By Sam Draut–

Wayne Blackshear and Quentin Snider carried fourth-seeded Louisville down the stretch to give the Cardinals a 57-55 victory over 13th-seeded UC Irvine.

In the final eight minutes, senior forward Blackshear and freshman guard Snider were the only Cardinals to score.  Blackshear scored on a strong drive to the basket to tie the game at 55-55 with 43 seconds left and Quentin Snider hit two free throws with 8.9 seconds left to give Louisville the lead for good.

On UC Irvine’s ensuing possession, Terry Rozier forced a turnover and Blackshear dribbled out the final seconds.

Blackshear had a team high 19 points and seven rebounds.

Quentin Snider scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds.

7-foot-6 UC Irvine center Mamadou Ndiaye disrupted Louisville’s low post scoring while adding a potent threat on the offensive end for UC Irvine.  The tallest player in college basketball finished with 12 points on six of nine shooting.

Ndiaye’s size limited Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell to eight points and four rebounds.

The Cardinals (25-8) advance to the round of 32 and will play Northern Iowa Sunday in Seattle.