Gill’s Spark Lifts Louisville Over NC State, 75-65

By Julia Morris

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Anton Gill averaged two points and nine minutes a game for the Louisville Cardinals in the regular season.  In NCAA Tournament play, the sophomore rode the bench for his team’s second round game against UC Irvine and played only two minutes against Northern Iowa.  But in Louisville’s Sweet Sixteen matchup against NC State, Gill stepped up big for the Cardinals down the stretch- recording seven points in a span of just over two minutes in the second half to lift his team to a 75-65 victory and send them to the Elite 8.

“I just saw I had an opportunity,” Gill said.  “We had worked hard all season and I didn’t want to go home.”

Playing against his hometown team, it was only fitting that the North Carolina native was the one to make sure his team didn’t go home Friday night at the Carrier Dome. With 5:55 left in the game, Gill hit a jumper that gave Louisville a one-point lead over the Wolfpack, 55-54.  About a minute later, he hit a clutch three that increased the Cardinal lead to 58-54.  And then with 3:37 left to play, Gill sank another shot to make the score 62-57. 

“He went in and basically won the game for us,” Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino said.

NC State Closes Out First Half Strong to Take Lead into the Break

NC State guard Trevor Lacey hit a jumper from the foul line to open up scoring in the first half – and he continued to have the hot hand for the Wolfpack early on.  Lacey had seven of NC State’s first ten points, including a deep three that put the Wolfpack up 5-2 with 16:55 to play.  Overall, he was 2-of-3 from three-point range in the first and finished the half leading all scorers with 12 points. But the rest of his team struggled.  NC State shot 35 percent from the field in the first. 

“They zoned us the whole time so it’s hard with all the zone especially with their athleticism,” Abdul-Malik Abu said.  “We feel like if they played man there would have been a different outcome.  It slowed us down a lot and we had to focus on outside shots.”

The Cardinals, on the other hand, shot 50 percent from the field – a great improvement from their 43 percent average during the regular season. The Cardinals' strong first half effort was due in part to point guard Quentin Snider, who has stepped up big since Chris Jones was kicked off the team last month. 

Snider had seven first half points, including a jump shot that put the Cardinals up 22-17 with 7:35 to play.  One of Louisville's leading scorers during the regular season, Montrezl Harrell, also had a good first half finishing 4-of-6 from the field.  He had nine points at the break and finished the game with a team-high 24 points. 

“I can’t say enough about him because he’s the toughest guy I’ve every coached and he never lets me down,” Pitino said.

While Louisville held a lead for much of the first half, the Wolfpack hit two quick threes in the final minute to take a 33-31 lead heading in to the break.   

Gill Comes Up Big in the Second Half

NC State quickly built on its halftime lead at the start of the second half.  The Wolfpack’s leading scorer in the tournament coming into the game, Anthony “Cat Barber,” was 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-3 from three-point range in the first half but he made two quick threes within the first two minutes of the second to put NC State up 39-31 with 18:38 to play.

The Cardinals started to cut back into the Wolfpack lead though and took a five- point advantage with 9:37 to play when Terry Rozier, who finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds, hit a basket to put Louisville up 53-48. 

“We just wanted to go out and attack,” Rozier said.  “Our offense was just thinking about passing the ball and getting into the lane and we did that.”

Even though the Cardinals’ offense started to click, NC State would not go away.  Trevor Lacey, who led the Wolfpack with 18 points, hit a three to put NC State up 54-53 with 7:17 to go.

“We made a run of our own and we wanted to just make sure we didn’t come out and not have any energy and let them get easy buckets,” Lacey said.

Gill Comes Off Bench to Be Unlikely Hero

Two minutes after Lacey's basket, Gill took over and ended the NC State run.  Pitino said he knew that it was only a matter of time before Gill got the opportunity to help his team.

“Anton and I had an interesting conversation the other day,” Pitino said.  “I called him up and I was working out, and I said, son, you’re mentally in a funk.  It’s nothing you’re doing wrong because you’re playing behind Terry Rozier, who’s an unbelievable player.”

He then went on to tell Gill about Darryl Wright, a bench player on the 1987 Providence basketball team that Pitino took to the Final Four.  Pitino said Wright gave the team an “unbelievable lift” during their run.

“He was the MVP of the region coming off the bench,” Pitino said.  “I said (to Gill) ‘You’re going to get your opportunity, son.’”

Pitino said the way Gill responded to that conversation made him turn to him off the bench in the second half instead of freshman Shaqquan Aaron.

“Some guys will just give you lip service, he said ‘I got you, Coach, and I’ll be ready,” Pitino said.  “Most kids don’t react that way.  So when it was time, his reaction to my story was the reason I went with him at the three.”  

And Pitino's choice worked out well.  After Gill’s seven points, Louisville never gave up its lead.  He also added a steal with 2:08 to play that led to a Harrell layup and put the Cardinals up ten.  Louisville went on to win by that margin, securing its spot in the Elite 8 against Michigan State on Sunday.