LOUISVILLE (T-)WILL(ED) TO SWEET 16

March 23, 2009

Louisville has the T-Will to win this season. T-Will as in Terrence Williams!

"Four assists, 24 points, 15 rebounds, 4 for 6 from the 3. That's gigantic," Rick Pitino said of William's performance against Siena. "Big time performance. I'm real proud of him. He's a special young man."

Louisville needed every bit of that T-Will performance to get past Siena and move into the Sweet 16, 79-72.

After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, Siena cut the Cardinal leads to five at the half and had the Dayton Arena a buzz after a 23-7 run gave the Saints a 63-57 lead with 7:52 left.

Louisville then went on a 9-0 run, ignited by a T-Will putback basket and three-pointer and capped by another T-Will basket to take a 66-63 lead.

"He definitely stepped up," Louisville junior forward Earl Clark said of T-Will's clutch performance. "I expect that from him. He's our leader and he's a great player, one of the best forwards in the country."

Freshman Samardo Samuels added 13 points and Earl Clark, along with Williams, had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

As the #1 seed in the Midwest, Louisville heads to Lucas Oil Stadium to take on Arizona in the Regional Semifinals this week.