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No. 11 Pittsburgh meets No. 15 Louisville in Big East semis

Mar 9, 2007 - 7:16 PM No. 11 Pittsburgh (26-6) vs No. 15 Louisville (23-8) 9:00 pm EST

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- By removing a longtime burden from its shoulders, Louisville moved one step closer to a Big East tournament title.

The 15th-ranked Cardinals can extend their winning streak to a season-high eight games and move to the championship contest when they face No. 11 Pittsburgh in Friday's semifinals.

A two-time winner of the Conference USA title (2003 and 2005) Louisville ended a nine-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden dating to January 5, 1984, with Thursday's 82-71 double-overtime triumph over West Virginia.

Terrence Williams scored 21 points, Earl Clark added 17 and David Padgett 16 on 6-of-7 shots for the Cardinals, who limited the Mountaineers to 37 percent shooting (23-of-62) from the floor.

Louisville has won 11 of their last 13 contests overall and used a 12-4 regular-season conference mark to gain the tournament's No. 2 seed.

Pittsburgh is one win away from reaching the final for the sixth time in seven seasons. The lone tournament title during that stretch was in 2003 against Connecticut.

Seeded third, the Panthers avenged Saturday's loss to Marquette with Thursday's 89-79 victory in the quarterfinals. Aaron Gray scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Mike Cook added 16 for Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals took the lone matchup against Pittsburgh this season with a 66-53 victory February 12. Padgett scored 16 points for Louisville, which held the Panthers to just 19 first-half points.

The winner faces either Notre Dame or Georgetown on Saturday.