March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Quentin Snider (2) moves the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Terry Rozier (0) moves the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Anas Mahmoud (14) defends against UC Irvine Anteaters center Mamadou Ndiaye (34) during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Quentin Snider (2) moves the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters center Mamadou Ndiaye (34) and guard Alex Young (1) during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; UC Irvine Anteaters guard Travis Souza (2) controls the ball against Louisville Cardinals guard Terry Rozier (0) during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Quentin Snider (2) moves the ball up court against UC Irvine Anteaters during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; UC Irvine Anteaters center Mamadou Ndiaye (34) dunks the ball against Louisville Cardinals forward Anas Mahmoud (14) during the first half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; UC Irvine Anteaters guard Luke Nelson (10) moves the ball against Louisville Cardinals guard/forward Wayne Blackshear (25) during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; UC Irvine Anteaters guard Luke Nelson (10) moves the ball against Louisville Cardinals guard Terry Rozier (0) during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; UC Irvine Anteaters forward Will Davis II (3) dunks to score a basket against Louisville Cardinals during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward/center Mangok Mathiang (12) grabs a rebound against UC Irvine Anteaters forward Will Davis II (3) during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard/forward Wayne Blackshear (25) shoots against UC Irvine Anteaters guard Luke Nelson (10) during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Quentin Snider (2) controls the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
March 20, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Montrezl Harrell (24) controls the ball against UC Irvine Anteaters forward/center Ioannis Dimakopoulos (12) during the second half of the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KeyArena. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
SEATTLE — Louisville freshman guard Quentin Snider hit a pair of free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining, then teammate Terry Rozier broke up a pass near midcourt in the final seconds as the fourth-seeded Cardinals avoided the upset with a 57-55 win over No. 13 UC Irvine in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Senior Wayne Blackshear led Louisville (25-8) with 19 points, including the tying basket with 42 seconds to go, while Snider added 16.
Will Davis II led UC Irvine (21-13) with 14 points, while 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye added 12.
UC Irvine, which never trailed by more than five points in the second half, rallied to take a 51-50 lead on sophomore guard Luke Nelson’s jumper from the wing with 3:53 remaining. Nelson struck again with a floater over two defenders to put the Anteaters up 55-53 with 1:00 left, but Blackshear tied the score on a drive 18 seconds later.
With the score tied 55-55, Nelson took a long 3-point attempt with 11 seconds left but missed badly. A scramble for the rebound resulted in Snider getting fouled. Snider hit both free throws with 8.9 seconds left, giving the Cardinals a 57-55 lead.
UC Irvine’s Alex Young had the ball near midcourt in the final seconds but had a pass tipped away by Rozier, resulting in a game-ending turnover.
Blackshear scored nine first-half points to lead the Cardinals to a 30-28 lead at the break. The Anteaters made 4 of 9 shots from 3-point range in the first half to keep the game close.
NOTES: Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s son, Rick Jr., was among the people in attendance at Seattle’s Key Arena. Pitino Jr. is the head coach of the University of Minnesota basketball team. … Louisville freshman F Chinanu Onuaku hurt his back on a fall to the floor with 18 minutes remaining in the game and did not return, leaving an already-thin Louisville team without another contributor.
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