The third-seeded Louisville Cardinals seized control early in their East Regional semifinal matchup with the second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, and the game was rarely in serious doubt, as the Cardinals won 79-60 Thursday night.

With the loss, the Vols (31-5) saw the end to their season -- one that will be remembered as one of the best in school history.

Louisville will advance to play top-seeded North Carolina Saturday, with a trip to the Final Four awarded to the winner.

Chris Lofton, Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith all scored in double figures, but their combined 38 points were not enough. Louisville's balanced attack saw five players score in double figures, led by Earl Clark's double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Tennessee jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the opening minutes, but a 19-4 Louisville run put the Cardinals up by 16 with nine minutes remaining in the half.

Wayne Chism collected two early fouls. The foul trouble forced Tennessee's offensive post presence to be benched early and often. With Chism on the bench Tennessee lost rhythm and Louisville gained control of the game tempo, settling up a halfcourt game.

The Vols used a run of their own to cut the lead to five with four minutes remaining in the opening half, but Andree McGee's driving layup as time expired built the Cardinal lead back up to seven at the halftime break.

Tennessee came out of the locker room firing and scored the first six points of the second half to cut the lead to one, but for the Vols, that's as close as they would get.

A 10-3 Louisville run put the Cardinals back up by 10, and they never looked back.

Four fouls on JaJuan Smith and Tyler Smith forced them to the bench for extensive minutes in the second half, handicapping Tennessee's offensive abilities and allowing the Cardinals to continue to dominate.

The Cardinals reached the double-bonus with eight minutes remaining in the contest and continued to pull away, eventually cushioning the lead to 19, winning 79-60.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino's Sweet 16 record now stands at 8-0. 

My Take

To be completely honest, I saw this coming.

Ever since Tennessee's opening-round game in the SEC tournament, this team hasn't quite been the same.

Many people argue that this Volunteer team peaked too soon, causing their struggles during the postseason. I completely disagree with this theory.

Tennessee never peaked; in fact, I don't think this team ever played their best game. Coach Bruce Pearl reiterated this fact several times during the season, and even into the postseason.

What happened to this run-and-gun style team was the simple fact that teams learned how to play them. What used to be a wide-open track meet style of game, began being slowed down to a half-court game in which Tennessee constantly struggled.

Every time opponents slow down the tempo, they effectively take Tennessee out of the game. This type of game showcased Tennessee's main weakness, the three-headed-monster that has been playing the point guard position.

The point position has become an offensive liability. J.P. Prince finds himself constantly turning it over, Jordan Howell didn't hit a shot that had meaning since the Arkansas game, and Ramar Smith was forced to drive the lane and throw up prayers when the Vols played keep away in their halfcourt set.

The Vols are fortunate to break the press, and then when they reach the offensive end to set up their offense they simply play pitch-and-catch with each other. It's as if no one wants the ball in this offense. It also seems that 95% of the time, when the Vols are forced to slow down the tempo, the ball is fed into Tyler Smith and he is expected to do the rest.

On countless times down the court, the Vols simply fed the ball into whoever was in the paint, who would then force up a shot that had very little chance of going in.

I give credit to Louisville, their zone was very effective. But Tennessee's lack of production was more self-made than forced upon them by their opponent.

Without the ability to score in the half-court offense, the Vols simply ran out of options.

Without a point guard that can score, and with Lofton hitting less than 20 percent of his 3's, this team was doomed to fail before it ever took the floor in Birmingham on Friday.

Thirty-one wins in a season may be unprecedented, but this team has long understood that anything less than a trip to the Final Four will likely be remembered as a failure.