Louisville-Notre Dame Postgame Notes

Jan. 7, 2012

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TEAM

Louisville saw its seven-game home win streak over Notre Dame end, falling to 17-11 all-time versus the Fighting Irish. ND won in Louisville for the first time since Dec. 20, 1958 (61-53), its only other victory on the Cards' home floor (2-11 all-time).

UofL had taken the last nine meetings played outside of Notre Dame, also winning in neutral-site matchups on Dec. 2, 1989 (84-73 in Indianapolis) and on March 11, 2011 (83-77 in overtime at Madison Square Garden in the BIG EAST semifinals).

The Cards lost for just the fourth time in the squads' past 16 meetings.

Notre Dame, which is 9-0 at home this season and has an active 28-game home win streak (fourth-longest in the country), won its first game away from home in 2011-12. The Irish had been 0-6 in road and neutral-site contests entering Saturday.

ND snapped a 16-game losing streak in games played in the state of Kentucky. Notre Dame's last win in the state had come on Dec. 27, 1980, in Freedom Hall against UK.

The Cards were looking to begin 14-2 or better through 16 games for the first time since the 2003-04 team started off 16-1. Instead, Louisville lost its second consecutive home game, its first consecutive losses at home since Dec. 5-12, 2009 (Charlotte and Western Carolina). UofL has lost back-to-back BIG EAST home games for the first time since losing three straight from Jan. 5-21, 2006 (76-67 to #3 Villanova, 61-57 to #12 Pittsburgh, 71-58 to #3 Connecticut).

The UofL loss also ended its home win streak over unranked BIG EAST opponents at 22 games. That streak dated back to a 58-57 loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 1, 2008.

Louisville moves to 30-4 in 34 games at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards drop to 1-2 through three BIG EAST games for the first time since 2005-06 (also 1-2). Louisville has lost its first two conference home games for the first time since that year and for just the third time in school history.

Lost first two conference home games, Louisville history
1990-91 (Metro Conference; four straight): 67-64 to #20 South Carolina, 65-56 to Memphis, 84-81 to Southern Miss, 86-79 to Virginia Tech
2005-06 (BIG EAST; three): 76-67 to #3 Villanova, 61-57 to #12 Pittsburgh, 71-58 to #3 Connecticut
2011-12 (BIG EAST; two): 71-68 to #12 Georgetown, 67-65 (2OT) to Notre Dame

For the fourth consecutive meeting, the fifth time in six meetings, the sixth time in nine meetings, the seventh time in 11 meetings, and the eighth time in history, an ND-UofL contest needed more than 40 minutes to determine a victor.

Louisville-Notre Dame overtime games, series history
1.11.56 - Louisville 80, Notre Dame 75 (A)
2.26.94 - Louisville 85, Notre Dame 82 (A)
2.4.06 - Louisville 89, Notre Dame 86 (H)
1.12.09 - Louisville 87, Notre Dame 73 (H)
2.17.10 - Louisville 91, Notre Dame 89 (H, 2OT)
2.9.11 - Notre Dame 89, Louisville 79 (A)
3.11.11 - Louisville 83, Notre Dame 77 (N)
1.7.12 - Notre Dame 67, Louisville 65 (H, 2OT)

Louisville lost for only the second time in the eight overtime games against ND. The only other Irish victory came last season, 89-79 on Feb. 9 in Notre Dame.

The eight overtime games versus Notre Dame are the most for Louisville against any opponent. It is also the first time the Cards have played four straight extra-time games against one team.

Most overtime games against single opponent, Louisville history
1. 8 (6-2) - Notre Dame (28 all-time meetings)
2. 6 (4-2) - Dayton (66)
2. 6 (2-4) - DePaul (56)
2. 6 (3-3) - Marquette (65)

Five of Louisville's last nine overtime games have come against the Fighting Irish.

Louisville lost for just the second time in its past seven overtime games overall and for just the fourth time in its past 14. The loss also snapped a six-game overtime win streak in games played in Louisville, with the Cards' last home overtime loss coming on Feb. 25, 2004, to DePaul (60-58).

The double-overtime game was the first for the Cards in Louisville since another ND overtime game, on Feb. 17, 2010 (91-89 Cardinal win). Notre Dame becomes the fourth Louisville opponent the Cardinals have played two or more double/triple-overtime games against, joining Boston College, DePaul, and Marquette.

Louisville had won five consecutive double/triple-overtime games before Saturday, last losing on Feb. 28, 1996, to Marquette.

Saturday's contest was the lowest-scoring double- or triple-overtime game for the Cards since Jan. 13, 1976, when Louisville took down Idaho State, 52-51, in two overtimes. The teams were knotted at 50 heading into the first overtime, the exact same end-of-regulation score as Louisville's first OT game this year (Vanderbilt on Dec. 2). There has not be a lower going-to-overtime score in a Louisville overtime game since Feb. 11, 1980, when the Cards and Virginia Tech were square at 48-all after 40 minutes before UofL pulled out a 56-54 victory.

The Cards are now 78-41 (.655) all-time in overtime contests, including 17-8 (.680) in games with two or more overtime periods.

Notre Dame held Louisville off the scoreboard for a span of 6:05 in the first half on Saturday (from 14:33 to 8:28), the third-longest scoring drought of the season for the Cards (behind a 6:34 drought against Western Kentucky and an 8:40 one versus Ohio). UofL would follow up the 6-0 ND run with an 8-0 run of its own, however, to recapture the lead at 21-15.

UofL faced another long scoring hiatus at the start of the second, going 5:54 without a point after Chane Behanan's bucket 1:21 into the period. Louisville did prevent ND from opening up any kind of a cushion during the droughts, though, holding the Irish to just six points during each.

Louisville led 28-24 at the break, the seventh time this season the Cardinals held the opposition to 25 points or fewer in the first half. UofL has not allowed more than 37 first-half points in any game this season.

The Cards' first three BIG EAST opponents have combined for just 74 points (24.7 per game) in the first period.

Louisville scored just 22 points in the second half of Saturday's game, tied for its fewest points in the second period since putting up 21 against Memphis in a 62-58 loss on Feb. 4, 2004. The 22 points tie for the fewest in the second half of a home game since March 6, 1983, when the Cards scored 19 second-half points in a 64-62 overtime win, also against Memphis.

The Irish ended the game with a season-low .317 shooting percentage, making them the third consecutive Cardinal foe to shoot less than 32 percent from the floor (after Kentucky and St. John's had marks of .298 and .281, respectively). It is the only time in the past 40 seasons Louisville has held three consecutive opponents to under 32 percent shooting.

Now six Cardinal opponents this season have managed to make fewer than 32 percent of their shots from the floor. Louisville's field-goal percentage defense this season (.356) - which ranks third in the nation through Saturday's games (behind only Wisconsin at .349 and Kentucky at .350) - is on pace to be the school's best since 1959-60 (.350).

Notre Dame finished the game just 5-for-26 (.192) from behind the arc, the third straight opponent Louisville has held below 20 percent from 3-point range. Louisville's opponents are just 10-for-58 (.172) from long range over that period.

The three straight games holding the opposition to less than 20 percent 3-point shooting ties a school record, one last achieved from Jan. 16-22, 2003 (.190 for East Carolina, .154 for TCU, and .111 for DePaul).

After Jerian Grant nailed a triple less than two minutes into the game, the Irish missed 12 straight 3-point attempts over the next 26:18.

Louisville held Notre Dame to fewer than 72 points for the first time in 12 meetings (since an 83-68 Cardinal win on March 7, 1993). ND came into the game having scored an average of 86.3 points in its last four games versus UofL, despite winning just two of those four contests.

UofL forced Notre Dame, fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.50 entering the contest, into more turnovers (11) than assists (10).

Louisville had nine assists in the game, compared to 18 turnovers. It's the first time a Cardinal squad has had twice as many turnovers as assists in a home game since a 68-51 loss to top-ranked UConn on Feb. 2, 2009 (also nine and 18).

Notre Dame hit 22 of 29 free throws in the game, giving Louisville's opponents 74 made free throws over the past three games (on 97 tries), the most for Cardinal opposition in a three-game span since Villanova, Pittsburgh, and Seton Hall combined for 76 (on 104 attempts) from Jan. 11-21, 2010. Each of Louisville's last three opponents has hit 20 or more, the first time three straight foes have done that since March 19-Nov. 22, 2004 (25 for Xavier, 21 for BYU-Hawaii, 24 for Iowa), and the first time within one season since 2002-03 (six straight from Feb. 15-March 5).

Louisville outrebounded the Irish 42-40 in the game, snapping a 17-game winning streak for the Cards in games where UofL ended with a positive rebounding margin.

UofL had six fast-break points in the game to the Irish's zero. The Cards are outscoring their foes 50-14 on the fast break in the past six contests.

Each of Louisville's last five home games have been decided by 10 points or less.

PLAYER

Junior Rakeem Buckles snagged a season-best nine rebounds in 25 minutes against Notre Dame, including six in the first half. He also set a season mark with a pair of steals.

Buckles' six offensive boards were a career best, topping his previous mark of four.

Junior Peyton Siva collected at least four assists for the 12th consecutive game, ending with five. He has dished out 19 assists in three games against Notre Dame over the past two seasons (seven in each last year).

Senior Kyle Kuric hit the first five of his free throw attempts on the afternoon - including the first two with 10.6 seconds left in overtime to put Louisville ahead - extending his streak of consecutive makes from the line to 12 before he missed the next. He finished 7-for-8 from the stripe, career highs in both makes and attempts.

Kuric scored in double figures for the ninth time in the past 10 games, ending the contest with 17 points. He set a new career best with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Kuric is the second Cardinal in as many seasons to notch his first double-double during his senior season, joining Preston Knowles, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds on Senior Day last year (vs. Providence) for the one and only double-double of his career.

In four career games versus ND, Kuric is shooting a blistering .700 (21-for-30) from the floor and .563 (9-for-16) from 3-point range after going 4-for-5 and 2-for-3, respectively, on Saturday afternoon. Kuric is averaging 19.7 points per game against Notre Dame over the past two seasons.

Kuric played all 50 minutes in the game, making him the only Cardinal in the last 39 seasons to play every minute of a double- or triple-overtime game. The only other Cardinal to notch 50 minutes of floor time in one game over that span was Joseph N'Sima, who played 50 of 55 possible minutes in Louisville's 77-74, triple-overtime win at Marquette on Feb. 22, 2001.

Kuric was on the floor for the entire contest without committing a turnover.

The 50 minutes tie for the fifth-most in a game in the NCAA this year. Irish guard Eric Atkins also played all 50 in the contest.

Minutes in a game, 2011-12 season (Division I)
1. 55 - Douglas Davis, Princeton vs. Florida State, 12.30.11 (3OT)
2. 54 - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Stanford, 1.7.12 (4OT)
3. 53 - Ian Hummer, Princeton vs. Florida State, 12.30.11 (3OT)
4. 52 - Jeff Middlebrooks, Alabama State vs. Jackson State, 1.5.12 (3OT)
5. 50 - Eric Atkins, Notre Dame vs. Louisville, 1.7.12 (2OT)
5. 50 - Darryl Bryant, West Virginia vs. Kansas State, 12.8.11 (2OT)
5. 50 - Spencer Dixon, Kennesaw State vs. South Carolina State, 11.26.11 (2OT)
5. 50 - Carl Jones, Saint Joseph's vs. Iona, 11.23.11 (2OT)
5. 50 - Kyle Kuric, Louisville vs. Notre Dame, 1.7.12 (2OT)

Kuric and Atkins are the first BIG EAST players to play 50 minutes in a conference game since DePaul's Will Walker played all 55 minutes of the Blue Demons' 90-82, triple-overtime loss to St. John's on March 5, 2010.

Sophomore Russ Smith was held without a steal, snapping a 14-game steal streak for the guard to start the season. That streak was the longest overall by a Cardinal since Francisco Garcia had a steal in 16 straight from Jan. 11-March 10, 2005, and the longest to open a season since Alvin Sims had 15 consecutive games with a steal to begin the 1996-97 campaign.

Smith was also held to just three points, snapping a seven-game double-figure scoring streak in which he had averaged 20.0 points per game.

Sophomore Gorgui Dieng swatted two second-half shots in the game, his seventh consecutive multi-block game. He has 31 blocks over that span, the most by a Cardinal over a seven-game period since Samaki Walker had a school-record 35 from Dec. 29, 1994-Jan. 19, 1995.

Blocks in seven-game span, Louisville history
In case of overlapping stretches, only best total is taken
1. 35 - Samaki Walker, 12.29.94-1.19.95 (2-11-1-7-3-4-7)
2. 34 - Pervis Ellison, 12.8.88-1.7.89 (8-7-6-3-2-4-4)
3. 31 - Gorgui Dieng, 12.17.11-Present (6-5-3-2-6-7-2)

Freshman Chane Behanan (17 points, 10 rebounds) collected his fourth career double-double and set a new career high in points. He also matched a career best with nine defensive boards.

Behanan's four double-doubles are already the most by a Cardinal freshman since Juan Palacios recorded six in 2004-05.

Kuric and Behanan become the first Cardinal teammates with double-doubles in the same game since March 22, 2009, when Terrence Williams (24 points, 15 rebounds) and Earl Clark (12 and 12) accomplished the feat against Siena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Two Irish players also recorded double-doubles in the game in Scott Martin (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Jack Cooley (18 and 10). Coupled with the double-doubles by Kuric and Behanan, it marks the first time four different players have put together double-doubles in the same Louisville contest (as well as the first time with two for each team) since March 6, 2002. In that game, a 110-86 win over TCU in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament, Luke Whitehead (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Reece Gaines (30 points, 10 assists) turned the trick for the Cards, while Jamal Brown (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Marlon Dumont (10 points, 10 rebounds) achieved the feat for the Horned Frogs.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Chane Behanan

Rakeem Buckles

Earl Clark

Gorgui Dieng

Preston Knowles

Kyle Kuric

Juan Palacios

Peyton Siva

Russ Smith

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