New Mexico reminds Louisville of a Big East team which could be good for the Lobos:
"They're like a Big East matchup in the sense that Drew Gordon and their other big are great rebounders," U of L guard Peyton Siva said. "... They're kind of like a Notre Dame. They're tough rebounding and very gritty." "It's going to be a game of defense and hopefully low turnovers," Gordon said. "I think it's going to be whoever has the least amount of turnovers and whoever can dig their heels in and play defense to the best of their ability."
Don't forget that Rick Pitino is a good coach during the NCAA Tournament.
As simple as it sounds this game will come down to who shoots better:
The key in this one, however, is shooting. I know: Genius. But this game pits two of the nation's top-five field goal percentage defenses, with both hovering around 38 percent. Both defenses won the battle in their second-round victories. The Cardinals shut down a high-scoring Davidson attack, miring a team that likes to run in a half-court game, while Williams played a major role in shutting down Long Beach State point guard Casper Ware, the Big West Player of the Year, who shot 5 of 19 from the field and was 2-of-9 from 3-point range.
As for some predictions, AccuScore has New Mexico as the favorite winning by an average score of 64.8 to 63.9 and 55.4 percent of the time.
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