The momentum swing was sudden and violent.*
At first glance, surging Northern Iowa is about to slice a 12-point deficit to four on a Wes Washpun transition dunk. Seconds later, the Louisville lead was eight again with less than four minutes to play because Wayne Blackshear came from nowhere to swat the dunk attempt and the ensuing Cardinals fast break resulted in a Montrezl Harrell lob dunk.
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That sequence proved to be the decisive blow in fifth-seeded Louisville's 66-53 victory over fourth-seeded Northern Iowa in a East Regional round of 32 game. The Cardinals ended the game on an 11-4 surge to dispatch of the Missouri Valley tournament champions and secure their place in a suddenly wide-open East Regional semifinals.*
With top-seeded Villanova and second-seeded Virginia both falling this weekend, the East Regional appears poised to produce the Final Four's dark horse entrant. Louisville has a realistic chance to fill that role since it will probably be a slim favorite against eighth-seeded fellow ACC squad N.C. State before potentially meeting either third-seeded Oklahoma or seventh-seeded Michigan State in the regional final.*
That Louisville is in this position is unlikely considering the chaotic season it has had.
The Cardinals already were a mediocre offensive team with modest outside shooting and limited weapons even before the dismissal of starting point guard Chris Jones last month. That decision seemed to weaken Louisville further considering only guard Terry Rozier, forward Montrezl Harrell and the sometimes erratic Blackshear averaged more than 3.3 points per game.*
In reality, the departure of Jones has seemingly hastened the development of freshman point guard Quentin Snider and brought out the best in Blackshear.
Snider, who spelled Jones for a handful of minutes per game most of the season, has played 29 or more minutes in Louisville's last seven games and has scored in double figures in four of them. Blackshear, who has a reputation for being erratic, has averaged 13.1 points in his past five games and lit up UC Irvine for 18 in Louisville's opening NCAA tournament win.
If those two guys can continue to provide enough offensive support to Harrell and Rozier, the Cardinals at least have a chance of surviving two more games. This is never going to be an offensive team the caliber of some of Pitino's best, but Louisville still defends well enough that even average offense and sporadic jump shooting can be enough.

Oklahoma boasts the highest remaining seed, a dynamic guard in Buddy Hield and a talented supporting cast. Michigan State has a coach who has reached six Final Fours and a team that is peaking in March. N.C. State is an inconsistent team that has shown it can beat the nation's best in victories against Duke, North Carolina and Villanova.
There's no juggernaut among that group, though, no team Louisville has no hope of beating. Considering where Louisville's season appeared to be headed just a couple weeks ago, the Cardinals can't be too disappointed with their position.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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