Junior point guard Peyton Siva had a team-high 14 points with six steals and five rebounds for the Cardinals, who also got 13 points from senior swingman Kyle Kuric. Sophomore center Gorgui Dieng handled the interior, blocking six shots to go along with his team-high 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals limited the Pirates to just 17-of-52 shooting from the field, including three-of-19 from beyond the arc. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino praised the effort of his defense after the game.
"I'm proud of our guys," Pitino told ESPN's Beth Mowins. "They've played awesome defense the whole year. We're a work in progress offensively, but we did a lot of good things going inside to out down the stretch."
Louisville had opened up a 20-14 lead late in the first half before briefly losing the lead after an 8-0 run by the Pirates. The Cardinals stormed out in the second half, leading by as much as 15 points with less than 10 minutes to play before Seton Hall once again rallied to within five with 3:18 to play. Despite Louisville missing seven of their last 10 free-throw attempts, turnovers by Patrik Auda, Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope and missed jumpers kept the Pirates from pulling even.
Theodore led the Pirates with 17 points, while Fuquan Edwin and Pope added 11 points apiece. Pope had a game-high 15 rebounds.
With the win, the Cardinals will play the Marquette Golden Eagles in the quarterfinals. Marquette defeated Louisville 74-63 during their regular season meeting on Jan. 16. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
For complete coverage of the 2012 Big East Tournament, stay tuned to this StoryStream or visit SB Nation's dedicated NCAA basketball hub. For more on all the teams in the Big East tournament, visit Big East Coast Bias and SB Nation New York. For updates on the Seton Hall Pirates, check out South Orange Juice. For updates on the Louisville Cardinals, head to Card Chronicle.
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