BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A scramble, a steal and suddenly Louisville had a three-on-none break that Derrick Caracter finished off with a vicious dunk.

Coach Rick Pitino and his team turned this into a one-sided affair from the start, overwhelming Boise State 79-61 tonight in the first round of the East Regional.

The third-seeded Cardinals rushed to a 10-1 lead and Caracter's slam made it 42-26 late in the first half.

Leading scorer David Padgett didn't even take a shot before the break and Louisville still breezed, helped by a dozen 3-pointers.

Coming off a disappointing one-and-done performance in the Big East tournament, the Cardinals (25-8) punctuated the rout with several late jams. They next play Sunday against Oklahoma, a 72-64 winner over Saint Joseph's.

Boise State put itself on the national sports map — in football, that is — by beating Oklahoma in a triple-overtime thriller at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. These 14th-seeded Broncos missed a chance to shock the Sooners in hoops, too.

Earl Clark scored 15 points and Juan Palacios had 13. Many Cardinals fans made the five-hour drive and filled in the upper deck at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, which had thousands of empty seats for the three earlier games.

Matt Nelson scored 17 for Boise State (25-9).

Star Reggie Larry, averaging nearly 20 points and MVP of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, was no factor. His first basket came with 7› minutes left in the first half and he finished with 14 points.

The Broncos had not played in the NCAA tournament since 1994, when they also lost to Louisville, and it showed. Their first shot wildly bonked off the backboard, their next try barely drew iron and they followed with an attempt that wedged between the glass and rim.

Pitino has made a living in March by shutting down his opponent's top scorer. Larry became the latest star to fall into the trap, with Louisville letting a bunch of big bodies bang him around down low.

Now 55, Pitino paced the sidelines 25 years after first taking a team to the NCAA tournament. His black hair is streaked with gray and his suits are more expensive, but he sounded as intense as ever.

Even with a big lead in the closing minutes, his foot stomps and shouts echoed around the arena.

Pitino improved to 33-11 over 13 years in the tournament. He remains the only coach to lead three teams to the Final Four, first doing it with Providence and later winning the national championship with Kentucky.

In his earlier days, Pitino won with a fast-breaking team that often used passes inside to set up 3-pointers from the perimeter. He's gotten away from that style in recent years, though the Cardinals brought back reminders from his past with their outside shooting against Boise State.

Louisville shot 12-for-24 on 3s, and seven different players made them.