Well, technically this game wasn’t played in March. It was played on April 8, 2013. But when you’re playing in early April, that’s a pretty good sign for your team.
It was the battle of Gorgui Dieng and the Louisville Cardinals against Trey Burke and the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA National Championship.
Dieng had a great all-around game, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and a steal to help the Cardinals to an 82-76 win, capping off a 35-5 season. The future first-round pick shot an efficient 4-for-6 from the field.
Burke was the leader for Michigan, but it wasn’t enough.
He finished with 24 points, four rebounds and three assists while shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from the 3-point line.
Why are we highlighting the game on March 13, 2017, you ask?
Because tonight, Dieng’s Wolves face off against Burke’s Wizards at the Target Center.
A few fun facts about this matchup:
- Burke and Dieng were actually traded for each other. The Wolves drafted Burke with the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft before trading him to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad. In four seasons, Burke is averaging 10.6 points and 3.7 assists. In his first season in Washington, Burke is averaging 4.8 points in 12.3 minutes per game. Dieng is averaging 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game throughout his career. In 31.7 minutes per game with the Wolves in 2016-17, he’s averaging 10 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
- That national championship game featured 10 future pros: Burke, Dieng, Glenn Robinson III, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, Caris LeVert, Peyton Siva, Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell.
- In six tournament games in 2013, Dieng averaged 8.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. His best game came in the team’s Midwest Regional Final win over Duke when he finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
- The Wolves also drafted Robinson in the second-round of the 2014 draft. In 25 games with the Wolves, he averaged 1.2 points.
- In this year’s tournament, the Cardinals are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, while the Wolverines are the No. 7 seed. The two could matchup in the second round.