ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Francisco Garcia went on a shooting tear last night, leading Rick Pitino and underrated, fourth-seeded Louisville to a 93-79 victory over top-seeded Washington in the Albuquerque Regional semifinals.

Garcia finished with 23 points – including three 3-pointers during a 14-0 run in the second half – to help the Cardinals advance to the Elite 8.

Meanwhile, Washington’s top two scorers, Nate Robinson and Tre Simmons, languished on the bench with three fouls for a big chunk of the first half. Robinson picked up his third at the 8:51 mark and Simmons picked up his third with 3:50 left, which is exactly when Garcia started the run that put Louisville (32-4) ahead 45-32.

The teams traded buckets through much of the second half, and things got chippy when Louisville’s Larry O’Bannon went down in a heap with Jamaal Williams and Bobby Jones of Washing ton. O’Bannon appeared to tap Williams with his foot while Williams was down and the Huskies got angry.

Robinson responded with a steal and dunk and Hakeen Rollins made back-to-back baskets to pull Washington within 67-61. But less than two minutes later, Garcia hit his fifth 3-pointer to make it 76-65 and the Cardinals never let the lead fall below double digits the rest of the way.

Robinson finished with eight points on 1-for-7 shooting – 0-for-5 from 3-point range – and Simmons went 3-for-6 for 10 points.

The guards, each averaging more than 16 points this season, struggled mightily in the second half, unable to shake the effects of sitting on the bench for such a long time earlier.

The loss ended a remarkably nice run for the Huskies (29-5),who won the Pac-10 tournament and surprised everyone but themselves when they picked up their top seeding. This was their first trip to the regional semifinals since 1998, but the Huskies will have to wait to make the Final Four; they haven’t been there since 1953.

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(7) WEST VIRGINIA 65, (6) TEXAS TECH 60

Kevin Pittsnogle scored 22 points, including a pair of free throws with 17.2 seconds left, and West Virginia spoiled Bobby Knight’s first appearance in a regional semifinal since 1994 with a 65-60 win over Texas Tech.

West Virginia, a former bubble team and no. 8 seed in the Big East tournament, added another dramatic win to its best run in the NCAA tournament since 1959, when West and the Mountaineers lost in the national title game.

The seventh-seeded Mountaineers (24-10) will square off against fourth seeded Louisville in tomorrow’s regional final.