A look at Illinois and Louisville, who will meet Saturday in St. Louis in one national semifinal game:

The coaches

Rick Pitino became the first coach to lead three schools to the Final Four. He took Providence (1987), Kentucky (1993, ’96 and ’97) and Louisville. Pitino, who has been to the tournament 11 times, won his only national championship in 1996 when Kentucky beat Syracuse.

Bruce Weber has taken Southern Illinois and Illinois to the tournament twice each. This is his first trip to the Final Four.

Offense

Louisville averages 81.3 points a game with five players scoring in double figures, led by Francisco Garcia’s 16.0. The Cardinals are like most of Pitino’s teams, perimeter-oriented and effective three-point shooters. Louisville shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc and averages about 10 threes per game. Taquan Dean leads the team with 120 threes, while Larry O’Bannon has 83, and Garcia 71.

Illinois is very similar to the Cardinals on offense, averaging 76.9 points with five double-figure scorers, led by Luther Head at 15.6. The Illini have one of the best three-guard attacks out there with Head, Dee Brown (13.4) and Deron Williams (12.4). The Illini shoot 39 percent from three-point range and average just over eight per game. Head leads the team with 100 threes, while Brown has 92 and Williams 59.

Defense

Louisville plays a lot of zone defense, allowing 63.9 points on 38.6 percent shooting, including 32.8 from three-point range.

Illinois is usually in man-to-man and allows 60.0 points on 40.9 percent shooting, including 35.3 from three-point range.

The Cardinals are better at forcing turnovers — almost two more per game — but both teams are adept at turning up the pressure when needed as shown by Saturday’s comebacks.

Free throws

Both teams shoot about 73 percent from the line but Louisville has one weak link among the starters.

While Garcia, O’Bannon and Dean are all over 80 percent, Ellis Myles has made just 57 percent. He was 3-for-8 Saturday as West Virginia fouled him repeatedly in the overtime trying to cut into the lead.

Injuries

Both teams had a standout player nursing an injury in the regional semifinals.

Dean sprained his right foot in the win over Washington but he looked fine against West Virginia until the final minutes when he struggled because of cramps.

Head has been playing despite a hamstring injury but he showed no ill effects in leading the late comeback with several key defensive plays.

Intangibles

Illinois was ranked No. 1 for the final 15 weeks of the season, and the Illini are trying to become the first team to win it all with one loss since North Carolina State in 1974.

Louisville felt it deserved a No. 1 seeding and was upset when it was given a No. 4. Pitino is one of the best in the business at getting the most out of his teams.