2004–05 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2004–05 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2004–05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 91st season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in Conference USA and were coached by Rick Pitino, who was in his fourth season. The team played home games at Freedom Hall.

2004–05 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
NCAA Albuquerque Regional Champions Conference USA tournament champions Conference USA regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 4
Record	33–5 (14–2 CUSA)
Head coach	Rick Pitino (4th season)
Home arena	Freedom Hall
Seasons ← 2003–04 2005–06 →

2004–05 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Louisville †	14	–	2		.875			33	–	5		.868
Charlotte	12	–	4		.750			21	–	8		.724
No. 23 Cincinnati	12	–	4		.750			25	–	8		.758
UAB	10	–	6		.625			22	–	11		.667
DePaul	10	–	6		.625			20	–	11		.645
Houston	9	–	7		.563			18	–	14		.563
Memphis	9	–	7		.563			22	–	16		.579
TCU	8	–	8		.500			21	–	14		.600
Marquette	7	–	9		.438			19	–	12		.613
Saint Louis	6	–	10		.375			9	–	21		.300
South Florida	5	–	11		.313			14	–	16		.467
Tulane	4	–	12		.250			10	–	18		.357
East Carolina	4	–	12		.250			9	–	19		.321
Southern Miss	2	–	14		.125			11	–	17		.393
† 2005 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The Cardinals won the Conference USA tournament championship (their 2nd), defeating Memphis 75–74. Louisville defeated West Virginia 93–85 (OT) to win the NCAA Tournament Albuquerque Regional and advance to the Final Four (their 8th) where they fell to eventual runner-up Illinois 72–57. The Cardinals finished with a 33–5 (14–2) record.^[2]

Roster

2004–05 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown SF 32 Francisco García 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr	Head coach Rick Pitino (UMass) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 20, 2004*	No. 14	at BYU-Hawaii	W 89–79	1–0	George Q. Cannon Activities Center  Laie, Hawaii
Nov 22, 2004*	No. 14	vs. Iowa Maui Invitational Tournament	L 71–76	1–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Nov 23, 2004*	No. 14	vs. Chaminade Maui Invitational Tournament	W 93–63	2–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Nov 24, 2004*	No. 14	vs. Stanford Maui Invitational Tournament	W 82–67	3–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Dec 4, 2004*	No. 17	Lafayette	W 98–57	4–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 11, 2004*	No. 13	at Florida	W 74–70	5–1	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 14, 2004*	No. 13	North Carolina A&T	W 85–51	6–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 18, 2004*	No. 13	No. 9 Kentucky	L 58–60	6–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 21, 2004*	No. 18	IUPUI	W 80–60	7–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 22, 2004*	No. 18	Austin Peay	W 77–49	8–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 27, 2004*	No. 19	Morehead State	W 104–40	9–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 30, 2004*		Eastern Kentucky	W 78–63	10–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 2, 2005*		Tennessee State	W 98–64	11–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 5, 2005		at Houston	L 67–70	11–3 (0–1)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Jan 8, 2005		TCU	W 86–61	12–3 (1–1)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 11, 2005		at Southern Miss	W 107–62	13–3 (2–1)	Reed Green Coliseum  Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jan 15, 2005		at No. 18 Cincinnati	W 69–66	14–3 (3–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center  Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 19, 2005		East Carolina	W 92–41	15–3 (4–1)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 22, 2005*		Tennessee	W 85–62	16–3	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 26, 2005		Marquette	W 99–52	17–3 (5–1)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 29, 2005		at Tulane	W 105–69	18–3 (6–1)	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
Feb 2, 2005		No. 18 Cincinnati	W 77–70	19–3 (7–1)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 5, 2005		at UAB	W 77–73	20–3 (8–1)	Bartow Arena  Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 9, 2005		Memphis	L 68–85	20–4 (8–2)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 5, 2005	No. 9	at DePaul	W 66–62	26–4 (14–2)	Allstate Arena  Rosemont, Illinois
Conference USA Tournament
Mar 10, 2005*	No. 6	vs. TCU C-USA Tournament Quarterfinal	W 85–61	27–4	FedExForum  Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 11, 2005*	No. 6	vs. UAB C-USA Tournament Semifinal	W 74–67	28–4	FedExForum  Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 12, 2005*	No. 6	at Memphis C-USA tournament championship	W 75–74	29–4	FedExForum  Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA Tournament
Mar 18, 2005*	(4 ABQ) No. 4	vs. (13 ABQ) Louisiana-Lafayette First round	W 68–62	30–4	Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 20, 2005*	(4 ABQ) No. 4	vs. (5 ABQ) No. 25 Georgia Tech Second Round	W 76–54	31–4	Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 24, 2005*	(4 ABQ) No. 4	vs. (1 ABQ) No. 8 Washington Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 93–79	32–4	The Pit  Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mar 26, 2005*	(4 ABQ) No. 4	vs. (7 ABQ) West Virginia Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 93–85 OT[3]	33–4	The Pit  Albuquerque, New Mexico
Apr 2, 2005*	(4 ABQ) No. 4	vs. (1 CHI) No. 1 Illinois National semifinal – Final Four	L 57–72[4]	33–5	Edward Jones Dome  St. Louis, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ABQ=Albuquerque.

Rankings

Main article: 2004–05 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[5]