(4) LOUISVILLE 76, (5) GEORGIA TECH 54

Louisville sure plays like a no. 1 seed.

Francisco Garcia scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half and Taquan Dean stopped any hope Georgia Tech had for a rally with back-to-back 3-pointers, sealing a 76-54 victory that sent Louisville to the regional semifinals for the first time since 1997.

Dean finished with 14 points, all but two on 3-pointers, and also had six rebounds and two assists. Larry O’Bannon added 16 for the fourth-seeded Cardinals (31-4), who have won 20 of their last 21.

As the final seconds ticked down, the thousands of Cardinals fans who were lining up Saturday night to buy leftover tickets started chanting “Sweet 16! Sweet 16!” Garcia was beaming as he came out of the game and hugged coach Rick Pitino, who improved to 29-9 in 11 NCAA tournament appearances.

It was a swift end for the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets (20-12), who made a thrilling run to the title game last year. Though they returned almost the entire team, they looked more like newcomers than crusty veterans against the Cardinals and their 2-3 zone. They trailed by double digits less than five minutes into the game, and ended up shooting less than 38%.

Luke Schenscher led the Yellow Jackets with 13, but the rest of Georgia Tech’s offense was largely ineffective. Jarrett Jack had 11 points, Will Bynum had eight and B.J. Elder was held to just three.

The Cardinals were sure they’d locked up a top seed after beating Memphis to win the Conference USA tournament, and made no secret of their disgust when they didn’t get one. Worse, they drew the fourth seed in the Albuquerque Regional, behind lightly regarded Washington, Wake Forest, and Gonzaga.

Well, Wake and the ‘Zags are done now, relegated to their couches for the rest of the tournament. And Louisville has a chance to prove it really did deserve that top seed, playing Washington in the regional semifinals next weekend.

***

CHICAGO REGION: (2) OKLAHOMA STATE 85, (7) SOUTH. ILLINOIS 7 7

Ivan McFarlin scored a career-high 31 points to move Oklahoma State into the round of 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1991-92.

The second-seeded Cowboys (26-6) will play third-seeded Arizona (29-6) next weekend in a meeting of the two oldest coaches in the tournament. Arizona’s Lute Olson is 70, and Eddie Sutton is 69.

Jamaal Tatum led the Salukis (27-8) with 22 points. Seventh-seeded Southern Illinois got within 72-68 on Tatum’s 3-pointer, but James On Curry answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Oklahoma State hit all eight of its free throws down the stretch and McFarlin added a two-handed jam with 44.3 seconds left to keep his team ahead.