Conference Big East Conference AP No. 2 Head coach Rick Pitino | Coaches No. 1 2012–13 record 35–5 (14–4 Big East) Assistant coach Wyking Jones | |
The 2012–13 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 99th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Big East Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino. This was his twelfth season as head coach of Louisville. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center.
Contents
- Pre season
- Out of conference
- Big East
- Big East Tournament
- NCAA Tournament
- Rankings
- Awards
- Notable achievements
- References
The Cardinals won the 2013 NCAA National Championship (their 3rd) and their 10th NCAA Regional Championship (Final Four). They were Big East regular season champions (2nd) and repeated as Big East Tournament Champions (3rd) in the league's final year under its original structure. They finished the season with a 35-5 record, recording the most victories in school history.
Pre-season
The Cardinals were the consensus #2 team in the preseason polls and were picked to win Big East conference by the media and the coaches. They returned five of nine players from the 2012 Final Four team led by senior and Big East Pre-Season Player of the Year Peyton Siva. They lost senior Mike Marra to a knee injury on the first day of practice.
Out of conference
Louisville opened with two exhibition victories and 3 wins at home. They played in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament where they defeated #13 Missouri by 23 before losing to #5 Duke in the championship game. Gorgui Dieng suffered a broken wrist in the Missouri game and did not play against Duke. Louisville won the rest of its out of conference slate including victories at Memphis in the Hall of Fame Shootout and victories against in state rivals Western Kentucky and Kentucky. They entered Big East play with a 12–1 record.
Big East
The Cardinals opened Big East play with four victories, and were voted #1 in both AP and Coaches Polls in week 10. They then dropped three straight, a 2-point home loss to #6 Syracuse and back to back road losses at Villanova and Georgetown. The Cardinals won 10 of their next 11 with the one loss at Notre Dame in a 5 OT game that is the longest regular season game in Big East history. They finished the regular season with a 26–5 (14–4) record and claimed a three way tie with Georgetown and Marquette as Big East Regular Season Champions.
Junior guard Russ Smith was named a Sporting News Third Team All-American. Senior co-captain Peyton Siva was named 2013 American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Junior Gorgui Dieng was named 2013 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Smith and Dieng were named to the 2013 All-Big East First team. Siva was named to the All-Big East Third Team.
Big East Tournament
The Cardinals were the #2 seed in the tournament and faced Villanova in the quarter finals, defeating them 74-55. They next defeated #24 Notre Dame 69-57 setting up the final Big East Tournament Championship game against #19 Syracuse. Louisville was down by 16 in the second half, but rallied to claim their 3rd Big East Tournament Championship with a 78-61 victory. The Cardinals repeated as tournament champions.
NCAA Tournament
Louisville received the #1 overall seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. They opened the tournament with a 79-48 win over North Carolina A&T, setting the NCAA tournament single game record for steals with 20. They closed out the opening weekend by defeating Colorado State 82-56. They defeated Oregon in the regional semi-final 77-69 to set up a regional final with Duke, who they had lost to in the season opening tournament. Before halftime of the game Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered a compound fracture. The Cardinals rallied together to defeat Duke by 22 (the largest tournament defeat for coach Mike Krzyzewski since the 1990 National Title Game), 85-63.
The Cardinals advanced to their second consecutive Final Four (their 10th) to face Wichita State. The Shockers led most of the game, and were up by as many as 12 with 13 minutes to play. A 20-point performance by Luke Hancock, and two timely 3-point shots by walk-on Tim Henderson kept the Cardinals in the game, which they won 72-68 to advance to face Michigan in the National Championship.
In its third NCAA Championship game Louisville went down 12 points. The Cardinals rallied behind a 22-point effort by Final Four MOP Luke Hancock, 18 points and 5 assists from senior captain Peyton Siva, and 15 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore Chane Behanan to win 82-76, giving Louisville basketball its third NCAA Championship and giving coach Rick Pitino his first title at Louisville.
Rankings
Source:
Awards
Best Coach/Manager ESPY Award
Rick Pitino