With defense down the stretch, and offense in
overtime, the University of Louisville outlasted Notre
Dame on Monday night.
The Cardinals out-fought the Fighting Irish at the end
of regulation, holding them without a field goal the
final six minutes and 57 seconds, and forcing
overtime. Then they dominated Notre Dame in the extra
session, finishing with a 14-0 flourish to win 87-73
in front of 19,865 fans at Freedom Hall.
"This was, by far, the best (we've played)," senior
forward Terrence Williams said. "You see a team that
lost three games early, a lot of people were down on
us, that came down and executed like that
offensively."
T-Will gave himself an "eight out of 10" for his
sparkling play - 24 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists
and three steals - that led No. 20 Louisville (12-3)
and helped offset a 28-point, 13-rebound effort by the
reigning Big East Conference Player of the Year, Notre
Dame forward Luke Harangody. The 6-foot-8 junior came
in second nationally in rebounding (12.7 per game) and
fourth in scoring (24.5 points per game).
"The game that T-Will had was a Superman-type game,"
UofL coach Rick Pitino said. "(And) Andre McGee and
Preston Knowles provided so much pressure on defense
that they couldn't run their offense."
McGee and Knowles played lock-down defense at the end
of regulation as UofL held 12th-ranked Notre Dame (12
-4) scoreless over the final 5:34.
The Irish missed their final six shots of regulation,
hit their first shot in overtime, then missed their
final seven of the game.
"I think you have to give their defense the credit,"
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "They really
defended...They kept really contesting and getting
after us. It was hard to get anything in transition."
"You could tell (their guards) didn't want the ball,"
added junior forward Earl Clark, who contributed 15
points and 10 rebounds.
Clark's three with 4:04 left in overtime gave the
Cards a lead they wouldn't lose. UofL went 5-for-7
from the field, and 5-for-5 from the foul line, in OT.
This game was eerily similar to last year's, won 90-85
by UofL in spite of 40 points and 12 rebounds by
Harangody.
The Cards established Samardo Samuels inside early and used a
9-0 run (with four points from Samuels) to take a 17-8
lead eight minutes into the game.
But the Irish answered with a 14-4 spurt, including
six from Harangody in that span, to take a 22-21 lead.
The two teams went back and forth the rest of the
half.
UofL led 41-38 at halftime behind 15 points from T-
Will and in spite of 46.9 percent shooting - including
6 of 9 from three (66.7 percent) - by the Irish.
Kyle McAlarney tied the game with a three on Notre
Dame's first possession of the second half. And it
went back and forth again.
A 7-0 run by the Cards gave them a 64-57 lead with
11:23 to play, but Notre Dame rallied back to to take
a 71-67 lead with 5:35 remaining. UofL scored the next
four points.
Both teams had a chance to win at the end of
regulation.
After a miss by Clark, Notre Dame had possession with
24 seconds to play. But after a timeout Irish point
guard Tory Jackson drove, then turned and try to kick
it out. The ball was deflected at went past midcourt.
Harangody touched the ball in the backcourt with 0.8
seconds remaining to negate a spectacular T-Will dunk
that sparked celebration - and many thought the end of
the game.
"I think we had to get organized because their defense
was really tough," Brey said. "It was hard to get
entries, and it was even harder to feed the post...
"My feeling was we have to take our chances, to see if
(Jackson) can drive it and see if he can get a hand-
check or see if he got a kickout. I think we had an
open guy, but they made a great play on a deflection.
And thankfully, Harangody made a heck of a play
chasing that ball down."
UofL had a shot, but Will Scott's turnaround three-
pointer wasn't close.
The overtime, though, was all Louisville.
Clark's three was followed by a three-point play by
Samuels, who finished with 18
points. Samuels was in foul trouble part of the night,
but he was replaced very ably by fellow freshman
Terrence Jennings, who had two points, six rebounds
and three blocks in 19 minutes.
After Samuels' old-fashioned three-point play gave
Louisville a 79-73 lead, T-Will followed with a drive
and double-clutch basket, then McGee sandwiched four
free throws around a Clark turnaround.
Notre Dame, which came in leading the nation in
assist-to-turnover ratio (1.99) and second in fewest
turnovers per game (9.4), had 15 errors and 15
assists, while Louisville had 21 assists and just nine
miscues.
"That was as good a college basketball game as you'll
see, there was tremendous play by so many people on
both sides," Pitino said. "They've got a great team
and we're evolving into a really terrific basketball
team. I am really excited about the way our guys
played."
The Cards will see if they can keep that momentum
going Saturday night when they host No. 1 Pittsburgh
at 6 p.m.