MEN'S HOOPS: Louisville vs. Notre Dame Preview
No. 13 LOUISVILLE (12-3, 3-1 ACC) vs. NOTRE DAME (10-5, 1-3)
Where: Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Ind.
Time/TV/Internet: Today (2 p.m., EST); Available on ESPN, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Line: Louisville -3.5 (136.5 ov/und)
Prediction: Louisville 78, Notre Dame 74 OT
Series Facts: Notre Dame returns home today after a two-game road trip to play the No. 13 Cardinals for the 40th time.
Louisville leads this all-time series 25-14 and has won four straight over the Irish, while Notre Dame has won four of the last five against the Cardinals at Purcell Pavilion.
These two teams played twice last season. Louisville won at home, 75-61, during the regular season and won again, 75-53, in the second-round of the ACC Tournament to end Notre Dame’s forgettable season.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
With 33 double-doubles in 54 career starts, Irish senior forward John Mooney carries the best double-double per start percentage (.611) since game starts became an official stat before the 1978-79 season.
Mooney needs more of the same today against an aggressive and athletic Louisville team. Mooney managed 14 points and 14 rebounds against NC State, tallying his ninth straight and nation-leading 12th double-double of the season, but persistent foul trouble in the game kept the ACC Player of Year candidate from playing aggressively down the stretch and allowed the Wolfpack to come from behind and steal a win.
Staying out of foul trouble will be critical for Mooney and all the Irish today, especially given that senior guard Rex Pflueger remains in recovery mode from a bruised knee. His availability and potential production remain uncertain for the game.
LOUISVILLE OVERVIEW
The Cardinals visit Notre Dame for the first of three straight ACC road games.
As usual, swarming defense is the key to success for Louisville.
In its last outing, a smothering 74-58 win over Miami that broke a two-game losing streak, the Cardinals held the Hurricanes to just 27.9 field goal shooting. They also won the rebounding battle 48-37 and blocked a season-high six shots.
Louisville enters this game second in the ACC and eighth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.365).
Junior forward Jordan Nwora’s 20.9 leads the Cardinals in scoring at 20.9 points per game points a game while senior center Steven Enoch (11.5 ppg) is the only other Louisville player averaging double figures.
Nwora, the preseason ACC Player of the Year and a selection on several preseason all-American teams, leads the ACC and is 19th in the nation in scoring.
As a team, the Cardinals are second only to Duke in the ACC with a +14.3 scoring margin.
GAME OUTLOOK
*After giving up 11 offensive rebounds in the second half and 12 second-chance points Wednesday in a 73-68 loss at NC State, Louisville will present a similar challenge on glass. The Cardinals rank third in the league with 40.3 rebounds per game while the Irish allow 39.4 boards per game, which ranks last in the league in rebounding defense.
The late-game meltdown and eventual loss at NC State kept the Irish from winning consecutive ACC road games for the first time since the 2016-17 season and made today’s game against Louisville almost a must-win to keep alive any post-season consideration.
A loss here would drop Notre Dame to 1-4 in league play and 0-2 at home this season against ACC foes.
*The series between Louisville and Notre Dame is defined by epic overtime games.
In fact, nine of the last 22 games since 1994 between these two have gone to overtime, three of those went double-overtime and the 104-101 Irish win in 2013 needed five overtimes to settle.
Remarkably, over the previous 39 meetings between these two teams, Notre Dame has scored 2,829 points against 2,863 for the Cardinals — a difference of just 34 points, or less than one point per meeting over those games.
QUICK HITS:
*Talk about Even-Steven when it comes to scoring the basketball. Notre Dame ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring at 75.6 points a game. Louisville is fifth at 75.3 points a game.
*Nwora’s 313 points already scored this year is the most by any Louisville player through 15 games in the last 20 seasons.
*Irish sophomore Prentiss Hubb has been on a scoring spree of late. Notre Dame’s point guard tied his career high last Saturday with 22 points in a win over Syracuse then set a new career high Wednesday with 24 points in the loss to NC State.
QUOTEABLE:
“I’m disappointed for us because I thought we played well enough to escape. But when you give up second shots like that, it’s going to be hard to get out of there.” — Irish head coach Mike Brey on his team’s lack of rebounding and poise in blowing a 12-point second half lead Wednesday in a 73-68 loss at NC State.
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