DAYTON, Ohio — The crushing full-court press wasn't getting anything done against unflappable Siena. A double-digit lead had evaporated. And, from those black folding chairs on the Louisville bench to the plastic red-and-blue seats all around the arena, it was clear to everyone that the top-seeded team was starting to panic.

Coach Rick Pitino called a timeout and made a challenge.

"You've got to prove to yourselves now you're a great basketball team," he told the rattled players.

His carefree senior got the message. Terrence Williams rallied the teetering-but-not-toppled Cardinals to a 79-72 victory yesterday in the second round of the NCAA tournament, putting Louisville in the round of 16 for the second straight year.

Williams had 24 points, 15 rebounds and one saving play after another after Pitino urged someone to step up in the last seven minutes.

"Only he has that type of ability to hear a voice, perform it, get it, and do it," Pitino said.

Louisville (30-5) will play 12th-seeded Arizona in the Midwest Regional on Friday in Indianapolis, riding a 12-game winning streak that was very much in doubt in the closing minutes. Ninth-seeded Siena (27-8) overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half and led by four before Williams took over, hitting 3s, getting rebounds and starting fast breaks with one-handed passes.

Edwin Ubiles scored 24 points for the Saints, who handled Louisville's full-court pressure and then applied some of their own. The Cardinals headed to the bench for a timeout with stunned expressions after Clarence Jackson's lay-in put Siena up 63-59 with 7:20 to go.

"Yeah, we thought we had them," said Kenny Hasbrouck, who scored 11 points. "We were running them up and down. We kept up with them every time. But unfortunately, I guess a team that's good, there's a reason they're No. 1."

The reason was Williams.

He's known as the Cardinals' most carefree player. He showed his big-game cool by dancing at midcourt before a first-round win over Morehead State, then skipped across the court yesterday during pregame introductions. When he landed out of bounds in the first half, ending up on a photographer's camera, he picked it up and looked through the viewfinder.

So when the pressure was on, Williams was the obvious choice.

He immediately drove for a basket and hit a 3-pointer that changed the momentum. He had nine points, five rebounds, a steal and a pair of one-handed passes for fast-break layups the rest of the way.

"He definitely stepped up," said Earl Clark, who added 12 points and 12 rebounds. "I expected that from him. He's our leader and he's a great player, one of the best forwards in the country."

MICHIGAN STATE 74, USC 69

MINNEAPOLIS — Travis Walton scored a career-high 18 points to lift the second-seeded Spartans (28-6) over the 10th-seeded Trojans (22-13) and into the round of 16 for the eighth time in 12 years.

Durell Summers added 11 points and eight rebounds for Michigan State, which will play third-seeded Kansas on Friday in Indianapolis.

Dwight Lewis scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points for USC.

KANSAS 60, DAYTON 43

MINNEAPOLIS — Sherron Collins scored 25 points and Cole Aldrich amassed 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots to lead the defending champion and third-seeded Jayhawks (27-7) past the 11th-seeded Flyers (27-8).

The 6-foot-11 Aldrich nearly matched the NCAA tournament record for blocks in a game of 11 set by Shaquille O'Neal for LSU in 1992.

Chris Wright scored 10 points for Dayton, which shot a woeful 22.2 percent in its lowest-scoring game of the season.

ARIZONA 71, CLEVELAND STATE 57

MIAMI — Nic Wise scored 21 points and the 12th-seeded Wildcats built an early 14-point lead to eliminate the 13th-seeded Vikings (26-11).

Arizona, appearing in the tournament for the 25th year in a row, is the lowest seeded team remaining.

Norris Cole scored 17 points for Cleveland State, which struggled to solve Arizona's zone defense.