# 1982–83 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 1982–83 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 70th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum, who was in his twelfth season. The team played its home games at Freedom Hall.
The Cardinals won the Metro Conference tournament championship (their 4th), defeating Tulane 66–51. Louisville defeated Kentucky 80–68 (OT) to win the NCAA tournament Mideast Regional and advance to the Final Four (their 6th) where they fell to eventual runner-up Houston 94–81. The Cardinals finished with a 32–4 (11–0) record.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 26, 1982* | No. 8 | vs. Florida Great Alaska Shootout | W 80–63 | 1–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 27, 1982* | No. 8 | vs. Washington Great Alaska Shootout | W 58–47 | 2–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 28, 1982* | No. 8 | vs. Vanderbilt Great Alaska Shootout | W 80–70 | 3–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Dec 1, 1982* | No. 7 | at Santa Clara | W 84–56 | 4–0 | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| Dec 4, 1982* | No. 7 | Purdue | L 63–69 | 4–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 8, 1982* | No. 13 | Eastern Kentucky | W 82–53 | 5–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 15, 1982* | No. 12 | South Alabama | W 94–77 | 6–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 18, 1982* | No. 12 | Oklahoma State | W 67–66 | 7–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 21, 1982* | No. 14 | No. 15 NC State | W 57–52 | 8–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 29, 1982* | No. 13 | at No. 5 UCLA | L 72–76 | 8–2 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 3, 1983 | No. 13 | Cincinnati | W 65–58 | 9–2 (1–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 5, 1982* | No. 13 | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 79–58 | 10–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 8, 1983 | No. 13 | at Florida State | W 96–69 | 11–2 (2–0) | Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 12, 1983* | No. 9 | at Duke | W 91–76 | 12–2 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Jan 15, 1983* | No. 9 | DePaul | W 63–58 | 13–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 17, 1983 | No. 9 | at Tulane | W 63–55 | 14–2 (3–0) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 22, 1983 | No. 9 | Southern Miss | W 63–48 | 15–2 (4–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 26, 1983* | No. 8 | vs. Rutgers | W 54–49 | 16–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Jan 29, 1983* | No. 8 | at No. 6 Virginia | L 81–98 | 16–3 | University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb 2, 1983 | No. 12 | at Cincinnati | W 79–73 | 17–3 (5–0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 5, 1982* | No. 12 | Lamar | W 85–60 | 18–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 7, 1983 | No. 11 | Florida State | W 89–63 | 19–3 (6–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 9, 1983 | No. 11 | Tulane | W 73–56 | 20–3 (7–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 12, 1983* | No. 11 | at Marquette | W 81–73 | 21–3 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Feb 19, 1983 | No. 9 | at No. 13 Memphis State | W 75–66 | 22–3 (8–0) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| Feb 22, 1982* | No. 5 | Wright State | W 71–55 | 23–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 26, 1982* | No. 5 | at Western Kentucky | W 73–62 | 24–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky |
| Feb 28, 1982* | No. 3 | Murray State | W 66–58 | 25–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Mar 2, 1983 | No. 3 | at Virginia Tech | W 73–64 | 26–3 (9–0) | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Mar 6, 1983 | No. 3 | No. 17 Memphis State | W 64–62 $^{OT}$ | 27–3 (10–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Metro Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1983 | No. 3 | vs. No. 17 Memphis State Semifinals | W 71–68 | 28–3 (11–0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 12, 1983 | No. 3 | vs. Tulane Championship | W 66–51 | 29–3 (12–0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 20, 1983* | (1 ME) No. 2 | vs. (8 ME) Tennessee Second round | W 70–57 | 30–3 | Roberts Stadium Evansville, Indiana |
| Mar 25, 1983* CBS | (1 ME) No. 2 | vs. (4 ME) No. 9 Arkansas Sweet Sixteen | W 65–63 | 31–3 | Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN |
| Mar 27, 1983* CBS | (1 ME) No. 2 | vs. (3 ME) No. 12 Kentucky Elite Eight | W 80–68 $^{OT}$ | 32–3 | Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN |
| Apr 2, 1983* CBS | (1 ME) No. 2 | vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Houston Final Four | L 81–94 | 32–4 | The Pit Albuquerque, NM |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||
Sources

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Coaches | 5 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 |

## NCAA tournament
### Mideast region

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional finals | Regional finals | Regional finals |
| 8 | Tennessee | 57 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Marquette | 56 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Marquette | 56 | 8 | Tennessee | 57 | | | | | | |
| | | | 1 | Louisville | 70 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 1 | Louisville | 65 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas | 63 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Arkansas | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Purdue | 68 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Purdue | 55 | 5 | Purdue | 68 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Robert Morris | 53 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Robert Morris | 53 | | | | | | | 1 | Louisville | 80 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Kentucky | 68 |
| 6 | Illinois State | 49 | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Kentucky | 68 |
| 11 | Ohio | 51 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Ohio | 51 | 11 | Ohio | 40 | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Kentucky | 57 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Kentucky | 64 | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Indiana | 59 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Indiana | 63 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Oklahoma | 49 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 71 | 7 | Oklahoma | 49 | | | | | | |
| 10 | UAB | 63 | | | | | | | | | |

### Final four

| National semifinals | National semifinals | National semifinals | National championship game | National championship game | National championship game |
| E4 | Georgia | 60 | | | |
| W6 | N.C. State | 67 | | | |
| W6 | N.C. State | 67 | W6 | N.C. State | 54 |
| | | | MW1 | Houston | 52 |
| ME1 | Louisville | 81 | MW1 | Houston | 52 |
| MW1 | Houston | 94 | | | |