INDIANAPOLIS _ Rick Pitino did not spend much time celebrating his Louisville team's first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Jacksonville State on Friday, not after what he had seen earlier from Michigan.
"We're playing the Golden State Warriors on Sunday," he said after beating Jacksonville State, 78-63.
Pitino earlier had watched Michigan advance over Oklahoma State, 92-91, behind a second-half barrage of 3-pointers, making 11 of 15 in the final 20 minutes.
"I've never seen shooting like that since I've been a coach; it's incredible," he said. "We know what we're in for. It will be the toughest second-round matchup I've had since I've been in the business."
No. 15 seed Jacksonville State (20-15) put a brief, early scare into second-seeded Louisville (25-8), taking an 8-0 lead. But it was not long before the Cardinals' far superior size began to take a toll.
It showed in particular in rebounding. At halftime, Louisville led by seven, 38-31, despite being outshot, 59 percent to 36 percent. How to explain that? In part because Louisville had a 13-1 edge in offensive rebounds.
Louisville finished with a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds, 24-3 in second-chance points and 44-14 on points in the paint.
Jacksonville State trailed by as many as 17 in the second half but hung around, drawing within nine, at 61-52, with 6:51 remaining. But Louisville scored seven in a row.
Mangok Mathiang led Louisville with 18 points and Deng Adel and Donovan Mitchell scored 16 apiece, the latter after missing his first 11 shots from the field. But he had 10 rebounds and five assists.
For Jacksonville State, 7-foot Lithuanian Norbertas Giga scored 30 points and shot 11-for-13, including 5-for-5 on 3-pointers, with nine rebounds.
Pitino cracked that Mathiang "played great offense and (on defense) tried to put Norbertas Giga in the NBA."
