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Louisville-Notre Dame Postgame Notes
March 09, 2013 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 1 
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Postgame Notes
Louisville 73, Notre Dame 57
Team Notes
- Today's win over Notre Dame was the 655th in head coach Rick Pitino's career and the 301st at UofL in just his 12th season, where he has averaged 25 per season. Pitino has won at least 20 games in a season on 21 different occasions, which ranks sixth among active coaches in 20-win seasons and 15th overall. Pitino is 301-111 during his tenure at Louisville.
- Today's win over Notre Dame improved the Cardinals' record to 26-5, marking the fifth time in 12 seasons under head coach Rick Pitino that the Cardinals have won 26 or more games in a season. Louisville has registered 56 wins over the last two seasons.
- The Cardinals improved to 15-1 at the KFC Yum! Center this season with the 73-57 win over the Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon. Louisville has won six in a row at home since losing to Syracuse on Jan. 19. Overall, the Cardinals have won 10 of their last 11 contests on the year and seventh in a row. Louisville has won its last five home games by double-digits and an average of 16.6 points per game. The win also moved Louisville's home mark in BIG EAST play to 56-14 (80.0 percent) since joining the league in 2006-06.
- The Cardinals shot 51 percent from the floor in the win over Notre Dame. It was the first time the Cardinals shot more than 50 percent from the field since a win over Marquette (51.9 percent) on Feb. 3. It was only the sixth time this season that Louisville has shot 50 percent or better from the floor. Louisville is 6-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
- The Cardinals upped their record to 23-0 this season when holding a lead at the break. Louisville held a 37-27 advantage at the break and went on for a 16-point win.
- With the win on Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 44-18 in the month of March and head coach Rick Pitino improved to 112-40 overall and 55-25 in 12 seasons at Louisville in the calendar's third month.
- Today's win over Notre Dame was the 101st by the senior class, running its overall record to 101-38, which is the eighth-best mark overall in school history. Before the game, the Cardinals honored Peyton Siva, Mike Marra and Gorgui Dieng in the final home game of their careers.
- Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 2005-06, the Cardinals raised their league mark to 95-45 overall. The Cardinals won 14 or more league contests for just the third time since joining the league. Louisville won 16 in 2008-09 and captured 14 league victories in 2007-08 and finished 14-4 this season. Louisville owns the most BIG EAST wins over the last seven seasons.
- With the win over Notre Dame, the Cardinals captured a share of their second BIG EAST regular-season title. Louisville also won a league title in 2008-09. Louisville shared the league title with Georgetown and Marquette this year. The Cardinals secured the No. 2 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Cardinals will play the winner of St. John's-Villanova on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
- Louisville held Notre Dame to 57 points, running its record to 19-1 this season when holding the opposition to less than 60 points in a game. Louisville has held its last four opponents to less than 60 points in a game.
- Louisville held Notre Dame to 39.3 percent shooting in the 73-57 win over the Fighting Irish. It marked the 20th time this season and the sixth time in seven games that the Cardinals have held the opposition to less than 40 percent shooting in a game.
- Today's win over Notre Dame was the 50th in the history of the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville is 50-7 all-time in their third-year home arena.
- This afternoon's crowd of 22,815 was the largest in the three-year history of the KFC Yum! Center.
Largest KFC Yum! Center Crowds
1. 22,815 vs. Notre Dame, 3/9/13
2. 22,814 vs. Syracuse, 1/19/13
3. 22,810 vs. Kentucky, 12/29/12
4. 22,803 vs. Kentucky, 12/31/10
5. 22,776 vs. Connecticut, 2/18/11
6. 22,758 vs. Pittsburgh, 2/27/11
7. 22,755 vs. Syracuse, 2/12/11
8. 22,746 vs. Pittsburgh, 2/25/12
9. 22,739 vs. Cincinnati, 3/4/13
10. 22,738 vs. Syracuse, 2/1312
Player Notes
- After being held scoreless for the second time this season last Saturday against Syracuse, senior guard Peyton Siva has responded by averaging 12 point per game in the last two contests. He ended his home career with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc. The three trifectas were the most since he buried three versus USF on Jan. 12 of this season.
- Siva registered five assists in the win over Notre Dame to give him 182 this season, which ties his mark of 182 that placed him fifth on the school's single-season assist list in 2010-11. Siva remains second all-time with 631 career helpers. Labradford Smith (1987-91) holds the school mark with 713.
- Siva remained in third place in school history in career steals by recording one in the win over Notre Dame. He owns 226 thefts and needs four more to tie Darrell Griffith's school record of 230, which was set in from 1976-80. Siva also needs just one to tie Labradford Smith (1987-91) for the second most in school history with 227.
- Junior center Gorgui Dieng blocked five shots in the win over Notre Dame, marking the 84th time in 93 career games that he has swatted at least one shot. Dieng recorded nine rebounds for the 14th time in 23 games this season. He has 722 career rebounds
- Dieng produced his 21st career double-double 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Notre Dame. It was his first double-double since an 11-point, 14 rebound performance versus Syracuse on March 2 and his eighth in BIG EAST Conference play. He also blocked five shots today versus Notre Dame, which were the most since registering five the last time the Cardinals faced the Irish in the five overtime loss on Feb. 9. It was the fifth time this season that Dieng has blocked five or more shots in a game this season and the 30th time in his career with four or more blocks. He also tied his season-high high with three steals.
- With 11 rebounds today versus Notre Dame, Dieng has recorded nine or more rebounds in 15 of 24 games this season.
- With one made free throw this afternoon, Smith moved into a tied for third place with Charlie Tyra (1955-56) on the school's single-season free throw list with 166. He needs just 12 made throws to break the school record of 177 by Wes Unseld in 1967-68.
- Junior Luke Hancock connected on 2-of-4 3-point field goals on Saturday against Notre Dame. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds. It marked the ninth time in 30 games that he has reached double figures. Over the last five games, Hancock has connected on 12-of-18 (66.7) 3-point field goals.
