Previewing Louisville vs. Notre Dame

Louisville Cardinals (15-6, 5-4) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-11, 2-7)

Game Time: 7 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPN2

Announcers: Wes Durham (play-by-play) and Dennis Scott (analysis)

Favorite: Louisville by 17.5

Series: Louisville leads, 27-19

Last Meeting: Louisville won 75-60 on Feb. 16, 2025 in South Bend

Series History:

Projected Starting Lineups:

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J’Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, Sr.)
• C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

Notre Dame

• G Braeden Shrewsberry (6-4, 205, Jr.)
• G Cole Certa (6-5, 205, So.)
• G Jalen Haralson (6-7, 220, Fr.)
• F Carson Towt (6-8, 250, Sr.)
• F Brady Koehler (6-10, 205, Fr.)

Injury Reports:

Statistics:

Notre Dame’s Season to Date:

Relevant Videos:

About Notre Dame:

Just as the case was with year one and year two, year three of the Micah Shrewsberry era at Notre Dame has been a struggle. The Fighting Irish enter Wednesday night’s game at Louisville losers in seven of their last eight contests and with an overall record of 11-11 and just 2-7 in ACC play.

The biggest story of the season for the Irish has been the injury of star guard Markus Burton. Before Burton suffered a broken left ankle on Dec. 5, Notre Dame’s season had been off to a decent start. They had nice wins over Rutgers, Missouri and TCU, and their only three losses had come at Ohio State by a point and in competitive games against Houston and Kansas at the Players Era Festival.

Since Burton’s injury, Notre Dame is just 4-8 with an embarrassing home loss to Purdue Fort Wayne as part of the eight.

The team’s leader in both scoring (15.5) and assists (2.6) with Burton out is 6’7 freshman forward Jalen Haralson. A consensus five-star recruit and the top-ranked prospect in the state of Indiana, Haralson is the highest-rated prospect to sign with Notre Dame in the modern history of the program. He’s been as good as advertised for Shrewsberry so far, especially in recent weeks.

In Notre Dame’s last two games, Haralson has scored a combined 46 points and dished out 11 assists against four turnovers. Haralson has a good frame and plays physical on both ends of the floor, but it’s his passing that really stands out to me. It’s no surprise that Shrewsberry has made Haralson the hub of the offense with Burton out. He plays with great control and doesn’t force the issue when something’s not there. He’ll shoot the three if left wide open, but not more than once or twice a game. This will be a big assignment for J’Vonne Hadley/Khani Rooths.

The coach’s son, Braeden Shrewsberry (11.7 ppg), is back for his junior season and is as lethal as ever from beyond the arc. More lethal, in fact. He’s shooting a career-best 41.7 percent from deep and has made three or more triples 12 times so far this season. The rest of Shrewsberry’s game hasn’t developed quite as much as I’m sure his dad would have liked. He’s not nearly the playmaker that Burton is with the ball in his hands, so not having his backcourt mate to set him up has made things difficult at times over the last two months. Louisville has to turn him into a driver in this game.

Sophomore guard Cole Certa (10.2 ppg) has also been asked to take on a larger role with Burton out, and the results have been mixed. The 6’5 native of Illinois has hit double figures one time in Notre Dame’s last four games … and it was a 34-point explosion in the team’s double overtime loss to Virginia. He’s not especially quick, but he’s a capable outside shooter who’s also great at using his body to create space for shots both at the rim and in the mid-range.

This is one of the smallest teams in the ACC, with 6’8 senior Carson Towt — a Northern Arizona transfer — serving as the squad’s primary rebounder at 9.6 per game. Brady Kohler, a 6’10 freshman, has stepped into a starting role, but is still a player who seems more comfortable floating around the perimeter than he does banging around the rim. There is no major shot blocker on this team.

Notre Dame will try and slow things down as much as they can Wednesday night. They want this to be a low possession game where Louisville gets frustrated and has some gross stretches offensively and some mental lapses defensively. If the Cards play with the same effort and attention to detail they showed in the second half of Saturday’s win over SMU, they shouldn’t have an issue combatting that approach.

Notable:

—Louisville has won 33 straight games when playing as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at the KFC Yum Center.

—In recognition of Black History Month, U of L will honor influential figures in the community throughout Wednesday night’s game.

—U of L will also host Season Ticket Member Appreciation Night, where season ticket holders will be rewarded with exclusive prizes, experiences, and recognitions.

—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 172-67 (.720) all-time in conference play as a head coach.

—Nine of the last 28 games in this series have been decided in overtime. Four of those nine games have included multiple overtimes.

—Notre Dame is 11 wins away from becoming the 8th college basketball program to win 2,000 games all-time.

—Louisville is 14th in the country in scoring margin at +15.6 points per game. The Cards are also fourth in three-point attempts per game (33.9) and fifth in made three-pointers per game (11.8).

—Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry is 1-1 in games against Louisville.

—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 1-0 in games against Notre Dame.

—Louisville is 0-9 under head coach Pat Kelsey when trailing by 5 points or more at halftime. The Cards trailed SMU by 3 at the half in their last outing, and won the game by 14.

—Louisville has hit the 100-point mark five times in a season for the first time since 1976-77. The record for most 100+ point games in a season at U of L is six.

—Louisville is 42-0 under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play. The Cardinals are also 0-13 under Kelsey when trailing with five minutes to play.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 11 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Louisville is 121-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

—Louisville has won 167 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 83, Notre Dame 69