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David Padgett and Louisville had their chances against UNC in the second half.

Missed opportunities

By Chris Low
ESPN.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After all Louisville went through this season -- the injuries to David Padgett and Juan Palacios, the three losses by mid-December and some serious growing pains along the way -- three forgettable possessions will haunt the Cardinals all offseason.

They were right there Saturday night against the No. 1-ranked team in the country, battling their way back from a 12-point halftime deficit in North Carolina's backyard.

Let's face it. Going up against the Tar Heels in Charlotte is akin to taking on the Pope in Rome.

But for much of the second half, Louisville didn't blink amid the sea of baby blue that filled the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Cardinals pulled into a 59-59 tie with 10:21 remaining and suddenly had momentum on their side.

Then came three straight turnovers on three straight possessions -- two traveling calls on Earl Clark sandwiched around Padgett stepping on the endline.

From there, it was the Tyler Hansbrough Show, and North Carolina pulled away for an 83-73 win.

"I felt like it was our game and that we had control of the game right there," Louisville sophomore guard Edgar Sosa said. "But you can't come into this place against this team and get beat on the glass the way we did [and] turn it over the way we did and expect to win. That's the moral of the story."

Clark flirted with the kind of triple-double no player wants. He had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven of Louisville's 19 turnovers. Both of his turnovers during that critical stretch came while trying to back Danny Green into the paint. Green bodied up Clark and then abruptly backed off, causing Clark to lose his balance and travel.

"I think they pulled the chair and played good defense on him," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "He learned a valuable lesson from that. He thought he was getting fouled in the beginning, and then they pulled the chair on him twice."

On the first turnover, the Cardinals had a chance to take the lead. On the next two, they could have tied. A few minutes later, at the 6:40 mark, Clark again had a chance to tie the game but couldn't finish a lob pass around the rim.

"We had opportunities we didn't cash in on, and that cost us the game," Clark said. "There's no other way to say it."

Chapel Hill South

This just in (as if it's a news flash): North Carolina doesn't lose in the postseason when it doesn't have to cross state lines.

The Tar Heels are now 25-1 in NCAA tournament games played in the state of North Carolina and 9-0 in NCAA tournament games played in Charlotte.

They head to the Final Four in San Antonio having played all four of their games to this point in North Carolina. The first two games were played in Raleigh.

An unfair advantage? The Louisville players weren't buying it, even though 90 percent of the fans were wearing Carolina blue on Saturday night.

"The crowd can't block a shot. The crowd can't make you turn it over and can't score a bucket for Carolina," Sosa said. "We could always say that if we were in a neutral site it would have been a different game. But that wasn't the circumstance."

Louisville senior forward Juan Palacios said the Tar Heels earned the home crowd.

"They were No. 1 almost for the whole year, so I think they deserved to be playing where they're playing," Palacios said. "If we'd done what they did for the whole year, I think we would deserve to have most of our fans there, too."

Stopping Stephen

By Pat Forde
ESPN.com

DETROIT -- For Kansas, the task is simple. And perhaps simply impossible.

Stop Stephen Curry.

Teams with impeccable defensive credentials have not just failed in their quest to slow the Davidson shooting star -- they have spectacularly failed. Georgetown, best in the nation in field goal percentage defense, was torched for 30 points by Curry. Wisconsin, third nationally in field goal percentage defense, was smoked for 33.

Now in the Midwest Regional final, it's the Jayhawks' turn. They're fourth nationally in that category. Best of luck.

"You could make a case Curry's harder to guard than [Michael] Beasley," said Bill Self of the Kansas State stud who hit his team for 39 points in a game this season. "Somebody's got to pass [Beasley] the ball. Curry can handle it himself."

He can handle it, but most of Curry's shots come after working tirelessly off an endless series of screens set by his teammates. The Jayhawks don't switch much on screens, and since most of Davidson's sets involve "big-little" screens -- big men screening the guards assigned to chase Curry -- that would only result in mismatches anyway. So the onus will be on a revolving cast of Kansas guards to follow Curry's meandering path around the court.

The kid is only a sophomore, but he runs around with the caginess of an NBA veteran in Davidson's half-court sets.

"He'll go hard, then he'll stop, then you stop," Self said. "Then all of a sudden, he'll go hard again and there's two yards [of] separation."

Given Curry's rapid release and 53 percent accuracy from 3-point range in this tournament, two yards is lethal separation. This is a guy who tied the NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers in a season Friday night at 158, and there's no way he doesn't break it Sunday.

Kansas' job is to make sure he doesn't break that record by a mile. Kansas' Russell Robinson, the guy who most likely will get the first call on Curry, knows as such.

"Make sure he's working each possession," Robinson said of his strategy. "Don't give him anything easy."

That will entail multiple defenders. Self marveled at Curry's ability to explode in the second half of games, at a time when he should be wearing down -- especially after all the thumping and thudding involved with running around screens and dodging defenders.

"You think you could wear him down," Self said. "But he's stronger with five minutes left than he is in the first five minutes of the game."

The Jayhawks all pronounced their respect for Curry, but Robinson might have provided the tournament's leading scorer a little bulletin-board material Saturday. He almost dismissed Curry's scorching statistics as a product of the Davidson system.

"Part of it is his having a green light," Robinson said. "Their coach gives him the green light to knock down shots. His teammates are behind him. Once you get those two things down pat, anybody can knock it down."

Fact is, nobody can knock it down like Stephen Curry. Job No. 1 for the Jayhawks is making sure he doesn't knock them off with another fusillade from outside.