Notre Dame Falls To No. 6 Louisville, 78-61
The slight pop you might have heard from the Purcell Pavilion on Sunday afternoon was Notre Dame NCAA Tournament bubble after No. 6 Louisville’s 78-61 victory.
Louisville (21-2, 14-2 in the league) won the ACC regular season crown while Notre Dame dropped to 10-9 overall and 8-7 in the conference prior to the ACC Tournament that begins this week (see Three-Point Play) with Notre Dame as the No. 6 seed.
Considered the "last team in" in Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology entering Sunday’s contest, the Irish don't own any wins this season against a ranked foe, and a conquest of Louisville would have put them in strong position for a berth prior to the ACC Tournament that begins on Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C.
The game began on an inauspicious note with the Irish committing five turnovers in the first 1:56 (or each of the first five possessions), and they had 12 after 12:01, or a turnover per minute. Eventually, the Irish turned it over a whopping 25 times compared to Louisville’s 12.
Both teams shot it well in the first quarter: Louisville was 11 of 17 (64.7 percent), including 4 of 7 from three. Notre Dame was 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) and 2 of 2 beyond the arc, but turned it over nine times compared to Louisville's two — resulting in the 28-18 lead by head coach Jeff Walz’s squad after the initial 10 minutes.
From the outset Louisville controlled the action and never allowed Notre Dame to get closer than10 points following the first quarter
The Cardinals gradually built their advantage to as much as 22 (44-22) in the first half and held a 44-28 advantage at the intermission. By then Notre Dame had 16 turnovers while Louisville had six.
“I thought Louisville was fantastic,” said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey, whose Irish put forth a much stronger battle against the Cardinals in a 71-65 defeat on the road Feb. 7. “They were ready, they were focused … we just didn’t set the tone.”
Headlining Louisville’s effort was All-American Dana Evans with 26 points and five assists. Notre Dame’s only two double-figure scorers came off the bench — sophomore forward Sam Brunelle with 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting, and freshman point guard Olivia Miles with 11 points (5 of 10 from the field) to go with six assists and four rebounds.
The Irish outscored Louisville 17-15 in the third quarter and had pulled to within 55-45 at one point, but the Cardinals closed with a strong final 30 seconds to lead 59-45 through three. The lead went back up as much as 74-53 before the end.
Three-Point Play
1. Tournament Time
Prior to the game, Notre Dame controlled its destiny to secure the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the ACC Tournament that begins Wednesday (March 3) in Greensboro, N.C. Instead, the Irish fell to the sixth seed and will play 11-seed Clemson (5-11 in the league, 10-11 overall) on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
As promising as that sounds, Notre Dame’s worst game of the year was against the Tigers, a 78-55 defeat on Dec. 20. A win over Clemson won’t be a needle mover, but if the Irish can advance and then beat No. 3-seed Georgia Tech on Friday, then NCAA Tournament bid would appear promising.
2. Bench Marks
Ivey likes the idea of bringing Miles and Brunelle off the bench to provide an instant spark to the offense. Ultimately, Miles (32 minutes) and Brunelle (29 minutes) had two of the four most minutes in the game for Notre Dame, so “starting” can sometimes be overrated.
Still, the lineup and firepower is enhanced with that duo in the lineup, and as they’ve started to get their legs underneath them, perhaps those two in the first five can help avoid the sputtering start that occurred versus Louisville. One way or another, they are becoming 30-minute players.
3. Different Day
There might have been a little too much optimism about Notre Dame’s 71-65 loss at No. 2 Louisville back on Feb. 7. The Irish had a strong performance, but upsets occur all the time, and sometimes the higher ranked team won’t be as sharp as the team with nothing to lose. This time it was the Cardinals who were much more dialed in.
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