On a day when Louisville honored senior Wayne Blackshear and junior Montrezl Harrell, who is expected to enter the NBA draft after this season, the Cardinals played patient, persistent offense and pesky defense in a thrilling 59-57 upset of second-ranked Virginia.

Oh, and sixth-man Mangok Mathiang splashed the game-winning jumper with 2.7 seconds left in the most dramatic, unexpected moment of the entire campaign.

The win could not have come at a more important moment in Louisville's season. The Cards (24-7, 12-6 in the ACC) had just one signature win -- a Jan. 31 victory over North Carolina -- and they had missed on a slew of other opportunities. Wednesday's loss to Notre Dame just drove that point home.

But on Saturday, in front of an amped-up 22,788 at the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville got another one, lifting a huge weight off its shoulders in the process. The Cards earned the fourth seed in the ACC tournament that they so coveted. They gained the momentum before the postseason that they so needed. And they beat a Virginia team that all season has appeared nearly unbeatable, save for one close loss to Duke.

Harrell (20 points, 12 rebounds) was the spark, getting his 24th career double-double and making big shot after big shot in big moments. He had a volleyball spike of a block. He hit a 3-pointer. And he consistently came up large in what is assumed to be his last game at the Yum! Center.

He didn't do it by himself, either.

Louisville did something it did not do in a 52-47 loss at Virginia on Feb. 7. In that game, Louisville forced just two turnovers and was 4 of 21 from the field in a listless first half. That was far too much to overcome.

This time, Louisville played the kind of aggressive, disruptive defense that has been its trademark during its recent run of success. Virginia (28-2, 16-2 in the ACC) turned the ball over 13 times, and Louisville did just enough on offense to pull of the upset.

And it was one they needed.

Snider's evolution. As he continues to work through his freshman year, Quentin Snider (11 points) had an important performance on Saturday. The 6-foot-1 Louisville native had his freshman moments -- he picked up his dribble 30 feet from the basket on one possession and threw an errant pass -- and he had the kind of moments that show why Louisville recruited him. On one play, he ran right to left, around two staggered screens, waited for the right time and then perfectly executed an alley-oop lob to Harrell.

But the biggest part of Snider's day was his shooting. He canned three 3-pointers and made a challenging runner in traffic. Louisville needed that from him.

Night and day defense. Louisville played strong defense at Virginia back in February, but the Cavaliers only committed two turnovers and never appeared out of sorts on offense, even as they shot just 33 percent. But on Saturday, after Pitino said Friday that he wanted to "dumb down" Louisville's defense, the Cardinals created the kinds of deflections and turnovers that fuel their offense.

Louisville's early run came in large part because of Virginia's six early turnovers. The halfcourt traps worked, and Louisville's quick recovery to Virginia's ball reversals led to errant passes in quickly-filled passing lanes.