ATLANTA (Sporting Alert) — No.1 and pre-tournament favourites Louisville will take on fourth-seed Michigan to Monday night’s NCAA March Madness Championship game at the Georgia Dome here in Atlanta. Game time is 9:23 PM ET and it is live on CBS.
Live Box Score | Louisville v Michigan Watch Live
The Cardinals (34-5) survived a strong and persistent resistance from Wichita State in their Final Four game on Saturday and are desperate for another win, the victory that would see them lifting the national title.
A battling 72-68 over the Shockers at the weekend means Rick Pitino’s side gets the chance to extend its 15 game winning streak, but the experienced coach knows that it will not come easy.
“We’re not a who’s who like Harvard and Yale in the alumni world,” Pitino said.
“We’re a blue-collar school that supports each other. One of the coolest places I’ve ever worked.”
The Wolverines (31-7), in the meantime, put Syracuse under early with their long range shooting and held off the late pressure to secure the 61-56 victory and setup the date with the top overall seed.
Monday night’s clash will be the 5th meeting between Pitino and Michigan’s John Beilein as head coaches, with Pitino’s teams taking three of the four previous meetings against Beilein.
Russ Smith, who is averaging 18.9 points per game, Luke Hancock and walk-on Tim Henderson played vital roles in the Cardinals’ win over the Shockers, but Pitino will be hoping the likes of Gorgui Dieng and Peyton Siva can add to the contribution.
Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas are expected to be the stand-outs for the Wolverines.
