One of the most memorable Louisville basketball teams of the last two decades will be back in the Derby City this weekend. The 2004-05 Cardinals will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s home game against North Carolina.
Here are the details from U of L:
Several members of Louisville’s 2004-05 team which reached the NCAA Final Four will be in attendance at Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET game against North Carolina and will be recognized during the under four minute media timeout in the first half in this 15th anniversary year of their achievement.
Eleven of the 14 members of the team are expected to attend including Chris Current, Taquan Dean, Terrance Farley, Brad Gianiny, Otis George, Brandon Jenkins, Perrin Johnson, Ellis Myles, Larry O’Bannon, David Padgett and Lorrenzo Wade.
Posting a 33-5 record, the 2004-05 Cardinals buried a school-record 361 three-pointers and were led by Francisco Garcia (15.7 ppg), Larry O’Bannon (15.2 ppg) and Taquan Dean (14.4 ppg). Louisville won its first Conference USA regular season championship and was ranked No. 3 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 4 in the final AP poll.
The Cardinals were a No. 4 seed in the tournament, beating Louisiana Lafayette and Georgia Tech in Nashville, Tenn. in the first two rounds before downing No. 1 seed Washington in the regional semifinals in Albuquerque, N.M. In the game that propelled the Cardinals to the Final Four, UofL overcame a 20-point deficit in the first half to win in overtime against West Virginia in a game which set an NCAA Tournament record for most combined three-point goals made with 29 (West Virginia 18, Louisville 11). Louisville lost to Illinois in the national semifinals in St. Louis.
This is your excuse to spend the rest of your Friday watching the West Virginia regional final game.
Couldn’t be more excited to see these guys back together on Saturday.