The 2012 NCAA Tournament continued play in Portland on Saturday night. A third-round match put the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals up against the No. 5 New Mexico Lobos. In the end, the Cardinals proved worthy of their No. 4 seed and advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 59-56 win.
Louisville entered the second half only ahead by one point, but in stark contract to the opening half of play, they began to dominate after the break. The Cardinals opened up a 12-point lead within the first seven minutes of the second half. New Mexico was able to cut that lead down to three points in the final five minutes of regulation. The Cardinals took a four-point lead into the final minute, but a three-point attempt by New Mexico yielded nothing but an air ball and turnover. The Lobos played the foul game and sank a three-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining, but they were unable to close the gap and the Cardinals sealed the deal.
New Mexico's Drew Gordon led all players in the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
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