Louisville picked apart St Louis to get one step closer..

#4 Louisville put on a defensive clinic as they held#5 St Louis to 16 points in the half. The Cardinals didn’t shoot too well in the first half either but they got it going in the second and picked up the 66-51 victory to advance to the Sweet 16.

Russ Smith didn’t have a big game for Louisville, but his teammate Luke Hancock picked up the slack and led the way with 21 points in the win. If Louisville has any hope of winning the national championship this year, they will need Smith to play big.

Louisville has relied on their defense all year long and this game was no different, but they will need everyone to step it up in their next match up between the winner of #1 Wichita State and #8 Kentucky.

St Louis, who has never reached the Sweet 16, is coming off of a huge win over NC State on Thursday. They might have run out of gas against a tough Louisville squad that has championship expectations. Dwayne Evans led the way with 16 points and Jordair Jett scored 15 for the Billikens.

-Patrick Hazel (@pattywack25)