PORTLAND, Ore. – Louisville has taken a crooked path to the NCAA tournament. Once ranked as high as No. 4, the injury-addled Cardinals fell out of the rankings by losing five games in a stretch of seven. Then they limped into the Big East tournament with losses in four of their final six games.

But the Cardinals tore through the Big East tournament, beating Seton Hall, Marquette, Notre Dame and, finally, Cincinnati in the conference championship game.

Now healthy and on a roll, the fourth-seeded Cardinals (26-9) face Davidson (25-7) today to open their NCAA tournament run in the West Regional.

“I think this has been a confident ball club when everybody’s healthy,” Coach Rick Pitino said. “I think they lack confidence when they’ve been injured.”

The setbacks, which occurred mostly early in the season, included three major knee injuries, a broken nose, a back injury, and a concussion that slowed junior point guard Peyton Siva at the start of the season. Senior Kyle Kuric, who leads Louisville with 13.1 points per game, was sidelined in January with a sprained left ankle.

The Cardinals are making their sixth straight appearance in the tournament. They’ve gone to the regional finals twice in the last four seasons — but they’ve been ousted in the opening round each of the last two years.

Wearing their new “infrared” uniforms, Louisville won a grueling four games in four days at the conference tournament — capped by a 50-44 victory over Cincinnati.

The Cardinals, averaging 68 points per game, are known for their defense. They’ve limited opponents to an average of 38 percent shooting from the floor, and an average of just over 61 points per game.

Davidson got a tournament berth this year with a dramatic double-overtime victory over Western Carolina last Friday in the Southern Conference tournament. The Wildcats led by 12 with two minutes left in regulation but needed two overtimes to put it away.

One of the highlights of Davidson’s season came in December when they defeated No. 12 Kansas 80-74 in Lawrence.

All five of the Wildcats’ starters are averaging in double figures, meaning matchups could be an issue for the Cardinals. Pitino praised Davidson’s quickness.

“They are as up-tempo as any team we have faced this year on a consistent basis, the whole game,” Pitino said. “They shoot it at multiple positions. They have two player-of-the-year guys. … In order to be a great shooting team you also have to be a great passing team. And they’re also a great passing team.”

Davidson won’t try to slow things down to counter Louisville’s pressure defense.

“We’re going to be who we are,” said Davidson Coach Bob McKillop. “We have a lot of experience playing that way.”