NCAA Sweet 16: Louisville looking to Padgett

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Terrence Williams saw Louisville’s season slipping away, and it was only November.Williams and the Cardinals were in Las Vegas for a tournament when he found out senior center David Padgett had a broken kneecap and might not return this season.Williams left Padgett’s hotel room and started crying.”There is new technology, you can drive some cars without a key, but he’s the key to everything on our team,” the junior forward said Wednesday. “I knew it wasn’t going to work.”Williams’ tears have dried up. The early prognosis was wrong. The Kansas transfer was back on the court in January, and he’s now pain-free for the first time in years.The 6-foot-11 Padgett’s return to form has coincided with Louisville’s best play of the season, with 11 wins in 13 games. The third-seeded Cardinals now hope Padgett’s inside presence will be the key Thursday night in their East Regional semifinal against No. 2 seed Tennessee.West Virginia vs. XavierPHOENIX – The West Virginia Mountaineers are far different than most of Bob Huggins’ teams, except in one way.They win.Huggins inherited a team of sharpshooters recruited by John Beilein, who stressed an intricate offense, and transformed it into a squad that plays man-to-man defense and scraps for rebounds.No one will confuse these Mountaineers with Huggins’ big, bad Cincinnati Bearcats. But West Virginia (26-10) has reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16, where the seventh-seeded Mountaineers will face third-seeded Xavier (29-6) in the West Region on Thursday night.”He’s completely flipped everything around, with rebounding, defense, intensity and goal-wise,” forward Joe Alexander said after the Mountaineers practiced at U.S. Airways Center on Wednesday. “The goals changed when he came, from day one. They went from making the NCAA tournament to winning the NCAA tournament.”N. Carolina vs. Wash. St.CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a perfect world, Roy Williams never would see his North Carolina team stop running.The Tar Heels would sprint out in transition on every possession. They’d push the ball ahead for get-you-right-back baskets to answer scores. And, by the end, their offense would leave demoralized opponents struggling to catch their breath.His team lived up to that standard last weekend to start the NCAA tournament. Yet Williams knows that the No. 1 overall seed can’t keep scoring at that pace, especially against a Washington State team that has been just as impressive defensively to reach the East Regional semifinals.Of course, Williams figures his team can win a boring ol’ halfcourt game, too.”I like to win in the 80s and 90s, but to ? reach the dreams that we have and be the team we want to be, you’ve got to be able to win at somebody else’s different tempo,” Williams said Wednesday.Villanova vs. KansasVILLANOVA, Pa. – Scottie Reynolds calls the one-inch long, deep scar above his right eye “pretty ugly.” His Villanova teammates say the gash reflects what their determined point guard is all about.”That’s why he’s so good,” said Wildcats guard Corey Fisher. “He has a lot of toughness in him.”Reynolds’ message to Villanova has been all about keeping an eye on the prize, meaning win the next game in the NCAA tournament. It’s hard not to take Reynolds seriously when his eye is busted, bloodshot and bandaged.The Wildcats (22-12) need Reynolds’ toughness, his scoring and unselfishness if they want any shot at beating top-seeded Kansas (33-3) in the Midwest Regional semifinals.