Cards' Men's Basketball Faces Notre Dame in First Home Game in 22 Days

February 22, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Louisville notes vs Notre Dame Digital Program Chris Mack Press Conference Malik Williams Press Conference Notre Dame notes at Louisville

UofL will pay tribute to its 1986 NCAA Championship team throughout the game in the KFC Yum! Center

By: Kenny Klein

Game Information
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Denny Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (170-27 in 11th year)Television: ACC Network - Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Cory Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM channel 371, Internet 371)
Series History: UofL leads 25-15 (14-3 in Louisville, 6-9 at Notre Dame, 5-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 67, Notre Dame 64 (Jan. 11, 2020 in Notre Dame, Ind.)
UofL National Ranking: unranked in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: Feb. 27 at Duke, Durham, N.C., 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville will play its first home game in 22 days and its second in that stretch as the Cardinals face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Tuesday in the KFC Yum! Center.

In its first game since Feb. 1, Louisville fell 99-54 at North Carolina on Feb. 20 as Carlik Jones led the Cardinals with 13 points and four steals. Samuell Williamson added nine points and 10 rebounds, his third straight double-digit rebounding effort.

UofL will provide a tribute to the Cardinals' 1986 NCAA Championship team at halftime of Tuesday's game on the 35th anniversary year of their achievement. While the pandemic has not allowed for gatherings or on-court presentations, a video will include comments from team members and highlights from the championship game. The team will gather for a reunion at a later date after the pandemic.

Notre Dame (9-11, 6-8 ACC) has won four of its last six games and six of its last nine, but fell 75-67 at Syracuse in their last game on Feb. 20 after leading by 20 points in the second half. Trey Wertz led the Irish against Syracuse with 17 points, making 5-of-8 three-pointers in the game.

All five Notre Dame starters average double figures in scoring, led by Nate Laszewski's 15.0 points per game (12th in the ACC). Notre Dame leads the nation in fewest personal fouls per game (11.8) and is eighth nationally in fewest turnovers per game (10.3), 10th in assists/turnovers ratio (1.51), 24th in three-point field goal percentage (.381) and 25th in free throw percentage (.771). The Irish are No. 66 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 58 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 67 in the NET rankings and No. 57 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 21.

Louisville leads 25-15 in its series against Notre Dame, winning the last five meetings. In last year's matchup, Louisville prevailed 67-64 over the Irish in South Bend, Ind. (1-1-20) as Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 20 points, Dwayne Sutton produced a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Ryan McMahon added 17 points off the bench.

Nine of the last 23 games in the series have been decided in overtime, including four in multiple overtime periods. Louisville was a member of the Big East Conference with Notre Dame for eight seasons (2005-13). Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013, a year prior to Louisville and it was the only year (2013-14) over the last 15 that the two teams did not play.

Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News Mid-Season All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List, scored his 1,800th career point at North Carolina. He has 98 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 38 consecutive games (all 15 at UofL). If he scores 10 or more vs. Notre Dame, he would be the first person in UofL history to reach double figures in his first 16 games at UofL.

Notes

UofL assistant coach Mike Pegues played for Notre Dame coach Mike Brey at Delaware (1996-2000) when Pegues scored 2,030 career points.
Malik Williams made his season debut at North Carolina, contributing four points, three rebounds and an assist. The runner-up in voting for the 2019-20 ACC Sixth Man of the Year, the team co-captain had surgery Nov. 11 to repair a broken bone in his right foot and missed UofL's first 15 games.
Carlik Jones is one of just two players in the ACC to rank among the top 10 in each of scoring (17.1 ppg, 3rd in the ACC), assists (4.5 apg, 3rd), steals (1.5, 7th), assists/turnovers ratio (1.94, 5th) and free throw percentage (.840, 4th).
Samuell Williamson has averaged 10.5 points and 11.3 rebounds over the last four games, grabbing double-digit boards in the last three. He leads the Cardinals in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and ranks sixth in the ACC.
Louisville has a 60-17 record in its conference home games over the last nine years (.773). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its seven years in the ACC with a 44-14 ACC home record (9-1 last season).