April 7th, 2013
04:31 AM ET

Louisville, Michigan advance to finals

Michigan and Louisville will meet Monday in the NCAA men's basketball championship game in Atlanta after both survived close games Saturday.

Michigan was up by 11 points at halftime leading the Syracuse Orange 36-25.

But the Orange went on a furious comeback in the second half, getting the game to within three points with a little more than 7 minutes left.

The Wolverines handled Syracuse's tough zone defense down the stretch, winning 61-56. Michigan's backcourt of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke led the way against Syracuse's pesky defenders.

Two crucial foul calls at the end of the game helped the Wolverines secure the win.

They advance to play Louisville, who beat Wichita State earlier Saturday.

Photos: Louisville outlasts Wichita State

The Shockers and Cardinals battled through a tight, low-scoring first half that ended with Wichita State going into the intermission with a slim 26-25 advantage.

Louisville's 72-68 win means that its head coach, Rick Pitino, still is in contention to win his second national championship - the other coming in 1996, when he coached the Cardinals' archrival, the University of Kentucky.

The game also ended Wichita State's remarkable tournament run. The No. 9 seed in the West region beat top-seed Gonzaga and then Ohio State to earn a spot in the Final Four.

Despite being a heavy underdog, the Shockers led for much of the game - leading 47-35 with 13 minutes to go in the contest. But the Cardinals were able to chip away, before finally going ahead with about five minutes remaining.

Louisville, which won the national title in 1980 and 1986, will face Michigan Monday night.

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Filed under: Sports
soundoff (5 Responses)
  1. s kel

    yawwwwwnnnn this is news? I read the same on the ESPN section.

    April 7, 2013 at 9:55 am | Report abuse |
  2. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio) "The Lunatic Fringe"

    I know I can't jump, can you?

    April 7, 2013 at 9:59 am | Report abuse |
  3. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio) "The Lunatic Fringe"

    Well? Can you?

    April 7, 2013 at 3:15 pm | Report abuse |
  4. bobcat (in a hat)©

    Three coaches flew to the NCAA convention.
    The plane crashed; and all 3 died.

    All 3 noticed God up in the clouds sitting in
    a chair. God motioned for one of them to come
    into the clouds. God wanted to know three things:

    Who are you?
    What did you do?
    What did people think of you?

    The 1st person said, “I’m Denny Crum, I was
    2nd best coach in the nation. I won 2 national
    championships & over 20 games a year. The
    people of Kentucky think I’m great.â€

    God said, “Fine, Denny, stand on my right side.

    The next person said, “I’m Rick Pitino. I was
    the 3rd best coach in the nation. I won an SEC
    Championship and turned the program around
    to a fairly respectable one. The people of
    Kentucky think I’m great.â€

    God said, “Fine, Rick, stand on my left side.â€

    The 3rd person stood before God and said,
    “I’m Bobby Knight & I have won 3 national
    championships, 2 NIT championships, the
    Pan Am Games, the Olympics, 9 Big Ten
    championships, and I was the youngest coach
    ever to win 600 games, and the people of
    Indiana think you are sitting in my chair.â€

    April 7, 2013 at 5:05 pm | Report abuse |
  5. chrissy

    Go Michigan!

    April 8, 2013 at 12:06 am | Report abuse |
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