Louisville, Florida winning with defense

PHOENIX --
Here’s what the Louisville Cardinals and Florida Gators offered college basketball fans Thursday in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16:

Louisville held top seed Michigan State to 28.6 percent shooting. Florida held the region’s trendy pick, Marquette, to 30.8 percent.

But if you thought that offense was offensive, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Florida (31.3 percent) and Louisville (34.7) rank first and third, respectively, in opponents' postseason field-goal percentage heading into Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown at US Airways Center.

"Hopefully it’s not as ugly as it was Thursday (against Michigan State)," Louisville point guard Peyton Siva. "You know it was 5-3 with 11 minutes to go in the first half?"

Yes, we remember it all too well.

It’s also instructive to remember that Florida coach Billy Donovan will be matching wits with his mentor, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who coached Donovan at Providence. Donovan was Pitino’s assistant at Kentucky. These men know each other’s minds and tendencies.

But with a berth in the Final Four hanging in the balance, the stakes are much higher, so expect some extra torque when these teams tighten the defensive screws.

"There's not a lot of stuff that they haven't seen run at them, being in the Big East and playing the schedule they've played," Florida coach Billy Donovan said of the Cardinals. "Everybody's tried to attack them, I think, in a lot of different ways, but their defensive percentages from inside the line and behind the line are really remarkable, going back to the Big East tournament through now and what they've been able to do all year long."

This is, indeed, old hat for Louisville. The Cardinals finished second in the nation in defensive field-goal percentage during the regular season. Pitino’s press is part of the college basketball lexicon, and Louisville defends one of Florida’s strengths – the three-point shot – extremely well, holding postseason opponents to 22.2 percent.

"They're really guarding the three-point line with four players,” Donovan said. "(Gorgui) Dieng is obviously up at the basket, and he's a great presence there, so they really do a great job of moving and trading people off."

On the flip side, Florida was not known for its defensive prowess this season. The Gators finished 128th in defensive field-goal percentage. But an odd transformation took place when the Gators lost their best defensive player, Will Yeguete, to a broken foot in February.

Following a dismal defensive performance against Vanderbilt in which guard Bradley Beal said they left Commodores guard John Jenkins open “way too often,” Florida had four off days before facing Kentucky on March 4.

It felt like four weeks.

"Practice was nothing but defense," Beal said. "We really didn’t see a ball, didn’t touch a ball, and if we did, we had a bubble up on the rim, so there was no point in even trying to shoot the ball because it wasn’t going in."

Donovan was sending a message.

“When we lost Yeguete it changed our team, because we lost our best defensive, all-around player. He could do so many different things," Donovan said.

"I think there was a commitment when Will went out where we collectively have got to step up as a group and get this done. It can't be just one player or a frontcourt player getting it done. It has to be a collective job as a team, and I think they were able to see those things on film."

The message was received. Aside from stifling opposing shooters, Florida is also leading the tournament in defensive rebounds with 97 through three games.

"Somehow, this team has become a better defensive team with our best defender out," center Patric Young said. "It’s really changing people’s perspective on us."

Forward Erik Murphy thinks it’s all a matter of timing.

"You want to be just as focused during the season, but obviously during the tournament, you have that heightened level of excitement, heightened level of focus."

Toss in an unusual dose of familiarity and this game has all the makings of a backyard brawl.

"We have the best defense in the country, and that’s pretty much hands down," Louisville guard Chris Smith said. "We’ve really dialed in on (Florida). I feel like if we can keep them off the glass, we’ll have the game."