Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals (27-8 overall, 12-6 ACC) have surged in the tournament, despite the dismissal of guard Chris Jones in late February.

The Cardinals escaped in their first tournament game with a two point win over UC Irvine. Since then, Louisville has won its last two games over Northern Iowa and NC State by double-digits.

In 2012, Louisville and MSU met in the Sweet 16, but the number one seeded Spartans fell 57-44 and played without then-freshman forward Branden Dawson.

Now a senior in the midst of a impressive cap to his MSU career, Dawson has been a force in the tournament. Defensively, he’s been lock-down and will certainly have his hands full with Louisville junior forward Montrezl Harrell.

“He's a bona fide scorer,” Dawson said. “He's relentless, plays with high energy on both ends. We saw that. We're going to have to do a good job on him.”

At his Saturday press conference, Izzo joked about the imposing presence Harrell brings along.

“I made sure that Montrezl Harrell was invisible because I didn't want them to have nightmares,” Izzo said. “ I just wanted to show them some film. We had our video guy cut out anything where he was living with his head and feet on the rim.”

Louisville’s full court press will look to turn the Spartans over and get some easy scores. The press can wear on teams, and MSU’s guards, especially, will need to be patient and composed in bringing the ball up. The easiest way to get around it, of course, is to force poor Louisville into poor shots and rebound, keeping them from setting up the press.

From the Cardinals standpoint, limiting MSU on the glass will be key. Harrell talked about the importance of holding the Spartans to just one shot on the offensive end and then sending four players to crash the boards.

It’s a heavyweight bout between Izzo and Pitino, and the coaches have combined for 21 Elite Eights, 13 Final Fours, and three National Championships. Both teams appeared vulnerable during their regular seasons but since postseason play has started, they have each pulled out hard-fought victories.

“We didn't take an easy route to get here,” Izzo said. “We had to beat a lot of good people. So you've earned the right to have some swagger, but just understand that there's another team that's earned the right, too, and they play hard as hell, too.”