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In one of the rare corners of the bracket that went to chalk, the fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals will battle the fifth-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers and numerous storylines will take flight. Is Louisville overrated? Are the Panthers underrated? Perhaps both questions will be answered simultaneously if Northern Iowa wins its 32nd game. What if Louisville wins? Well, it’s just another typical March showing from Rick Pitino.
What To Watch For:
Northern Iowa owns Division I’s fourth-best scoring defense and held serve well in Friday’s No. 5 vs. No. 12 trap game. This stellar Panthers’ defense meets Louisville’s two-tone offense, since with the dismissal of guard Chris Jones, the Cardinals principally run through Montrezl Harrel and Terry Rozier, with small veteran contributions from Wayne Blackshear. Similar to Louisville’s concentrated attack, the heart, soul and circulation of the Panthers is Seth Tuttle. A 6-foot-8 forward that averages 15.3 points per game and nearly seven rebounds, Tuttle is a valuable matchup nightmare that will fully embody Northern Iowa’s ups and downs.
Prediction:
Pitino coaches tough in March, regardless if the roster is loaded with McDonald’s All-Americans or just a group of blue-collar contributors. Pitino’s Cardinals have made it to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend in three of the last four seasons. Although this year’s team is a bit beleaguered, I think the Cards will play tough Power-5 basketball against this mid-major and push past the Panthers.
Louisville 60, Northern Iowa 59
Jerry Landry is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow Jerry on Twitter at @Jerry2Landry, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on Google.
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