Kelsey 'hurt' over 8 seed, thought Cardinals earned better; Creighton awaits in 1st round

Call it an upset.

Louisville put together a national-best 19-game improvement, a second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a runner-up finish to No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament, but the NCAA Selection Committee didn't reward the Cardinals for their impressive body of work.

Instead, 13th-ranked U of L's draw Sunday looks more like punishment. A case could be made that it got the toughest first-round assignment of any team in the 68-team field.

Considered no worse than a No. 6 seed, and possibly a 5, the Cards were given a surprising 8 seed in the South Region. On the plus side, U of L (27-7) will begin its first tango in the Big Dance since 2019 in Rupp Arena in Lexington, so it should have a sizable fan following. But it will face No. 9 Big East regular season runnerup Creighton (24-10) on Thursday. If the Cards get past the Blue Jays they will likely face Auburn (28-5), the overall No. 1 seed that will meet the winner of a First Four game between Alabama State and St. Francis as the No. 16 seed. Louisville will play at 12:15 p.m. in Rupp Arena on Thursday.

Louisville was undoubtedly hurt by an ACC that was the weakest in recent years and was considered the worst league among the Power 5. Only three other ACC teams made the tournament -- No. 1 Duke, No. 5 Clemson, a team the Cards defeated twice, and No. 11 North Carolina, which was matched against San Diego State in a First Four contest.

Louisville coach Pat Kelsey didn't meet with the media, but in an interview on ESPN radio, he had this to say:

"Man, first of all, I just want to say how fortunate we are, how excited we are about playing in the national tournament. I'll be completely honest with you, watching the Selection Show, when that popped up, it hurt a little bit. You felt slighted a little bit," he said. "It is what it is at this point, we have no choice, but my opinion is we should be playing a 12 or 11 seed. Every metric under the sun you look at and all the experts, NET 23, which would put us in a possible 5 seed range. KenPom 23. Heck fellas, that Kentucky game, that's three months ago, three months! We've lost two games (since then). Went 18-2 in the ACC, went to the conference championship game and lost to the No. 1 team in the country. If anything to a competitor, to our guys, to me, it puts a little fire in your belly, and gives you an added little chip on your shoulder."

U of L will be seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, Rick Pitino's final season, when it defeated Jacksonville State in Indianapolis 78-63 before losing to Michigan 73-69.

Unranked Creighton finished second to St. John's in the Big East with a 15-5 record. The Blue Jays split regular season games against the Red Storm, winning 57-56 and losing 79-73. Then in the conference tournament they fell to Pitino's sixth-ranked club 82-66 in the semifinals after beating UConn 71-62 for the second time in three games. The Blue Jays also also split with No. 25 Marquette and beat Kansas. Nine of Creighton's losses were inflicted by NCAA Tournament teams. U of L is ranked No. 23 in the NET, Creighton 38th.

Creighton's premier player is 7-foot-1, 270-pound senior Ryan Kalkbrenner, a first-team All-Big East selection who is averaging 19.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and 2.7 blocks. Senior guard Steven Ashworth (16.3 ppg, 6.8 apg) was named to the second team.

"We have to do an excellent job in preparation in the next few days. Obviously, Creighton is an explosive team, a dangerous team, and extremely well-coached. So we've got to get to work," Kelsey said.

Creighton is returning to the tournament for the seventh time in a row, 26th time in program history and 10th time in the past 14 years. Coach Greg McDermott owns a 349-170 record in 15 seasons with the Blue Jays. They advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last season and the Elite Eight in 2023. They have won at least one game in 13 of their last 15 postseason appearances and have reached four straight Sweet 16s, something only Gonzaga, Houston, UCLA and Alabama can also claim.

CHUCKY'S DISAPPEARING ACT

In an interview with reporters in the locker room following Louisville's 73-62 loss to Duke in the ACC championship game, point guard Chucky Hepburn apologized for his uncharacteristic performance. He scored 14 points, but missed 11 of 16 shots and seven of eight 3-pointers, and recorded three assists, three turnovers, and one steal.

"I feel like I just kind of disappeared and that can't happen, especially in a big game like that," he said. "But the good thing for us is we still have basketball left. We still have March Madness. Nobody believed we could make it this far. We can't keep our heads down too long. We're going to see who we've got tomorrow and it's time to lace up again."

Said forward Noah Waterman: "We're a really good team and the season's not over. We've got a lot going on for us and we'll see where we land and we're gonna make a run."

Hepburn was named to the all-tournament team, along with teammate Terrence Edwards Jr. who scored a game-high 29 points in the final. Edwards has averaged 24.8 points over the last six games. "He's been on a tear for sure," Kelsey said.

Duke's Kon Knueppel, who had 18 points and eight rebounds against U of L, earned the Everett Case Award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Duke's Khaman Maluach and California's Andrej Stojakovic were also voted to the first team.